Anyone involved in international is undoubtably familiar with Incoterms, the acronym for International Commercial Terms. But familiarity does not necessary imply in-depth understanding and... 

It is March 8. No, not as you read, but as I write this piece. And this bring me to the question: Do you believe in chance or luck? Do you believe in coincidence? Maybe Laura Pedersen’s assertion... 

Adam Smith, the father of economics, famously said that that “every person lives by exchanging”. Truth be told, he he actually said ‘man’, which I have replaced with ‘person’. If Smith were with us... 

There are two words that invoke the same emotion when I hear them: ‘like’ and ‘investment’. ‘Like’ is considered a filler word, also known as a pause filler or hesitation form, as it is so... 

Talk about a powerful international trade trilogy alliance. You simply do not get a more powerful alliance than the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the... 

Have you ever attended a a rock concert that celebrated a single album FROM a single band? To be clear: the music tracks of a singular album, with no bonus tracks. Yes, there is such an album and... 

Eighteen years ago to the day, on February 2, 2001, this column appeared in print for the very first time. That particular Friday must have been a slow news day in South Africa. South African... 

Isn’t it curious how, daily, we see and hear words, without really seeing and hearing the words, with the meaning and definition of the words, rightly or wrongly, set and formalised in our minds.... 

It is ‘harmonized' with a 'z', and not an 's', as it is 'organization' with a 'z', and not an 's'. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself – well, with the organization, that is. In last week’s... 

The title of this piece is a phrase used by King Théoden, South African-born JRR Tolkien's fictional character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, just before the major battle at Helms Deep, as... 

At first glance, Ibiwisi appears to be a word from one of South Africa’s many indigenous languages – but, alas, it is not. The origin of the word itself is a mystery, which on the present-day... 

If you have a few pounds to spare (that is, British pounds, the currency), will have some time to spare on December 12, would be in London on that day and have an interest in economics or... 

How familiar are you with the Kyoto Convention, which must not to be confused with the Kyoto Protocol? The full name of the latter is the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention... 

The words in the headline are attributable to Uncle Ben, Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben. And you might know Peter Parker who you might know better as Spiderman. This iconic phrase, however, was not... 

As the age-old adage goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same. What this means is that turbulent changes do not affect reality on a deeper level and serve to cement the status... 

It is not too difficult to get carried away by one’s emotions. Only minutes before I sat down to write this article, my beloved Sharks had beaten Western Province in the Currie Cup final. That... 

With all the nonsense packaged as news that you are subjected to – or, more correctly, bombarded with – on a daily basis, it is quite easy for you to get sucked in and to then not see the forest... 

Is it not strange how quickly we get accustomed to terminology that rolls off our tongues and finds its way into our writings and yet we do not even know its true meaning? The term 'nontariff... 

Take a moment to reflect on the phrase 'irregular expenditure'. What thoughts does it evoke? Anything? These two words, I wager, have been rendered devoid of their impact, owing to excessive use. 

The words in the headline are considered to be the most terrifying in the English language. This is not my assessment, but that of the gentleman who famously uttered them, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the... 

It is said that there are only three kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who cannot. The stimulus and recovery plan has sevral broad parts: implementation of... 

It is said that bad news comes in threes. If only South Africa was that fortunate – the country exhausted its quota a long time ago, and hardly a week goes by without bad news about the performance... 

“Is you is or is you ain't?”, to partially borrow from the title of American blues musician BB King’s song. Is South Africa in a recession or ain’t it? It is a simple enough question that should... 

“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” These humorous words tend to be attributable to Winnie-the-Pooh. But I am afraid these were not Pooh’s words, and neither were they... 

They say every silver lining has a cloud or every cloud has a silver lining? Which of the phrases do you prefer? Surely, it depends on whether you are of the glass-half-full or glass-half-empty... 

So, will the increase in the variable formula tariff (VFT) on sugar – or the 'honey without bees', as Alexander the Great called it – mitigate the harshness of international trade or be the... 

One word or two? So, which is the correct option for South Africa’s State-owned enterprises (SOEs)? Hint: a bailout is the act of giving financial assistance to a failing business or economy to... 

Have you seen any mention of the publicat of the International Monetary Forum's (IMF's) 2018 Article IV consultation with South Africa? For what I have seen, it was released through a notice from... 

The headline of this article sounds a bit like a 1960s band. A popular music band. A pop band. But, alas, it is no band – it is what should be an honest reflection of what the world knows as Brics,... 

A R2 300,000 000 loss, R19 600 000 000 in irregular expenditure, net cash from operations declining by 21.81% from R45 800 000 00 to R37 600 000 000, total debt increasing by 55.04% from R387 000... 

The semantics around land expropriation As I have said many times before, English is, at the best of times, a most intriguing and peculiar language. But I strongly believe that the English are not... 

It’s Friday I'm in … ‘I don't care if Monday's blue; Tuesday's gray and Wednesday too; Thursday I don't care about you; It's Friday I'm in love.’ 

Should you be reading this column on the date of its publication – July 13 –  it will be the second and last Friday the 13th in 2018. I hope you are not superstitious or suffer from... 

It is said that there are three simple steps to mastering any subject: you are able to master pretty much any subject through understanding concepts that you previously never quite understood,... 

  “It's nine o'clock on a Saturday. The regular crowd shuffles in.” 

“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.”  How I wish these prophetic words... 

So, how do you want to be remembered? As a sinner or a saint; as a hero or a villain? The foregoing two sentences, with the exception of ‘so’, are the opening lyrics of the song by Magic, which... 

It is May 25. Only hours earlier, S&P Global Ratings decided to keep South Africa’s sovereign credit rating unchanged. Two months earlier, Moody's Corporation decided to retain South Africa at... 

Data from the JSE, released on May 18, revealed that, since the beginning of the year, investors had sold R493-billion worth of South African bonds and bought bonds valued at R485-billion. It is... 

As the UK starts to prepare itself for 22:00 on March 29, 2019 – the time and date when it officially leave the European Union (EU) – it is contemplating taking over a number of EU trade... 

"You lose! Good day, sir!" The headline and the opening sentence are attributable to Willy Wonka, taken from the title role of the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. You might well... 

“Do you ever have déjà vu, Mrs Lancaster?” “I don’t think so, but I could check with the kitchen.”, is Mrs. Lancaster’s sincere response to, essentially a sarcastic enquiry from Phil Connors, in...