Crude - below $30
For the first time in decades, Crude (Brent) is below $30 per barrel. If you are residing in a country where your currency is worth more than the paper it is printed on, this is great news.
The ZAR was worth more than the USD when I was a youngster. we paid ZAR 0.82 for a USD and prior to the sanctions and the '71 oil price crisis Ford and GM products were more abundant than VW beetles. We paid approximately R2.00 for a British Pound. You could buy a Benz for less than a Chevvy or a Ford.
Even after the oil fiasco during the seventies, we still had the strongest currency in Africa. The infrastructure was better developed than most European countries and Nothing in Africa could touch us.
This state was maintained until 1994.
Now we have to multiply the USD price by 17 to get the Rand value and the British Pound by 23 - the slide is so rapid that one has to check the exchange rate at the time of purchase, or else you may be underpaying for your import with the resulting inconvenience of having to transfer money again, very soon otherwise one will have to repeat the EFT process again.
WHY - Let us look at the micro-economy first, say for instance a small manufacturing business. Dependents - 20 to 40 persons
MD - Credentials (preferred) MBA or CA
CEO - MBA or at least a Tertiary qualification
Floor Manager - appropriate tertiary qualification or at least a minimum of five years applicable experience + Grade twelve with appropriate subjects.
Operating staff - qualifications applicable to the position.
Recruitment method: Application through employment agencies, shortlist after background check by agency.
Interview by Director, CEO, and Manager
Three month probation period.
Permanent appointment or contract awarded only if performance criteria are met.
If the business is well managed, i.e. overheads kept to a minimum by controlling stock, water and electricity used sparingly and security maintained to prevent theft and so on, the business will probably flourish.
If all the prerequisites are in place and the product(s) are reasonably priced and of reasonably good quality and obviously something for which a demand exists, then the business is likely to survive.
Point is, it has to produce products that are better than the next guy's product and priced competitively.
This can only be achieved by being effective in all spheres of the business.
It is achieved by appointing the best possible persons in all the different sections of the business and managing them to make sure that they keep on producing the best possible results.
In any small business, if a person is caught pilfering, the chances are good that said person will soon not be employed by said business very much longer - the bugger will be FIRED, DISCHARGED, KICKED OUT. WHY, because said bugger will be placing the business and all the other (HONEST) workers at risk.
All the structures are in place to allow for legally managing staff and resources to maximise efficiency of said small enterprise.
THE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY'S MACRO ECONOMY. Dependents 55 million and growing.
Recruitment methods;Check if person is related to the recruiter. If in doubt, send for blood test and genetic assessment to confirm.
Background check; how is the person related - if it is a first tier genetic tie, give a ministerial job, second tier, give a deputy Ministerial job and so on.
Must be a member of the ruling party.
Tell the populace what they want to know at Ruling Party sponsored meetings all over the show.
Get elected because of above.
MD - Jacob Z. Credentials - 3 years at school (primary)
gift of the gab in Xhosa
ability lo giggle when caught out for some naughtiness
ability to transfer the attention of the populace away from himself by creating some newsworthy diversion - it works every time.
Of dubious character.
Propensity to spend lots of tax money on himself and his cronies.
High libido.
Enjoys Flying - especially with another liner in close proximity,
probably as diversion for *GTA missiles from "Boeremag" members or
other political factions i.e. Zulu people.
*Ground To Air
Extraordinary ability with numerical data (see well known speech at ANC meeting
Extraordinary knowledge of geography (see his comments regarding the size of the African continent - how all the other continents will fit within the African continent.)
Enjoys disrupting of the traffic flow by surrounding himself with many
black vehicles of German manufacture when driving on the freeways of
the country
Other Management - Most of the top Management staff i.e. Minister of Finance, Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister of Police, Minister of Education, Minister of Home Affairs etc. and their assistants.
Credentials - Former inmates of the notorious Robben Island Prison
Propensity to spend Tax money as per example set by the MD
Enjoys flying - unfortunately without the diversion.
Enjoys extended stays at the London Ritz or similar accommodation
offered in other countries.
