In coming days, the World Bank will have a new president. Smart money backs Barack Obama’s choice: Dartmouth College president Jim Yong Kim. But two weeks ago, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was endorsed by her Pretoria counterpart, Pravin Gordhan....
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Promise-breaking at the World Bank | by Patrick Bond
Promise-breaking at the World Bank, Part 1: Before That 66th birthday month of his, March 2012, was auspicious for adding a little spice to his dreary life, but no, it just can’t last. Born in March 1946 alongside his evil twin, IMF, in Savannah Georgia, after...
The naked truth about our culture | by Simphiwe Sesanti
This week the world witnessed a heated debate around Brett Murray’s painting exposing SA president Jacob Zuma’s genitals. Those in defense of Murray argued that this was purely an artistic act, while those in favour of Zuma argued that it was merely the work of a...
U.S. Jobs, GDP, and the Eurozone | by Jack Rasmus
Friday, June 1, is a date that marks a shift in the public consciousness of the state of the US and global economy. What was touted for months over the past winter as a rebound taking hold in the US economy and that the US economy was ‘exceptional’ and would not...
Economics: selling the truth, or telling the truth? | by Khadija Sharife
The fundamental market theory of equilibrium, in economics, can be compared to notions of justice conceived in other disciplines, such as electoral democracy and politics. After centuries of trading trials and wars, we were told by leading governments (who may be...
No Zunami on the Streets | by Richard Pithouse
There's no question that the debate, in and around the media, ignited by the ANC's response to Brett Murray's painting has been voluminous and intense in equal measure. And there have been important insights and lessons learned amongst the sound and fury. But the way...
Vavi responds to Sharp attack on Trade Unions | by Zwelinzima Vavi
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi responds to an opinion piece in Friday’s Business Day by Adcorp’s Loane Sharp that ‘SA trade unions are the biggest obstacle to job creation’. He calls it “hogwash” that would not have shocked Joseph Goebbels, “whom Mr Sharp...
Doing dirty work, exposing dirty tricks
Xolani is a municipal worker in Johannesburg, doing dirty, hard, but socially necessary labour for which he is paid the negotiated minimum of R4 330.30 a month. He is an example of one of thousands of workers in similar positions in local government service in towns...
The Nobel Price for (SA) Peace
The latest furore about statements made by former apartheid president FW de Klerk has raised one very pertinent point: the political considerations that go into the decisions regarding the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. It also raises again the circumstances in which...



