DUMA GQUBULE: Budget should grow economy and create jobs, not balance books
Amid the huge change in the global and domestic outlook the debate should not be about an irrelevant VAT increase
After spending a week in Brazil, where I attended the Fourth Dilemmas for Humanity Conference in São Paulo and presented to the brightest economic policy wonks in the Global South, it was depressing to return to SA and confront the elite commentariat’s economic illiteracy.
According to US economist Paul Krugman: “Trump’s postpause tariff regime remains the biggest trade shock in US, and I think world history … uncertainty about Trump’s policies is as big a drag on the economy as the policies themselves.” The market response to the trade shock has been to “sell America”, resulting in the simultaneous collapse of shares, bonds and the dollar. ..
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