Preference to appointing commissions of enquiry and consulting
firms to do their work.
Same enjoyment of traffic disruption as the MD.
Diversion of Tax money into "other" ventures.
Appointment of unqualified family members and friends in key positions.
The criteria applied to commissions of inquiry and consulting personnel:
Must be blood relations - not required to have any knowledge of the actual job at hand - Duration of inquiry usually not specified.
THE RESULTS;
a. The ZAR reduces in value over 22 years by a factor of X 9.
b. The RSA becomes an importer of foodstuffs
c. THE RSA does not have food security anymore due to land restitution laws removing qualified farmers from position either by killing them off or buying their land at deflated values due to the unnatural demise of neighbours in close proximity.(terror tactics?)
d. We do not have a working rail transport system anymore - we will probable never regain the system as most of the rails have been privatized and sold to scrap metal merchants and the cost of repairing the network far outstrips our GDP.
e. The Locomotives that were purchased in an attempt to revive a small fraction of the system does not fit our rails and are too high to pass under most of the rail bridges.
f. Our Jails are cluttered with ten times more criminals than they were designed for - this tells us that we have an increased criminal element by a factor of at least X 10, probably much higher because the jails were never filled to capacity prior to the appointment of the current management.
g. We have one of the highest rape stats in the world
h. We have one of the highest murder rates in the world
i. We have one of the highest road accident death rates in the world
j. We have one of the highest drunk driving rates in the world
k. We have one of the highest pedestrian death rates in the world.
l. We have no more E-Coli negative water reservoirs
m. We have no more E-Coli negative rivers or streams left.
n. We have the deepest potholes in the world
o. We have the highest number of "POTHOLES AHEAD" warning signs in the world.
p. If you see a pair of ears protruding from a pothole, do not assume that it belongs to a rabbit, stop, it
is likely to be the ears of a Giraffe
p. Ten million of our credit active population have repayment-of -debt-problems.
q. etc.etc,etc,etc,etc. ad nauseam.
All the above can be ascribed to the best MACRO ECONOMY MANAGEMENT on this planet.
WE ARE THE BEST AT EVERYTHING WE DO
The ZAR was worth more than the USD when I was a youngster. we paid ZAR 0.82 for a USD and prior to the sanctions and the '71 oil price crisis Ford and GM products were more abundant than VW beetles. We paid approximately R2.00 for a British Pound. You could buy a Benz for less than a Chevvy or a Ford.
Even after the oil fiasco during the seventies, we still had the strongest currency in Africa. The infrastructure was better developed than most European countries and Nothing in Africa could touch us.
This state was maintained until 1994.
Now we have to multiply the USD price by 17 to get the Rand value and the British Pound by 23 - the slide is so rapid that one has to check the exchange rate at the time of purchase, or else you may be underpaying for your import with the resulting inconvenience of having to transfer money again, very soon otherwise one will have to repeat the EFT process again.
WHY - Let us look at the micro-economy first, say for instance a small manufacturing business. Dependents - 20 to 40 persons
MD - Credentials (preferred) MBA or CA
CEO - MBA or at least a Tertiary qualification
Floor Manager - appropriate tertiary qualification or at least a minimum of five years applicable experience + Grade twelve with appropriate subjects.
Operating staff - qualifications applicable to the position.
Recruitment method: Application through employment agencies, shortlist after background check by agency.
Interview by Director, CEO, and Manager
Three month probation period.
Permanent appointment or contract awarded only if performance criteria are met.
If the business is well managed, i.e. overheads kept to a minimum by controlling stock, water and electricity used sparingly and security maintained to prevent theft and so on, the business will probably flourish.
If all the prerequisites are in place and the product(s) are reasonably priced and of reasonably good quality and obviously something for which a demand exists, then the business is likely to survive.
Point is, it has to produce products that are better than the next guy's product and priced competitively.
This can only be achieved by being effective in all spheres of the business.
It is achieved by appointing the best possible persons in all the different sections of the business and managing them to make sure that they keep on producing the best possible results.
