Despite what
the experts say, money is flowing into share markets in the USA. Prices are
tramping (trumping?) steadily upwards without pause. Conventional valuation
metrics are howling in warning but there seems always to be a buyer prepared to
pay more for a share than current owner did. Even US bond yields have
stabilised.
The country’s
mielie farmers are dealing with a plague of army worms which have the capacity
to destroy huge swathes of crops in a very short space of time. Anyone
following this story could easily have been confused by the sight of our army
dressed in camo and well armed -- just like the aforementioned worms -- in the
streets of Cape Town. Were they mobilised to retaliate against the worms? Had the
generals had forgotten that there are no mielie fields in Cape Town?
The first
reason offered for the presence of soldiers was that JZ was in town to deliver
a speech in parliament about the State of the Nation, and the troops were there
for ceremonial reasons. However, the truth turned out to be that Mr Zuma felt
that he needed more protection than usual. Our president is at war with anyone
who wants to challenge his intention to do whatever he wants to do.
Particularly when that involves inviting his special chums to join him in
raiding the cash box currently being guarded by finance minister Pravin
Gordhan. This is not going to end well for the rest of us either.
The JSE and
our bonds and currency seem to be as dispirited and indifferent to the goings
on in Cape Town as the rest of the population. Maybe the Budget in a few weeks
will liven things up with tax increases and debt horror stories. The slow and
wary would do well to stand back
So now we
know how many professionals it takes to draw up an Ikusasa Student Financial
Aid Program. 60. This is how many lawyers, bankers, accountants and actuaries
have been working (mostly pro bono apparently) on what is hoped will be a
significant and useful cog in the gears of tertiary education. This Program
will slot in alongside the existing National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
NSFAS is a wholly taxpayer-funded outfit that this year has allocated up to R76
000 to about 175 000 successful student applicants. Now this rather
substantial amount (for say 10 months of study) is almost double the new and much
heralded national minimum wage of R3 500 per month. And the student should not
normally be supporting a family. Our priorities and sums are skewed. Perhaps a
developing nation like ours needs a lot fewer youngsters being admitted to
university -- especially in the humanities. Just how many political science
(oxymoron) and similar arm-waving graduates do we need?
Naturally
this change in policy must be matched by the state withdrawing from micro
managing the allocation of resources so that jobs become available and school
leavers have a sensible chance of acquiring a job, skills and experience
Many readers
of this letter will be suffering the worry and inconvenience of the latest
recall affecting almost 40 000 cars. Apparently, the problem is that an electrical
short circuit can cause the seats of our Maserati to catch fire. Since it
affects models from 2014 to the present it seems that this luxury marque has
been just as tardy and uncaring as have Ford whose Kuga model locally also has
a worrying habit of bursting into flames. Already no doubt someone is working
up the Ford incident into a textbook case study in how not to conduct customer
relations and how to destroy brand image.
Within hours
we will know if the Proteas have completed the ODI white-wash of Sri Lanka.
It’s a bit startling that the lads will be aboard the plane for a lengthy NZ
tour before the champagne bubbles go flat.
James
Greener
Friday 10th
February 2017 (thanks for all the
responses to last week’s date line)
