Dexia and bailing out the banks | by Michael Roberts

Dexia and bailing out the banks | by Michael Roberts

The large Belgian Bank, Dexia, went bust over last weekend.  It provides a lot of pointers about the role of banking and how it fits into this crisis.  Dexia was bailed out before at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.  Then the Belgian and French governments...

Job protection leads to shrinking workforce

Brian Kantor, the chief strategist and economist at Investec Wealth and Investment, responds to the debate about wages and productivity between Dick Forslund from AIDC, Simon Eppel from SACTWU and Loane Sharp from Adcorp (published in Business Report, December 13, 14...
Piracy as good policy | by Serge Halimi

Piracy as good policy | by Serge Halimi

The head of state, confident after electoral victory, tells the governor of the central bank what to do, introduces forex controls and announces that a key sector of the economy, sold off to private investors 13 years ago, is to be nationalised. Two members of the...
Angola helps out Portugal | by Augusta Conchiglia

Angola helps out Portugal | by Augusta Conchiglia

The former colony has become an unexpected source of jobs and investment for Portugal in the global downturn. Angola is Sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest economy, after South Africa and Nigeria (1). It is already one of Africa’s biggest oil producers, with an average...