Is it right that we all bitch so much about banks? I think one of the greatest lessons in life is gratitude. When I was in SA I ran motivational, empowerment courses for children. One lesson dealt with gratitude. All the kids were put in pairs, blindfolded, had marshmallows shoved in their delighted mouths, instructed […]
Business
Posted inBusiness
The colossal failure of credit rating agencies to prevent the global financial crisis
The role of credit rating agencies such as Fitch Ratings Agency, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s has been under greater scrutiny since the subprime crisis caused havoc in the US economy and spilled to others. It is without doubt that these rating agencies have been the law unto themselves and accorded absolute power to shape […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Developing online ventures in SA
Ideas are free. Developing them into viable businesses, not so much. Developing them into viable online businesses…well…take a number. Especially if you live in South Africa. Entrepreneurs with exciting new ideas for online ventures usually have two problems: 1. They are unable to get funded for the first stage of developing their product 2. Their […]
Posted inBusiness
How much do you hate your bank?
How do I hate my bank? Let me count the ways. I hate Standard Bank because they charge R12 a page to send me electronic statements. That’s right: electronic statements, not paper ones. Not even lawyers have the cheek to do that. I hate Standard Bank because they charge service fees for not delivering service […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Kill the home computer! Viva!
A reasonable, basic, start-up desktop PC with all the necessary accessories and running Microsoft Windows’ notoriously atrocious Vista will set you back at least R8 000. Add in broadband connectivity and the mandatory ball-and-chain contracts, and the whole rigmarole will put a ten-to-twelve-grand hole in your family savings. That’s right now. Tomorrow it will be […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
Black buying power, white business and the politics of Nelson Mandela Square
In 1988 South Africa saw the launch of one of its fashion boutiques — a man’s shop called Aca Joe. I started buying from it and was one of its countless African male customers. I don’t exactly know why. Maybe I was hungry for something indigenous, street wise, which was also classy and stylish. Not […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Who pays when the revolution comes?
Determining who is responsible for the most frightening financial meltdown since the Great Depression requires some clarification of the facts. The first is this: blaming America’s housing collapse for the crisis is simplistic and deceptive. The Economist reports that by 2006 the total value of sub-prime mortgages amounted to $600-billion. That total had probably increased […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The children sense Daddy Warbucks’ mood
I am busy scribbling away at the nefarious second installment of the diabolical trilogy on the credit crunch. It’s the one about who is to blame and should be a big hit, what with us being bloggers and readers of blogs. Blaming for us is like blaring for a chairman when an impertinent shareholder dares […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Can you count to a trillion?
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one. — Charles Mackay in Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Men go crazy in congregations, they only get better one by one — […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Hollywood has moved to Wall Street
Watching financial and news TV channels this morning, it is incredible to note another change in the slant of the newscasts. It’s an ongoing changing scene and would be really entertaining to observe if it weren’t about such a bad situation. During the past months the media has been reporting that the USA and UK […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics, Sport
How little has changed. How much has changed
Now that my loved ones are safely in another country, I feel free to return to record the facts, fables, foibles and fantasies of surviving in South Africa. I put blogging on TL on the back-burner eight months ago after threats on my life and my children from supporters of Jacob Zuma. My landlord has […]
Posted inBusiness
Telkom you @#$” bastards
My last post as an aggrieved Nedbank customer drew a lot of interest and made me, very briefly I admit, almost as popular as Michael Trapido. Encouraged, I offer you Chapter 2 of my small business nightmare: today Telkom cut off my phones without warning. When I finally got through to their call-centre I was […]