Category: Just An Observation
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The Most Expensive Cities to Live In
And the cheapest: Johannesburg and Cape Town for the win.
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Thank Goodness For Bribery and Corruption?
Note: this is a repost of a much older post. But it’s still relevant, I think. The thing about getting older (it seems) is that the blackness and whiteness of “morality” has lost some of its starkness. Of course, some might say that’s just the evil inhabiting my soul and blinding my eyes to what ought […]
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Why are there so many fuel stations in Beaufort West?
Clustering around the competition? Apparently good for business...
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Why America Always Looks So Red #PresidentialMaps
In the lead-up to the presidential elections, I’m endorsing this youtube clip from VOX. I realise that it may not be especially economics-ey, but I think that the point is important: often, when we apply conventional logic (geography) to something that seems related (voters across said geography), we get it wrong. Badly wrong. Almost as […]
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A Word of Apocalyptic Caution
Firstly, some admin news: I’m seizing the moment to take a blog hiatus for the next few weeks. I’ve prepared a full set of infographics and recaps to post themselves while I’m away – but I won’t be writing fresh each morning. I might do the occasional post if something really hectic happens in the between now and […]
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“This Graph Shows How South Africa Has Gone Down The Tubes”
I’ve been asked by a few readers this week about an article that’s doing the rounds, and this graph that went with it: Yes, dismal, isn’t it? Here’s a quote from the article: Shapiro said he was shocked when he looked at a graph of the five-year performance of the JSE in US dollars. Someone who […]
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You can’t just impose a price control…
Almost three years ago, I was writing about Nicolás Maduro and the mess that he was making of Venezuela. He’s still making it. I’m going to update that post here. Three years ago, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was signing decrees to control the prices of new and secondhand cars. He was accusing criminal gangs and those pesky […]
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Loyalty Programs and Flying Business
Before I start, I have a disclaimer: I am a regular work-traveller. In 2015, I was away from home for about 26 weeks. I mean, I usually made it home for at least part of every weekend (barring some of the longer trips) – but in terms of work-day weeks, 26 out of the 52 were […]
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