In any small business, if a person is caught pilfering, the chances are good that said person will soon not be employed by said business very much longer - the bugger will be FIRED, DISCHARGED, KICKED OUT. WHY, because said bugger will be placing the business and all the other (HONEST) workers at risk.
All the structures are in place to allow for legally managing staff and resources to maximise efficiency of said small enterprise.
THE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY'S MACRO ECONOMY. Dependents 55 million and growing.
Recruitment methods;Check if person is related to the recruiter. If in doubt, send for blood test and genetic assessment to confirm.
Background check; how is the person related - if it is a first tier genetic tie, give a ministerial job, second tier, give a deputy Ministerial job and so on.
Must be a member of the ruling party.
Tell the populace what they want to know at Ruling Party sponsored meetings all over the show.
Get elected because of above.
MD - Jacob Z. Credentials - 3 years at school (primary)
gift of the gab in Xhosa
ability lo giggle when caught out for some naughtiness
ability to transfer the attention of the populace away from himself by creating some newsworthy diversion - it works every time.
Of dubious character.
Propensity to spend lots of tax money on himself and his cronies.
High libido.
Enjoys Flying - especially with another liner in close proximity,
probably as diversion for *GTA missiles from "Boeremag" members or
other political factions i.e. Zulu people.
*Ground To Air
Extraordinary ability with numerical data (see well known speech at ANC meeting
Extraordinary knowledge of geography (see his comments regarding the size of the African continent - how all the other continents will fit within the African continent.)
Enjoys disrupting of the traffic flow by surrounding himself with many
black vehicles of German manufacture when driving on the freeways of
the country
Other Management - Most of the top Management staff i.e. Minister of Finance, Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister of Police, Minister of Education, Minister of Home Affairs etc. and their assistants.
Credentials - Former inmates of the notorious Robben Island Prison
Propensity to spend Tax money as per example set by the MD
Enjoys flying - unfortunately without the diversion.
Enjoys extended stays at the London Ritz or similar accommodation
offered in other countries.
Preference to appointing commissions of enquiry and consulting
firms to do their work.
Same enjoyment of traffic disruption as the MD.
Diversion of Tax money into "other" ventures.
Appointment of unqualified family members and friends in key positions.
The criteria applied to commissions of inquiry and consulting personnel:
Must be blood relations - not required to have any knowledge of the actual job at hand - Duration of inquiry usually not specified.
THE RESULTS;
a. The ZAR reduces in value over 22 years by a factor of X 9.
b. The RSA becomes an importer of foodstuffs
c. THE RSA does not have food security anymore due to land restitution laws removing qualified farmers from position either by killing them off or buying their land at deflated values due to the unnatural demise of neighbours in close proximity.(terror tactics?)
d. We do not have a working rail transport system anymore - we will probable never regain the system as most of the rails have been privatized and sold to scrap metal merchants and the cost of repairing the network far outstrips our GDP.
e. The Locomotives that were purchased in an attempt to revive a small fraction of the system does not fit our rails and are too high to pass under most of the rail bridges.
f. Our Jails are cluttered with ten times more criminals than they were designed for - this tells us that we have an increased criminal element by a factor of at least X 10, probably much higher because the jails were never filled to capacity prior to the appointment of the current management.
g. We have one of the highest rape stats in the world
h. We have one of the highest murder rates in the world
i. We have one of the highest road accident death rates in the world
j. We have one of the highest drunk driving rates in the world
k. We have one of the highest pedestrian death rates in the world.
l. We have no more E-Coli negative water reservoirs
m. We have no more E-Coli negative rivers or streams left.
n. We have the deepest potholes in the world
o. We have the highest number of "POTHOLES AHEAD" warning signs in the world.
p. If you see a pair of ears protruding from a pothole, do not assume that it belongs to a rabbit, stop, it
is likely to be the ears of a Giraffe
p. Ten million of our credit active population have repayment-of -debt-problems.
q. etc.etc,etc,etc,etc. ad nauseam.
All the above can be ascribed to the best MACRO ECONOMY MANAGEMENT on this planet.
WE ARE THE BEST AT EVERYTHING WE DO
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