BE AFRAID, be very afraid. SA has tumbled down the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index to its lowest level to date. During apartheid, black people were denied economic freedom. Now, everyone is. Do not let the fact that everything gets worse with declining economic freedom scare you. The problem is not that less freedom implies lower living standards, higher unemployment, widespread destitution, political instability, capital and skills flight, crime and corruption, and protests and unrest. These, fortunately, are easily reversed. All the government has to do is stop causing the problem. The frightening part is that they are unlikely to do so because of political madness and greed. When faced with crises, governments tend to panic and do more of what causes crises, instead of less. They feel a need to "do something" even though the problem is that they are doing too much. Instead of lifting us towards the world’s winning nations at the top of the index, they are driving us tow...

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