Yesterday the Federal Reserve (in effect the USA Reserve Bank) increased the price of money by 75 basis points (three quarters of a percent). In the context of usual US monetary policy and action this is huge. Grave even. Presumably it’s a response to the uncomfortably high inflation in that country. In turn that was likely exacerbated by President Joe Biden dishing out truckloads of cash to almost every mendicant who stopped by the White House. Like most governments indulging in such a feel-good spree the money was either borrowed or printed. With the largest economy on the planet indulging in this behaviour, the consequent unfolding events are massive. And not foreseen by even the most expensive talking heads on the TV news channels. Please ensure you are sitting comfortably. And then there is the side show that is our own President Frogboiler having cosy chats with Russia’s President Putin. Right now, that’s not a good choice of chum but you can see Cyril’s point. Putin supposedly controls a lot of stuff like food and fuel and maybe while they are chatting about those things Cyril can flog him a rare cow or two. Just don’t expect folding US dollar notes in payment sir. Vlad is happier with Roubles
It is astonishing the way the pundits are now blithely talking about petrol at R30/l. While all commodity prices are set by supply and demand (or should be) there is something really weird going on here. Petro chemicals are now considered to be the planet’s greatest enemy -- a month ago it was a virus that interestingly, no one has actually yet isolated – and our leaders have boarded the band wagon created and steered by the doom merchants. So, while there is probably now more proven reserves of coal and oil than at any other time in our history, regulation, sentiment and dubious science has caused the current price spike.
The high hopes that the internet would raise and improve education and knowledge levels and stimulate rational and intelligent discourse on the future of man have not been fulfilled. Instead, the lunatic fringe (a mild and generous description) has been very successful in harnessing the unimaginably powerful world wide web to scream at the rest of us that we are deluded deniers of what is happening and where we are going. Taking temperatures must be one of the earliest scientific measurements mankind has developed and even so we still argue about it!
President Frogboiler has been jabbing at the keys of his laptop again. This time he was updating the entries in the spread sheet he uses to calculate if he can afford to give his employees a nice pay increase. Apparently, the computer said “Yes”. Remember the civile servants are one of the few groups who never missed a payday throughout the pandemic. The spreadsheet obviously did not take into account the anger this move might cause among those who were not so fortunate. Cyril and the cabinet are utterly tone deaf to the woes and hardships being suffered by everyone else.
Tomorrow’s kick-off time for the URC final to be played unexpectedly in Cape Town, is quite late. Presumably this is because the TV broadcasts slots were booked when no organiser imagined an all-South African game! Mind you we will already be sitting up for the US Open transmission which appears to be on one of the fiercest golf courses ever. There’s both Formula 1 and MotoGP races and a particularly crucial T20 cricket match versus India who got shocked terribly by the Proteas in the first two. So the couch cushions are going to need some attention before that all begins. In the meantime, news comes that the F1 circus might pitch up at Kyalami as early as next year and there is speculation about what tickets might cost. One Warren Scheckter, the race promoter has confirmed that it "will be well within reach of your average F1 fan.”. It will be interesting to see what this means. And there’s a single-handed yacht race underway where the course goes round the top of Iceland. Why?
James Greener
Friday 17th June 2022
