Die ekonomie minuut

I've been talking a lot about inflation lately and this week's major indicator is September's producer price inflation figure released on Thursday. Economists hope to see if the increases in fuel prices and bottlenecks in supply chains have put pressure on producer prices.

Dit lyk op die oomblik of die wêreld ʼn energie knelpunt bereik en die pryse van olie, gas, en steenkool het hierdie jaar al skerp gestyg. Dit gaan veroorsaak dat brandstofpryse in Suid-Afrika verder styg en opwaartse druk op inflasie plaas.

At the moment, the world seems to be in an energy crunch and oil, gas, and coal prices have risen sharply this year. This will cause fuel prices in South Africa to increase further and put upward pressure on inflation.

Die regering oorweeg aansporings om mense ouer as 60-jaar so ver te kry om ingeënt te word teen Covid-19. Hulle is ʼn kwesbaregroep en nog net 61,8% van die 5,5 miljoen mense van die ouderdom is al ingeënt. Die Departement van Gesondheid gaan vroeg in November ʼn aansporingsprogram loods wat begin met ʼn koskoopbewys van R100. Daar is R100 miljoen hiervoor ingesamel van die privaatsektor. Hier gee ge...

The government is considering incentives to get people over the age of 60 to be vaccinated against Covid-19. They are a vulnerable group and only 61.8% of the 5.5 million people of that age have been vaccinated. The Department of Health will launch an incentive program in early November, starting with a food voucher worth R100. R100 million has been raised for this from the private sector. Behavio...

Consumer price inflation increased from 4.9% in August to 5% in September. This was largely driven by increases in fuel prices.

Verbruikersprysinflasie het gestyg vanaf 4,9% in Augustus tot 5% in September. Dit is grootliks gedryf deur stygings in die brandstofprys.

The news reports of the last few days show just how vulnerable South Africa's economic recovery is. If China seems to start to grow more slowly, and there is pressure on energy prices, the rand depreciates and everyone is wondering by how much inflation and interest rates will increase. Most analysts think that reforms are moving in the right direction, but still too slowly. The head of Business L...

Die laaste paar dae se nuusberigte wys net hoe kwesbaar Suid-Afrika se ekonomiese herstel is. As dit lyk of Sjina begin stadiger groei, en daar is druk op energiepryse, dan val die rand en almal wonder met hoeveel gaan inflasie en rentekoerse styg. Meeste ontleders dink dat hervormings beweeg in die regte rigting, maar nog te stadig. Die hoof van Business Leadership SA het ʼn beroep op die Presiden...

Is jy ook partykeer lus en los jou werk en word eerder ʼn YouTuber? Of miskien sal iemand my betaal om rond te reis en foto’s te neem en hulle bestemmings of produkte op Instagram te bemark. In die sogenaamde creator economy het almal al gehoor van een of ander tiener wat miljoene maak op Tik-Tok, maar wie skep in die skeppende ekonomie?

Do you also sometimes feel like quitting your job and become a YouTuber? Or maybe someone will pay me to travel, take photos and market their destinations or products on Instagram. In the so-called creator economy, everyone has heard of some teenager making millions on Tik-Tok, but who makes the money in the creative economy?

Die afgelope week was daar ʼn paar stukkies ekonomiese nuus wat my oog gevang het, wat ek graag hier wil deel: die brandstofprys, the President se werkskeppingsplanne, die mini-Begroting, VPI inflasiesyfers die week.

This past week there were a few pieces of economic news that caught my eye, and I would like to share them here: the fuel price, the President's job creation plans, the mini-Budget, CPI inflation numbers this week

We all remember the devastating social unrest of July, and know of the negative impact it had on production, wholesale and retail sales. This week, Statistics South Africa released figures for August, and unfortunately, these indicate an inconsistent recovery.

Ons almal onthou die vernietigende sosiale onrus van Juliemaand, en weet van die negatiewe impak wat dit op produksie, groot- en kleinhandel gehad het. Hierdie week het Statistieke Suid-Afrika syfers vir Augustusmaand bekend gemaak, en ongelukkig wys dit op ʼn wisselvallige herstel.

I see on Facebook that some of my economist friends have started travelling again for meetings, but analysts expect business travel will not return to where it was before the pandemic, and that will make plane tickets more expensive for the rest of us.

Ek sien op Facebook dat van my ekonoom vriende het weer begin reis vir vergaderings, maar ontleders verwag dat sake-reise nie weer gaan terugkeer na waar dit voor die pandemie was nie, en dit gaan ons almal se vliegkaartjies duurder maak.

Gister se ekonomiese nuus was dat die Internasionale Monetêre Fonds hulle groei vooruitskatting vir Suid-Afrika verhoog het tot 5% vir 2021. Die bekommernis die medium-termyn vooruitsigte vir volgende jaar en daarna.

Yesterday's economic news was that the International Monetary Fund has raised its growth forecast for South Africa to 5% for 2021. The concern is the medium-term outlook for next year and beyond.

Drie professors, David Card, Joshua Angrist en Guido Imbens het hierdie jaar die Nobelprys vir Ekonomie gewen. Die toekenning is vir werk wat in die vroee 1990’s gedoen. Dit gaan spesifiek oor statistiese metodes wat natuurlike eksperimente gebruik om die oorsaaklikheid tussen ekonomiese beleid en daaropvolgende gebeure te bepaal.

Three professors, David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens, won the Nobel Prize in Economics this year. The award is for work done in the early 1990s. It is specifically about statistical methods that use natural experiments to determine the causality between economic policy and subsequent events.

Ek het die afgelope week gaan stap en daar was nie selfoonsein of tyding van die buitewêreld nie. Dus wil ek die week afskop met ʼn kort oorsig van dit wat ons gemis het.

I went on a hiking trip last week and there was no mobile phone signal or tidings from the outside world. So I want to kick off the week with a brief overview of what we missed.

If, like me, you have been lying awake about the sustainability of government finances, there is now reason to sleep a little more peacefully - the Reserve Bank's quarterly bulletin shows that tax revenues, the deficit and government debt figures look much better than expected.

As jy, soos ek, wakker lê oor die volhoubaarheid van die owerheidsfinansies, is daar nou rede om so bietjie rustiger te slaap – die Reserwebank se kwartaalblad wys dat belasting inkomste, die tekrot en staatskuldsyfers heelwat beter lyk as wat verwag is.