Economic crisis in South Africa: 1974-1986

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented August, 1987Symptoms of economic crisis - long run economic decline – are now so widespread in South Africa that the existence of such a crisis is increasingly taken for granted in public discussions of the state of the economy and its possible improvement. Even the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Gerhard de Kock, now uses the "structural slowdown" (his label for economic crisis) to fend off the charge that the primary responsibility for economic decline, culminating in the foreign debt debacle of August 1985, lies with the Banks' shift, in the years from 1979, to a fundamentally different policy orientation. He has recently argued that "the structural slowdown of South Africa's real rate of growth began roundabout 1974 and not in 1981." The drop from an annual average growth rate of real GDP of 4,9% (1940 - 1974) to 1,9% (1974 -1985) was, he argued, "mainly the result of a decline in the ratio of exports to Gross Domestic Product and a weakening of the terms of trade ... [These and other] unfavourable exogenous developments since the early seventies made drastic and painful adjustments in South Africa unavoidable." (1

The origins of the South African Reserve Bank

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented September, 1984The South African Reserve Bank was opened on June 30, 1921, having been established under the provisions of the Currency and Banking Act (No. 31 of 1920). There was at the time only one other central bank in the British Empire, the Bank of England itself. The Act had been drafted after a situation of chaos developed in the South African monetary system. In March 1919, when the British Government abandoned its wartime rate of exchange between the pound sterling and gold, the pound depreciated to produce a ‘gold premium’. British gold sovereigns, obtainable for 20s. from banks in S.A. now commanded a considerably higher price outside the country. Large numbers of coins were now smuggled out, contravening the S.A. government's ban on their export. Although the premium was effectively keeping many of the goldmines afloat, the S.A. banks found themselves in a disastrous situation, being forced to import, and provide to the public at 20s. increasing numbers of coins purchased at the premium price. The eventual government response was to withdraw sovereigns from circulation, and to establish the Reserve Bank to prevent a recurrence of such an untenable situation. There was thus a fundamental restructuring of the form of regulation of the S.A. monetary system

The politics of macroeconomic policy reform in South Africa.

Paper presented at the Wits History Workshop: Forging the links between historical research and the policy process, 18-19 September 1999. Also presented at the Conference on "Democracy and the political economy of reform", Cape Town, 16-18 January 1998. Incomplete draft paper. Consent needed to cite or quote.Macroeconomic reforms can be easily introduced by changing the interest rate, exchange rate and wages. These changes have uneven distributional consequences. So how the beneficiaries and losers are treated needs skilled political management. Politics needs to be excluded so the disadvantaged people cannot interfere. As it is implemented this centralised arbitrary approach runs into opposition . More stable reforms might be achieved by negotiation. This will also be more democratic

The shift in manufacturing employment in China

Chinese manufacturers, in particular in labour-intensive industries, are striving hard for ways to withstand pressures such as slowing economic growth, labour force shortages and rising factor costs. Light manufacturing offers growth solutions for under-developed regions and economies as it is driven by low factor costs and an abundant workforce. Using data from multiple official sources, this report aims to identify the pattern of current manufacturing employment shifts within China and focus on regional and industrial disparities – primarily through the study of four manufacturing sub-sectors

Solar Neutrinos and the Eclipse Effect

The solar neutrino counting rate in a real time detector like Super--Kamiokanda, SNO, or Borexino is enhanced due to neutrino oscillations in the Moon during a partial or total solar eclipse. The enhancement is calculated as a function of the neutrino parameters in the case of three flavor mixing. This enhancement, if seen, can further help to determine the neutrino parameters.Comment: 24 Pages Revtex, 8 figures as one ps file. To appear in Phys. Rev. D; Some typos corrected and a reference adde

Lack of group X secreted phospholipase A₂ increases survival following pandemic H1N1 influenza infection

The role of Group X secreted phospholipase A2 (GX-sPLA2) during influenza infection has not been previously investigated. We examined the role of GX-sPLA2 during H1N1 pandemic influenza infection in a GX-sPLA2 gene targeted mouse (GX−/−) model and found that survival after infection was significantly greater in GX−/− mice than in GX+/+ mice. Downstream products of GX-sPLA2 activity, PGD2, PGE2, LTB4, cysteinyl leukotrienes and Lipoxin A4 were significantly lower in GX−/− mice BAL fluid. Lung microarray analysis identified an earlier and more robust induction of T and B cell associated genes in GX−/− mice. Based on the central role of sPLA2 enzymes as key initiators of inflammatory processes, we propose that activation of GX-sPLA2 during H1N1pdm infection is an early step of pulmonary inflammation and its inhibition increases adaptive immunity and improves survival. Our findings suggest that GX-sPLA2 may be a potential therapeutic target during influenza

Gatekeepers of financial power: from London to Lagos

The main premise of this paper is that, until recently, African elites did not regulate or control financial flows moving across the continent. They were not financial gatekeepers. In Africa Since 1940, Cooper identified African elites as gatekeepers regulating access to resources and opportunities passing through strategic sites. This paper makes a case for revision of existing notions of the gatekeeper state in an ongoing effort to (re)negotiate the continent’s colonial past through two new arguments. The first is that financial power was never located at a ‘peripheral’ African gate, but resolutely held onto within leading financial centres, circumventing any opportunity for African elites to control financial flows. Failure to distinguish between types of flows distorts analysis of African political economic power under colonialism. It is only in the post-2000 period, that we see powerful African states driving the integration of African markets into the global financial system. The second argument is that these African goals to control financial flows correspond more to ‘gateway’ strategies than to gatekeeper. Drawing on the case of Lagos, I demonstrate how this ‘gateway’ concept better captures trans-scalar processes of new financial clustering in Africa’s emerging markets than a concept associated with ‘gates’ under Empire

Emergent Orthotopic Liver Transplantation for Hemorrhage from a Giant Cavernous Hepatic Hemangioma: Case Report and Review

IntroductionCavernous hemangiomas represent the most common benign primary hepatic neoplasm, often being incidentally detected. Although the majority of hepatic hemangiomas remain asymptomatic, symptomatic hepatic hemangiomas can present with abdominal pain, hemorrhage, biliary compression, or a consumptive coagulopathy. The optimal surgical management of symptomatic hepatic hemangiomas remains controversial, with resection, enucleation, and both deceased donor and living donor liver transplantation having been reported.Case reportWe report the case of a patient found to have a unique syndrome of multiorgan cavernous hemangiomatosis involving the liver, lung, omentum, and spleen without cutaneous involvement. Sixteen years following her initial diagnosis, the patient suffered from intra-abdominal hemorrhage due to her giant cavernous hepatic hemangioma. Evidence of continued bleeding, in the setting of Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome and worsening abdominal compartment syndrome, prompted MELD exemption listing. The patient subsequently underwent emergent liver transplantation without complication.ConclusionAlthough cavernous hemangiomas represent the most common benign primary hepatic neoplasm, hepatic hemangioma rupture remains a rare presentation in these patients. Management at a center with expertise in liver transplantation is warranted for those patients presenting with worsening DIC or hemorrhage, given the potential for rapid clinical decompensation