This paper offers a comprehensive review of macroeconomic policy in democratic South Africa. It does so with two distinctive features. First, macroeconomic policy is analysed on four interlocking, and sometimes conflicting, levels: [1] policy as provided “on paper” in government plans and...

Many proponents of conservative fiscal policies talk of the budget deficit as being a matter of intergenerational equality. However, this paper shows the younger generations (and those yet to be born) will contribute more to the deficit than older generations. This analysis uses data from the...

The Great Recession has left tens of millions of families facing unemployment, underemployment and the threat of losing their home. However,concerns over the deficit threaten to derail efforts to turn around the economy and spur employment. This report attempts to correct many of the...

Recently governments, economists, and international financial institutions have been debating the merits of further fiscal stimulus to combat the Great Recession versus fiscal austerity or “adjustment” – that is, higher taxes and/or lower government spending – to combat budget deficits....

With the economy suffering from near double-digit unemployment, public debate is dominated by concerns over the budget deficit and national debt. This discussion is unfortunate both because there is no reason for people to be concerned about the deficit at present, and more importantly, because...

The impacts of fluctuations of exchange rates of foreign hard currencies are well documented in economics literature. There are measures taken over by countries to absorb their impacts on income, employment and national economies ability to function and produce. However, distortions are observed...

Economic recovery plans make up a important part of the wide-ranging package of measures that economic policy-makers worldwide have taken in response to the financial and economic crisis. More specifically, the EU Member States have either approved or announced fiscal measures to boost economic...

How may professionals be made to contribute to legislative processes so that their expertise redounds to the public interest, despite the legislative product being likely to have a negative impact on their clients' wealth? Drawing on a case study of the legislative process which gave birth to...