The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Glenn Ashton -
As an emerging market South Africa finds itself amongst a raft of emerging nations in increasing peril in the ocean of international currency markets, with value being speculatively eroded by the predator sharks of the casino economy. The prospect of rescue by capital institutions in the developed world appears slim.
Instead commercial and central banks, along with institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, disinterestedly observe the carnage. It is unsurprising that...
Leonard Gentle -
Once again we are being hamstrung by being forced to take sides in what the business media is presenting as the debate of the day. Should the Rand be weak or strong?
Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel’s New Growth Path (NGP) was released in December 2010 and, predictably, elite economists lined up to criticise it mainly on the lines that it asserted a greater role for the state, promised decent jobs and called for a more “competitive value” for the rand.
Of...
Leonard Gentle -
The ongoing saga of the United States of America's (US) accusation against China – that it is deliberately pushing down its currency – and thereby defeating US attempts to get balance in the world economy, trundled on into the G20 meeting in Korea. At the same time, middle range countries such as Brazil, South Korea, Russia and South Africa (SA) have been battling with currencies that are hugely inflated.
Accusations flew fast and furious that countries were using currency...
Democracy Now -
Before leaving Seoul in South Korea, America's President Barack Obama defended last week’s $600 billion move by the Federal Reserve to buy up government bonds. Obama rejected critics’ claims the U.S. is waging a currency war by devaluing the dollar. But Obama failed to win international backing for his effort to pressure China to raise its currency value. The U.S. has accused China of artificially manipulating the price of the yuan for economic gain.
To find out more about these...
Saliem Fakir -
We sit amongst the vulnerable beneath the trampling of elephants as they fight it out. South Africa may be a big player in Africa, but is no match for the economic giants in the global arena. South Africa simply does not have the foreign currency reserves or trade power to fight a currency war.
All South Africa can do is watch and hope for the best while attempting to stem the assault on the Rand to some degree -- but it won’t be enough.
The currency war on everyone's lips marks a new...
