Tag: Free Market Foundation
The state should not be increasing the price of goods
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced that it will impose a 45% import tax on goods that cost R500 or less, imported from China through online retailers such as Shein and Temu. Unions and businesses praise this as a ‘levelling of the playing field’, but for the consumer it simply translates to higher prices.
The price of populism? – the rule of law, economic freedom...
The results are in. The African National Congress has attained 40% of the vote, the Democratic Alliance (DA) 21%, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) 14%, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 9%. It is clear that some of these parties enjoy too much support in the context of a country that claims to be a constitutional state that prioritises the rule of law and which requires massive foreign and domestic private investment.
BusinessBrief June/July 2024 edition is now available!
Read our exclusive cover story titled The price of populism? - the rule of law, economic freedom & social progress by Martin van Staden, Head of Policy, Free Market Foundation, plus a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics.
Teaching people where to pee – the conundrum of victimless crimes
We don’t like people urinating in public. At the same time, most liberal-minded people wouldn’t want somebody jailed for it or might feel uncomfortable seeing someone being flogged in public for the offence. Still, it is a bad habit; unhygienic and the nudity a bit of a shock on an empty stomach. We want a sense of order, don’t we?
Not all taxes are equal
The premise of Tax Freedom Day is relatively simple to understand. It takes the total amount of taxes paid and divides it by the number of individuals in that jurisdiction to calculate how many days it would take them to pay those taxes. The first day of the year when all the income would remain with its owner is Tax Freedom Day.
What goes around comes around
James Peron | President | Moorfield Storey Institute | Contributing Author | Free Market Foundation | mail me |
There is a popular phrase people often use, “What goes around comes...
Antiques Roadshow & the fallacy of Marx
If you pay attention to what is happening, you can learn some basic principles of economics. This makes sense, when you realise that economics...
Financial institutions without acceptable empowerment plans could lose their licences
In 2020, the National Treasury published for public comment a draft Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, as an update of its draft two years earlier. This 2020 draft bill aims, ambitiously, at revising the separate laws which regulate the conduct of financial institutions of all kinds, be they banks, insurers, pension funds or medical schemes; and which regulate the conduct of providers of financial advisory, administration or payment services.
When judges aren’t
The Western (including South African) judiciary is a peculiar thing. To defy a judge is to commit an offence to society so great that most people do not even consider the merits of the defiance, and rush immediately to demand punishment. The recent controversy around Judge Mandlenkosi Motha is a case in point.
South Africa is between decline and renewal
How to get rich in the 21st century details how India’s prime minister wants his country to reach rich world status by 2047. His formula lies in incentivising homegrown industry, a diversified services base, and a relentless focus on what’s good for the economy.