When the going gets tough, the tough get going: World leadership has been under a magnifying glass since the offset of Covid-19. Some leaders have excelled, such as Prime Minister of New Zealand – Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of Norway – Erna Solberg, Chancellor of Germany – Angela Merkel, and President of Taiwan – Tsai…
As we approach the end of May, the S&P Index looks set to post a gain of 4% for the month, with various stock market indices across the globe in sync with this trend. Meanwhile, in the US, 36 million Americans have filed unemployment claims and GDP has contracted by 4.8% in the first quarter…
Once again, markets this week were ignited by optimism that a potential vaccine to the coronavirus may have been discovered. Each time there is a glimmer of potential for Covid-19 preventive medication, markets tend to soar, but these fluxes are not based on fundamental tenets. Even if a cure were to be developed, approved, and…
This week was marred with those once in favour, falling out of favour. There has been public tension between President Trump and Dr Fauci, with Trump previously tweeting about firing Fauci and now saying that Fauci’s concerns over opening the economy too early, are unacceptable. President Ramaphosa has also had a challenging week, as South…
The economic distress in the US came into greater focus today with the announcement by the Labour Department that more than 20.5 million jobs were shed in April. This prompted Michelle Meyer, head of economics at Bank of America, to state that unemployment is “literally off the charts”. The estimated job loss numbers in the…
This week was once again positive for equity markets with returns for April now at staggering levels as quantified below. This has been caused by massive central bank stimulus programs across the globe, as well as by optimism that a vaccine against Covid-19 may be brought to market sooner than originally anticipated. Balance this positivity…
The World Health Organisation has specifically praised South Africa for its ‘incredible’ response to Covid-19. Meanwhile, the global community is in shock over how badly the US is handling the outbreak, with a Paris-based political scientist saying, “America has not done badly, it has done exceptionally badly” and others saying that the response from the world’s richest and most…
The world has become connected – yet at the same time isolated – as a third of the global population still suffers varying degrees of restrictions placed on their movements. These regulatory measures are warranted and have been effective in “flattening the curve”, but the general environment continues to pose many challenges. As the lockdowns…
Crises bring perspective and positive reflection with them. For instance, President Ramaphosa has been globally recognised with how he has handled the Covid-19 crisis and has continued to display strong and decisive leadership traits. This week he placed Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave and ordered her to make a public apology…
