For most of the festive season we heard - and manufactured - reasons for 2017 being a much better year than 2016. Last year, we witnessed what turned out to be the most divisive US election in recent times, and we watched Britain dump the EU in what appears to be an ideological shift to a "me first" world. We were also rudely reminded of the temporary nature of this thing we call life. Whether you loved the faithful George Michael, purple Prince, invincible Muhammad Ali or nkalakatha (top dog) Mandoza, a sense of great loss was felt by many in 2016. All this may have contributed to the hope - not necessarily the well-considered assertion - that 2017 would be much better.Almost every South African economist I encountered in late 2016 had a bagful of reasons why inflation would improve dramatically in the first half of 2017. As better rains fell, farmers were said to be planting more hectares of maize than in recent times. Rainfall for the remainder of the summer season was forecast t...
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