With permission here are some random extracts but the full article needs to be read by clicking on the link or by going to Business Day itself.
“‘WHEN I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less’. ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things’. ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all’.”
“The African National Congress (ANC) Youth League has been demanding ‘economic freedom’ for its members. What the league and perhaps many members of the ANC mean by economic freedom is very different from the ideas of economic freedom long promoted by the Free Market Foundation and economic liberals.”
“The liberals ask for greater freedom for individuals and their agencies, particularly the business firm, to pursue their economic interest, their self-interest, as best they are able. That is, for freedom from restrictions by the government or its agencies on their willingness and ability to buy, sell or hire goods and services, including freedom to offer their labour or hire it as well as to fire or to resign from employment.”
“The freedom of individuals to acquire or dispose of wealth in the form of physical, financial or intellectual property is regarded as a particularly important freedom from government intervention. Foreign exchange controls are such a restriction. A recent report in Business Report, titled Intellectual property ‘no longer freely exportable’, by Wiseman Khuzwayo, illustrates a new or revived restriction on the freedom of South Africans to do what they may wish with the intellectual property they own. The first paragraph reads as follows: ‘When intellectual property rights practitioners were convinced that the law was clear that cross-border transactions involving intellectual property were no longer subject to exchange control regulations, the National Treasury sprung a surprise by declaring they were’.”
“Clearly the freedom of South Africans with intellectual property of financial assets to do with them as they may wish remains constrained, perhaps more so than before. This would not be of concern to those who think of economic freedom as freedom not to act freely but as freedom from want: that is for those who would define economic freedom as relief from poverty. What matters to them are economic outcomes with little regard to how such outcomes are attained.”
“Greater freedom for some to consume more goods and services, without the support of higher incomes earned in the marketplace, can be achieved only by taking away from those with greater incomes or wealth. The case for freedom is a moral one — that it is not fair to forcibly take income or wealth to give to others, provided the incomes or wealth have been the result of a fair process. Fair exchange is not robbery — it requires consent from buyer and seller.”
“The case for freedom is also a highly practical one. For free or freer economies, freedom is always a question of degree, as they deliver many more goods and services from which the poor benefit. They benefit because with economic growth their labour commands more scarcity value and because the tax base upon which they draw for poverty relief becomes a much larger one.”
“It is in the nature of modern political economy that liberty is traded off more or less pragmatically for what are thought to be politically helpful interventions by governments. Such interventions and protections against free market forces may pretend to reduce economic inequalities but are much more likely to be explained by the influence of well-organised vested interests. These politically predominant interests that drive economic policy in one or the other direction are unlikely to be those of the poor.”
“The interests of the poor in South Africa in jobs, education or service delivery do not appear to have been the predominant influence over economic policy. The interests of union members in their own improved standards of living, particularly of those who work for the state, have been much more powerful an influence on the economy.”
“South Africa does not do very well on the economic freedom index. According to the Heritage Foundation, we rank 70th out of about 150 economies and with a large group of countries regarded as “moderately free”. Our economic freedom core is 62,7 out of a possible 100. Hong Kong leads the ranks of “free countries” with a score of 89,9 and is joined in this exalted company by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland in that order. Canada (sixth) and the US (10th) are considered among the mostly free. The UK ranks 14th.”
“The case for more, not less, economic freedom appears very strong. Except unfortunately, as it would appear, within the ranks of the ANC.”
Brian Kantor is chief strategist and economist at Investec Wealth & Investment and his article Strong case exists for more, not less, economic freedom was first published in Business Day on Friday 13 July.
With permission here are some random extracts but the full article needs to be read by clicking on the link or by going to Business Day itself.
“‘WHEN I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less’. ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things’. ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all’.”
“The African National Congress (ANC) Youth League has been demanding ‘economic freedom’ for its members. What the league and perhaps many members of the ANC mean by economic freedom is very different from the ideas of economic freedom long promoted by the Free Market Foundation and economic liberals.”
“The liberals ask for greater freedom for individuals and their agencies, particularly the business firm, to pursue their economic interest, their self-interest, as best they are able. That is, for freedom from restrictions by the government or its agencies on their willingness and ability to buy, sell or hire goods and services, including freedom to offer their labour or hire it as well as to fire or to resign from employment.”
“The freedom of individuals to acquire or dispose of wealth in the form of physical, financial or intellectual property is regarded as a particularly important freedom from government intervention. Foreign exchange controls are such a restriction. A recent report in Business Report, titled Intellectual property ‘no longer freely exportable’, by Wiseman Khuzwayo, illustrates a new or revived restriction on the freedom of South Africans to do what they may wish with the intellectual property they own. The first paragraph reads as follows: ‘When intellectual property rights practitioners were convinced that the law was clear that cross-border transactions involving intellectual property were no longer subject to exchange control regulations, the National Treasury sprung a surprise by declaring they were’.”
“Clearly the freedom of South Africans with intellectual property of financial assets to do with them as they may wish remains constrained, perhaps more so than before. This would not be of concern to those who think of economic freedom as freedom not to act freely but as freedom from want: that is for those who would define economic freedom as relief from poverty. What matters to them are economic outcomes with little regard to how such outcomes are attained.”
“Greater freedom for some to consume more goods and services, without the support of higher incomes earned in the marketplace, can be achieved only by taking away from those with greater incomes or wealth. The case for freedom is a moral one — that it is not fair to forcibly take income or wealth to give to others, provided the incomes or wealth have been the result of a fair process. Fair exchange is not robbery — it requires consent from buyer and seller.”
“The case for freedom is also a highly practical one. For free or freer economies, freedom is always a question of degree, as they deliver many more goods and services from which the poor benefit. They benefit because with economic growth their labour commands more scarcity value and because the tax base upon which they draw for poverty relief becomes a much larger one.”
“It is in the nature of modern political economy that liberty is traded off more or less pragmatically for what are thought to be politically helpful interventions by governments. Such interventions and protections against free market forces may pretend to reduce economic inequalities but are much more likely to be explained by the influence of well-organised vested interests. These politically predominant interests that drive economic policy in one or the other direction are unlikely to be those of the poor.”
“The interests of the poor in South Africa in jobs, education or service delivery do not appear to have been the predominant influence over economic policy. The interests of union members in their own improved standards of living, particularly of those who work for the state, have been much more powerful an influence on the economy.”
“South Africa does not do very well on the economic freedom index. According to the Heritage Foundation, we rank 70th out of about 150 economies and with a large group of countries regarded as “moderately free”. Our economic freedom core is 62,7 out of a possible 100. Hong Kong leads the ranks of “free countries” with a score of 89,9 and is joined in this exalted company by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland in that order. Canada (sixth) and the US (10th) are considered among the mostly free. The UK ranks 14th.”
“The case for more, not less, economic freedom appears very strong. Except unfortunately, as it would appear, within the ranks of the ANC.”
There are a number of earlier posts regarding the true meaning of ‘economic freedom’:
Economic freedom & ANCYL – anything but the ’seven pillars of wisdom’ (Eustace Davie in Business Day) referring to an article by Eustace Davie, a director of the Free Market Foundation, first published in Business Day – Drop the double speak on economic freedom.
In 2009 a blog was posted to assist in understanding the meaning of words like ‘liberal’, ‘conservative’ and ‘socialist’ – see Meaning of ‘liberal’ in Europe & USA. See also the blog – Van Zyl Slabbert needs to be honoured & his liberalism debated.