Economy Archives | Jedidiah

Do not add insult to injury

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:48:50 +0000

It is nice that we have entered level 1 of lockdown, but six months of low key business activity will definitely have a huge impact on our economy. Perhaps healthcare workers experience slightly less pressure than in earlier stages of the pandemic, but

for others, the longer their businesses remain closed, the bigger the pressure.

Tourism industry

This week I spoke to people working in the tourism industry involved with international travel, and for them there is no going back to work yet, neither did they receive any remuneration during ... continue reading

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Issues, causes and productive work

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:10:55 +0000

It seems like nowadays many people’s goal in life is to have some or other issue they can blow up to something big and then garner as much support as possible for it. Then they promote it as an important cause and somehow even find people who are willing to sponsor them.

Too many issues

Personally I believe that as a society we are busy losing our marbles with just way too many issues continually springing up. Then somebody must be found guilty and somebody must take the blame because ... continue reading

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Economic reality and a new normal

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 19:32:30 +0000

According to Mike Schüssler of economists.co.za the economic figures for the month of June gives a much more realistic picture of the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic has played havoc in the South African economy.

According to Schüssler it is much worse than anticipated.

Fewer salaries

He says according to the figures released by BankServAfrica, 20,7% fewer salaries were paid out in June 2020 in the formal sector of the economy compared to the year before. This means that one fifth of workers in large and medium sized organisations ... continue reading

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A matter of the heart

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 20:00:17 +0000

There is a proverb that says “what you behold you become.” I think that is exactly what the current wave of negative news is doing to us all, it makes us negative. We are bombarded with news about Covid-19, corrupt politicians, rioters that want to bring the economy to a standstill (as if it is not bad enough yet) and racism blown up to unprecedented proportions whilst most of us just want to carry on with our work in the hope to rescue what is left of our failing economy.... continue reading

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Economic shift

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 22:39:18 +0000

During the last couple of lockdown months, I’ve been on more webinars and Zoom meetings than ever before in my life. Will this be the new trend for the future?

Working from home

I recently read an article in Die Burger that asked the question if working from home is here to stay. According to the article only about 10% of people worked from home before the lockdown, but during lockdown it jumped to as high as 75% for many companies.

According to the article,

this trend is not easily ... continue reading

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Confusing messages – Get the ducks in a row

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 20:24:43 +0000

I think the one thing that concerns me most about the current virus epidemic, is the extremely confusing messages that we continually receive from political leaders. We all know the seriousness and dangers of the virus and would like to do our part in trying and curb it. But

we need clarity and we should be able to trust our leaders.

Confusing messages

Yet the messages we receive at present, are very confusing. The one day the president tells people one thing and the next day a minister makes ... continue reading

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Mind over matter

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Sat, 09 May 2020 10:20:30 +0000

“You must have a positive vision of the future”,

is a quote that I’ve once written down on a piece of paper and it stands on my bookshelf right in front of me where I can see it whenever I work on my computer.

For any business this is vital for success and to keep on keeping on when times are tough. The hope for a better future is what makes one willing to take risks in business. You are willing to borrow money when you believe that business in ... continue reading

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Online reality

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 20:09:11 +0000

When I started teaching about fourty years ago, we had no idea that we would one day have a computer in the school that would be able to perform certain administrative tasks. Yet about 15 years later the school had its own computer and we need not write each student’s report card anymore. It was printed on the computer, yet only those teachers trained for it were allowed to work on the computer.

Computers came to stay

We all realized that computers came to stay and I had the privilege ... continue reading

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Incredible times of uncertainty

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 19:46:40 +0000

We certainly live in unusual times.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d go up to a bank teller with a mask on, asking for money.

Even to go shopping is different; standing in a queue to enter the shop and having sanitiser sprayed on your hands before entering. We are all used to queueing at tills before you exit a shop, but waiting in a queue to enter when it is not Black Friday is really something different.

Uncertainty

The one thing though that concerns me is ... continue reading

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History repeated – 100 years later

David Malherbe (@DGMalherbe) — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 20:24:11 +0000

On Thursday 7 November 1918, D.W. Sutherland the Major of Kelowna in Canada had the following restrictive measures published in the newspaper: “Notice is hereby given that, in order to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza, all schools, public and private, churches, theatres, moving picture halls, pool rooms and other places of amusement, and lodge meetings, are to be closed until further notice. All public gatherings consisting of ten or more are prohibited.”
Incredible how history repeats itself. Makes me think of Solomon’s words of wisdom in Eccl 1:9-10 “Whatever ... continue reading

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