Martin

@ME_Beaumont Still peddling propaganda are we?

I don't suppose we will see Helen Zille doggy paddling in these township lakes in Cape Town after 20 years of DA government that only benefitted some?

@mikeharrisNY Things have improved in recent weeks

I've realized something that has compelled me to reassess the causes of the demise of FinTwit. X algos have contributed definitively, especially blocking links, the Stack, and punishing impressions of the little guy, but 80% of the decline has been due to a few FinTwit accounts.

@BuddyWells1 @mommy_moneyza How do you manage exchange rate impact. Easiest way to bring down inflation is to strengthen currency.

Govt spending into private sector accounts when it productively employs / invests, funded by central bank credit, creates demand for goods and services and reduces costs for households and busineses. Lower costs for businesses and higher demand results in more private sector investment. Private sector investment (increased employment) creates demand for goods and services too. The SARB is an organ of state, created and governed by an act of parliament (SARB Act).

Unemployment is simply a policy choice by the rand issuing state not to employ the unemployed. While inflation in SA is cost pushed & demand for our labour, goods & services is too low (unemployment), the Rand issuing state can steadily increase employment at a rate that ensures a healthy amount of demand for goods and services (govt employees spend their wages on the goods and services the rest of us sell). A moderate amount of demand pull incentivises private sector investment & employment to profit from matching new demand with increased supply of goods and services. If govt focuses on employing & investing in ways that reduce household & businesses costs, like rolling out energy, water & public transport networks, education, healthcare etc, then the drop in costs & cost push inflation, is further incentive for private investment & employment. Continuing SA’s extreme unemployment, poverty and inequality largely along racial lines is far more risky than targeting a healthy rate of demand pull inflation to drive development, employment, education growth & investment. It’s counterproductive and just plain stupid to pretend that the Rand issuing state has no money to drive the improvements we need, while the Rand using private sector is clearly incapable and unwilling to do so, largely because of lack of demand & high costs / risk caused by that pretence. Govt spending creates money. When the state taxes, money is destroyed. While inflation is cost pushed and demand is too low, govt can offset more of its spending with low interest SARB credit (to increase demand and reduce costs) and less with taxes and high interest bond sales, which add cost and reduce demand. When the state pays a govt employee to build, teach, police, nurse etc, the amount in the govt employee’s account is increased. That employee then spends those Rand onward on the goods and services the rest of us sell, which increases incomes, sales and profit. Govt taxes a portion of those incomes sales and profit, destroying a portion of those Rands created by the govt spending. The people who sold those goods and services then spend what remains of those Rand onward, again increasing incomes, sales & profit, and again a portion is destroyed by taxation. Eventually after a few transactions, all the money govt spent into supply on the public servant’s wage is removed by taxation. But in the meantime, we had increased incomes, sales, profits, employment & GDP. And more private sector investment & employment. When we understand the process properly, it becomes clear that the state can drive productive growth, employment and development.

Has Iran surrendered yet or?

@handre @LukeJohnsonRCP AI slop

Central planners still can't grasp what Hayek understood decades ago — the most sophisticated systems emerge precisely because no bureaucrat is pulling the strings. Language, markets, cities, the internet. All spontaneous orders that no government committee could design if they tried for a thousand years. And yet these same politicians think they can micromanage healthcare, education, and monetary policy. The hubris is breathtaking. But here's the part that really drives them insane: spontaneous order doesn't just work better than their top-down schemes — it makes their entire profession obsolete. No wonder they fight it so hard. When complex coordination happens without their permission, what exactly are we paying them for?

@nick_pope @Slawrie23 @MattHarperUK @tomhfh Feature or bug?

@GrokCapital @Slawrie23 @MattHarperUK @tomhfh It's rather more complex than that.

This was a choice. Someone, somewhere chose to design the building on the left to: 1. Not match its neighbours. 2. Do so in a remarkably drab, dour, declinist way. We used to be a country.

@nick_pope @Slawrie23 @MattHarperUK @tomhfh Simple to solve. Put some people in with good taste.

@Slawrie23 @MattHarperUK @tomhfh And planning decisions are too often not made in the way people think... The planning system is poorly understood.

LMAO 🤣 I am NEVER deleting this app

@DeanMacpherson another sassy DA response

You forgot to mention the house is worth R50 million and in Bishopscourt.

@TfL but then Edgware Road lines from Wimbledon running. What’s the issue with the lines to Upminster/Barking

@TfL wtf is wrong with district line this week. No tubes to City from Wimbledon line. Earls Court is a nightmare.

@ShareenSingh8 @justicemalala Yes of course. Don’t use someone who has experiencing in delivering large infrastructure projects from a mayoral position and rather hope that some new individual appears and saves the city.

@justicemalala He must go. JHB does not need Zille or Mashaba - the latter was a DA Mayor. There is an inside story - Dada's instructions do not get implemented. JHB needs a solid, uncompromised Mayoral candidate. Boycott elections could be a strategy.

Parts of the suburb of Melville in Johannesburg has not had water in three weeks. All across the country, cities and towns are experiencing the same “shortages”. I honestly don’t know how the ANC manages to stay in power when there is so much despair and decay in the country.

Utter failure of @TfL @MayorofLondon to not come to an agreement to keep a public good like car sharing in place. Sad

@JamesRLorimer Can imagine the salary this guy consumes vs billable hours of work.

Suburbs like Melville and Parktown West have been without water for more than two weeks. But don’t worry the ANC MMC responsible, Clr Jack Sekwaila is on duty!

@SteveDB @ReissOmari

@ReissOmari They have to let the ground settle for a few months before replacing the flagstones. I bet you would be the first to complain if they were all wonky if they had been replaced immediately!

What’s the point in spending money on nice things when we have companies that do this? This paving isn’t even a year old yet.

Newville Swimming Pool. 55 Shortmarkey Street. 2010 vs 2025.

@GTalevi Absolute specimen!

A beautiful Parkwood crater. Absolute prime specimen:

@madaboutmarkets lol what.

The financial industry spends a lot of time trying to sell better relative returns, but not nearly enough time discussing the appropriateness of the underlying benchmarks in the first place. Prove me wrong

20 Bruce Street. 2010 vs 2025.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of @Richards_Karin, a true pioneer in financial markets analysis. Karin's sharp insights, technical expertise, and dedication to world markets and the $JSE have inspired countless retail and professional investors. @Richards_Karin will be profoundly missed by the entire South African investment community. Our heartfelt condolences to her husband Kevin and family. Rest in peace, @Richards_Karin.