RESERVE BANK RETIREMENT
Central banking is not for sissies
Retiring Reserve Bank veteran Johan van den Heever recounts the tough decisions and controversial stands taken by a succession of governors, from apartheid into democracy
To talk to outgoing Reserve Bank economist Johan van den Heever is to take a walk down macro-economic memory lane. Van den Heever has retired after almost 30 years in what is now called the Bank’s economic research and statistics department. He served 13 of those years as editor of the highly regarded Quarterly Bulletin. He has served under five Bank governors and has a clear view on the contribution each of them made. "Each one has had something really special," he says. A Pretoria University-trained economist who started his career as a lecturer, Van den Heever joined the Bank in 1987 when the late Gerhard de Kock was governor — and when monetary policy targeted controlling the money supply. It is tempting to forget just how controlling the apartheid state was, in every area. Van den Heever says De Kock was an eloquent propagandist for market-oriented policies who fought against the mainstream notion of the 1960s and 1970s that "if something moves you must control it", urging the ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.