Whither South Africa? A talk by one of its eminent economists earlier today
I had the privilege of attending a lunchtime talk by one of South Africa's pre-eminent economists, JP Landman earlier today at the invitation of the Southern Africa - Canada Chamber of Commerce (SACanCham), hosted by one of the Big 4 local banks, Nedbank.
The topic was going to be "Reflections on the Jobs Summit", about the South African Jobs Summit held 4-5 October. However, yesterday, President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted now former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's resignation and appointed a new Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, former Minister of Labour and Reserve Bank Governor. This changed the conversation sharply!
I had a good seat for listening, but not such a great seat for taking photos - but you get the idea of the room. There were perhaps nine tables of seven people each, most South African but some Canadians, and we enlightened and entertained by a refreshingly potty-mouthed treatise on economic growth, why Mr Mboweni will be a good Finance Minister and why as an economist JP Landman is even more optimistic about the country than he was several years ago.
A closer view of JP Landman, stretching my phone's ability to take a zoomed photo of a moving target.
JP Landman on growth
Simply put, JP's view is that a country has to
- get richer, with economic growth outpacing population growth
- have an open society
- have government that understands coordination of initiatives supporting growth.
Several of his expletives were reserved for economists who "don't know a f***ing thing about growth", which it turns out in his view is most of the economists in the world. He reserved high praise, however, for this year's co-winners of the Nobel Prize for Economics, particularly Paul Romer, who he characterised as "one of a handful in the world who understand where growth comes from". The Guardian summarised Paul Romer's economic thinking this way:
The co-winner – Romer – is seen as the prime mover behind the endogenous growth theory, the notion that countries can improve their underlying performance if they concentrate on supply-side measures such as research and development, innovation and skills.
On open society
JP spoke of Karl Popper, author of the seminal work The Open Society and its Enemies, and the tremendous effect that reading it had had on George Soros, the hedge fund founder - so tremendous that he has founded Open Society Foundations around the world, recently donating $18 billion to the open society cause.
On coordination
Taking the 84 page Jobs Summit document as an example (I'm pretty sure none of us in the room had read it), he said it contained a few bad ideas and a few good ideas - but mostly it showed an understanding of the complexity of triggering and sustaining growth, and a sense of the coordination required between organs of society to achieve sustained growth.
What did I take out of this lunch?
- A renewed sense of hope about the country
- Vindication for always comparing Zuma to Trump (JP Landman called ex President Zuma "Trumpian")
- Some inspiring conversations with table mates about helping high school girls from rural areas in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields)
- An appreciation for what the Chamber is doing in South Africa, and some thoughts on how it could replicate its successes in the rest of the Southern Africa region
- An appreciation for the power of connecting people in disparate fields when they share a common purpose
- A sense that there is a deep curiosity about blockchain and a desire to understand how it could apply in unexpected ways to transform ordinary life.
Plus I was really full. Banks don't skimp when they host lunch. Gasp.
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I had the privilege of having dinner with colleagues in KZN in 1992, who were personal friends with JP. I have such good memories of that evening and his views of where the country was heading. Similarly full of expletives and at that point, optimism. I am so glad that optimism has returned. I, too, feel more optimism than I have felt for years. Thanks for this!
How lovely! Was he there with his wife Ruda? His talk was peppered with a delightfully inappropriate percentage of references of pillow talk with her.
He also mentioned that he's always been an optimist about this country. He further cautioned that we mustn't confuse South African presidential power with American presidential power - CR is not a panacea for all our problems. What he called "coordination" in his talk I would rather call a "systemic approach", and that is what CR's team seems to be taking. That is the antithesis of the kind of transactional leadership we're seeing in the US at the moment.
Really appreciate you taking the time to read this and share your experience!
Hahaha! No, Ruda was not there, and I did have lunch - with the same colleague - with Ruda a couple of times in Joburg. Lovely folk all of them. And not one of us had a hair of grey on our heads....lol
That is a great explanation of the difference between CR and what's going on in the US. That said, CR is doing what he's been doing for years - learned as a union organiser and lawyer. Smart man about whom I first saw a documentary by Channel 4 in 1987. I've never forgotten. At the time I was working in the mining industry, and the documentary effectively pointed out that he was a leader of the future and someone to watch. And here we are.
I, too, have more optimism for this country than I have had for the last 10 or so years. You may be interested in reading this post that might give you some insight into where I come from in saying this. A bit personal, but may also fill in some of the gaps from our Discord chat the other day :)
https://steemit.com/steempress/@fionasfavourites/onmandeladaythingsthatshapedthissouthafrican-qge67jfhfy