RON DERBY: Brics has no remedy for SA's economic ills
There must be a bonus system in banking institutions to reward analysts for the best acronyms they can package into products to sell to investors. They've certainly been in vogue since the turn of the century.
There must be a bonus system in banking institutions to reward analysts for the best acronyms they can package into products to sell to investors. They've certainly been in vogue since the turn of the century. But none has managed to inspire a global political movement such as Brics - Brazil, Russia, India and China with South Africa squeezing its way in. The Zuma administration has come to cling to Brics as the country's salvation from what it calls "white monopoly capital". A quick read through the last budget speech delivered by former finance minister Pravin Gordhan shows that there wasn't a single mention of the grouping. There was just one shout-out to Russia, two on India, Brazil and China - and only as passing comments on the state of emerging markets. There was nothing that connected with any future economic promise to help boost SA's prospects and get the country growing at rates close to those envisaged by the National Development Plan. In hindsight, that speech was proba...
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