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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Economic Debate and the Politics of Unreason
Author:Schrire, Robert A.ISNI
Year:1992
Periodical:South Africa International
Volume:23
Issue:2
Period:October
Pages:71-77
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:economic inequality
economic policy
Politics and Government
Economics and Trade
Abstract:In South Africa most members of the population have been excluded, at least in part, from both the political debate and the economic system. However, in the debate on South Africa's future economy which is currently taking place, issues of distribution and equality play an important role. The author first describes the probable economic demands which will face a transformed South Africa. Then, placing the South African realities in the context of global experiences, he concludes that, in the short term, the prospects for meaningful redistribution are limited. What is needed is a multidimensional strategy that focuses on a range of redistributive mechanisms that do not damage economic growth. Such a strategy would include the following aims: to reduce population growth; to improve the quality of the work force; to increase growth rates; to increase economic equity; and to create a realistic safety net for the poor. The short-term constraints on redistribution are overwhelming. However, the economic debate is, in fact, a political debate, in which the politics of unreason, which represents the demonstrably wrong interpretation of South African realities, is not automatically destined to be defeated by the politics of reason, which represents the demonstrably accurate facts about South Africa. Ref., sum.
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