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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (11804)	8/15/2001 2:58:30 PM
From: Tom Byron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 80999

test.crbindex.com@DX.1 but the us dollar is getting strung out.... dear guree-in-waiting: what is a goldbugger to do....goldie goes down and so does the us dollar....please point us in the direction of the golden path....tanks.

To: sea_urchin who wrote (11804)	8/15/2001 3:07:57 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 80999

REPLY TO LONG-GONE long-gone, what a question?! Indeed, if I could answer it properly I would be a very clever fellow, which I am not. However, I'll do what I can. Actually, I heard the particular interview with Cyril Ramaphosa and Tim Sebastian, who was in SA to do a series of similar interviews with various important people. The reason he came is because SA is beset with problems and I think he wanted to find out for himself what various people thought. Frankly, I don't know what Cyril Ramaphosa is after because he became a multi-millionaire overnight, simply because he's a smart guy and was in the right place at the right time. Now, it seems, he's embarrassed about his own wealth and wants largesse to fall on his 'brothers' --- only he doesn't want to distribute from his own pocket! So, the whites must give. Today, the whites in SA are the "whipping boys" for every failure of the ANC or black businessmen --- and there are many failures. If it's not the whites, then it's colonialism, apartheid, the West, slavery or some other white-conceived conspiracy or evil against blacks. A major difficulty is that SA blacks just do not seem able to handle the problems associated with business. So many have tried and failed. I don't know what the problem is, possibly it's just the wrong mindset because, let me tell you, the SA whites would like nothing more than having blacks "kicking arse" in business. Sure, there are successful ones, but unfortunately the overall picture is not rosy. It not a racist thing, because the ANC has put a whole lot of laws in place designed to advance blacks eg affirmative action, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, GEAR etc. SA also has one of the highest rates of taxation in the world but, as in true socialist countries like Sweden, Canada, there are no social advantages for those who pay the taxes. In fact, today, there is major emigration of whites from SA for ECONOMIC reasons (quite apart from crime, political uncertainty etc) --- indeed, it is very hard for whites to find a job in SA. Further, there are now more blacks, Asians, 'coloreds' in university in SA than whites, so there is no shortage of suitably qualified non-whites. The fundamental trouble is that the economy is contracting. There is no foreign investment. Labor is expensive and unproductive and the workers are on strike every six months for some or other hand-out. The government, under Mbeki, is not able to do what is necessary to restore confidence and get the show on the road. Mbeki, himself, is is a most unimpressive leader whose head is in the clouds with grandiose, unifying schemes for the rest of Africa. His policy on AIDS, which will decimate the population, is a disaster. Furthermore, the situation in Zimbabwe has aggravated the SA problem immensely. There will be more emigration and even less foreign investment. So, be glad that you live in the US and that you don't have to contend with the problems of SA.