South Africa's budget deficit for this year is R370 billion.
(That's the difference between the money government receives in taxes and the amount government spends by borrowing.)
This triggered a thought as to what we could have spent that money on as a nation, and as I started by taking a look at companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The United States is braced for the single biggest transfer of wealth in history.
"Boomers" make up about 45 million households, worth about US $68,4 trillion, according to Cerulli Associates. an asset management research group. As they die over the next 25 years, their heirs will receive most of this, and those heirs are mostly millennials.
The question is, what will those heirs do with the money?
The Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens, was once only found in South America, but today is quite ubiqutous. The United States Spain, Portugal, southern France, Italy, Croatia, Malta, the Canary Islands, Switzerland, the Black Sea coast of Russia... Yes, and right here in Southern Africa.
Adult females can lay more that 600 eggs at a time. The larvae that emerge can grow to 2,5 cm. That's about an inch if you don't speak metric.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered his 2020 budget speech yesterday. Brief highlights for me:
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents government passing laws prohibiting freedom of speech.
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the individual right to keep and bear arms.
But what if they are in fact the same thing?
A quick listicle from the World Economic Forum on cognitive biases that could be holding some of us back at work.
Quite a bit of buzz today around the fact that India has overtaken the UK as the world's fifth largest economy.
India's GDP has clocked $2,94 trillion. The UK sits at $2,83 trillion followed by France at $2,71 trillion.
There's been a lot of grumbling from India's opposition Congress party who've pointed out that manufacturing has declined in its overall contribution to GDP (in spite of Prime Minister Modi's much-hyped "Make in India" campaign).
Earlier this week, someone expressed an opinion as to why he/she should be forced to subscribe to company medical aid. "The problem is companies to do not give us a choice. We are forced into joining (Discovery Health). That's what we need our government to look at. Why are we forced to join our provider"
I responded: "You’re not forced to work for such companies. Do the honorable thing. Resign and use public healthcare.?"
Naturally, outrage ensued.
