The “Fama Nyame” Fetish and the Dearth of Strategic Thinking: A Pyrrhic Drought in Ghana’s Democracy.

In the aftermath of the defeat of the Romans in battle at the beginning of the Roman ascendency on the Italian Peninsula, the ancient ruler of Hellenistic Kingdom of Epirus, King Pyrrhus is recorded by the Roman writer Plutarch to have exclaimed, “If we win another such battle against the Romans, we will be completely lost.” This candid admission by King Pyrrhus after witnessing the shattering carnage that ensued from the battle has ever since become a key staple of strategic management over the years. For those in need of biblical evidence, Luke 14: 28–32 encapsulates the need for strategic thinking in the broadest sense.

However, unlike King Pyrrhus, who probably never had the benefit of hindsight, there is no excuse whatsoever for a national leader today to pursue national policies without a well-mapped out strategy. As it stands right now, The President of Ghana, Mr JD Mahama, is in danger of becoming a contemporary example of Pyrrhus in the Ghanaian context. Even before the end of his current term, it is predictable and probably even obvious that his presidency may end up being described by future historians as a pyrrhic moment in Ghana’s democracy - the kind of democratic dispensation where the cost of efforts employed overly outweighed the benefits accrued.

Let’s be frank, Ghana is a mess; and has been for a long time. The matriarch elephant in the room is, firstly, the ignorance of strategic management at all levels in our society. I have often wondered why a culture imbibed with the treatise of the proverbial strategist, Kweku Ananse, is so prone to haphazard decision making and catastrophic short-sightedness. Strategic thinking is partly cultural and partly a learned behaviour. In Ghana, there appears to be a huge distance between the strategic sensibilities that lie within our culture-speak and the actual day-to-day practices and behaviour. The former is strategy rich, the latter less so.  I suspect that the reason could be primarily an absence of literacy in strategic management. Strategic management is barely taught in our institutions of higher learning.

We can safely assume that for a country like Ghana, bedeviled with minimal formal practice of strategy in our day-to-day activities, the incorporation of even a little dose of strategic planning will go a long way towards economic success and hopefully a culture of strategic thinking. The reality is that an overwhelming number of the work being done by the government is barely driven by a coherent economic strategy. Often, the goal is purely political. For example, constructing an impressive interchange in one place or an international airport or a new bridge in another may send a politically conspicuous signal to voters that something is being done; however, most of these ‘political’ projects make little economic sense, are devoid of any synergies whatsoever and are strategically hollow.

To reap a higher economic dividend, we need to engage the development of our country on a much more systematic and strategic traction. At its core, the debate about economic motivations and sensibilities versus politics considerations and exigencies is not a benign academic debate far removed from the realities of third world economics. Invariably, strategic nations put the economic horse ahead of the political cart and never the other way round.

Today, the pursuit of economic development by nations great and small is an incredibly refined version of the art of war espoused by Sun Tzu, the Chinese General and strategist; and only those with formidable strategic formulations have a chance of success.


Secondly, the Ghanaian mindset of “Fama Nyame” (i.e. the ubiquitous, naïve conflict-avoidance ‘kumbaya’ nonchalance) has dented our collective ability to critically analyse national issues and rendered us impotent in the face of diverse threats and opportunities upon which our very existence as a nation depends. As a nation we have given up on all manners of robust intellectual justification and cognitive persuasions in favour of trivialities and ‘midgety’ pseudo-spiritual alternatives that render neither physiological sustenance nor assuasive moral fulfillment.


As the current administration continues to defend the indefensible in the face of widespread nation-wreaking corruption, pathetic incompetence and gigantic mismanagement, while shamelessly resorting to emotional blackmail to create false impressions of wrongdoing in the minds of law-abiding Ghanaians who crave a hopeful alternative to the wanton economic and social carnage being unleashed mercilessly upon Ghana, I have often wondered why the tipping point hypothesis does not seem to hold in Ghana. Then, boom… an epiphany. It became clear to me that the perfectly elastic tolerance exhibited by Ghanaians is a function of our Fama Nyame culture. As a people, we have psychologically programmed ourselves to avoid dealing with problematic issues by passing them unto God. We do not do confrontation, instead we dish it all upon God to do the 'dirty work,' hence Fama Nyame.


In any case, Fama Nyame is not really about a belief in divine justice; rather, it is an attempt to rid oneself from our responsibilities by making God the scapegoat. This form of ‘bouc émissaire’ is not only the highest form of irresponsibility, it is totally ungodly but also morally, economically and politically detrimental. It justifies our reasons to do nothing because somehow God will do it; thus we keep on kicking the can down the road until it snowballs into a crisis, then we pass the buck. It explains why we are just not getting on with the cloak-and-dagger realities of life. Instead of rousing our battle instincts, Fama Nyame serves an override switch that keeps Ghanaians in a perpetual state of disengagement from dealing with our realities. As the stronghold of our internalised impotence, it has resulted in a psychological capitulation from doing whatever it takes to fix our problems. In a recent article, my friend and Man of God, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, addressed a similar issue titled “Only God can help Nigeria – What a myth” (Read his paradigm shifting article here). The deadpan small-mindedness, cowardice, slothfulness, irresponsibility, mediocrity, corruption, docility and ‘grit-less’ness so prevalent in Ghana are mere symptoms of a much bigger problem, Fama Nyame. In short, Fama Nyame has deadened Ghana.


And so I imagine that in the long run, an analysis of the cost of the strategic illiteracy at the highest echelons of political governance to the economic fortunes of Ghana will tell a sad story of how our own collective Fama Nyame fetish is the other side of the same coin of strategic-less existence, and how these have significantly perpetuated our proximity to poverty.

Alas, the pyrrhic decisions of our national leaders, coupled with the apparent national tolerance for mismanagement and corruption not only portray the incredible depth of ambivalence among many Ghanaians who do not regard corruption as a serious crime that warrant one to protest against but also how pathologically inured we are, and will continue to be for years, to woefully bad leadership.


To decisively tackle Ghana’s severely weakened economy, there is the urgent need to implement several structural reforms, the success of which will depend on how we successfully confront the twin evils discussed earlier. Firstly, economic policies should be based on sound and implementable strategies. That is the rational and logical pillar of any policy making paradigm. The second pillar should be deliberately motivational and premised on a behavioural imperative - zero tolerance of Fama Nyame in our political and economic posture. Ghana needs a merit-based system which rewards responsibility, competence, grit and performance, and punishes corruption, fraud, incompetence and the passing the buck in all it forms and shape. 

Ultimately, this will require the emergence of a concerted, strategic and paradigm-shifting leadership in our beloved land. As the lesson of King Pyrrhus shows, strategy and empowered mindsets are what it takes to avoid pyrrhic outcomes. Again as the examples of Singapore and other successful emerging countries suggest, incredible progress can be achieved through bold, concerted, strategic leadership. Ghanaians must therefore decisively do away with the nonstrategic mindsets and traditions that hold us back and with Christ's grace "mount up with wings as eagles" run unwearied and walk confidently towards our blessed lot (Isaiah 40:31). Only what is considered globally to be the best should be acceptable to Ghanaians. If Singapore and others could do it, so can we. 

Could Behavioural Economics Help Ghana Overcome Its FTT?

Ghana's political governance has never been the most sophisticated in the world. Granted. That said, a few years ago, the country was considered one of Africa's most promising, fertile entrepreneurial fields. That was, until its nascent oil industry became a showstopper. Rampant suboptimal decision-making, caused by behavioural and judgement biases,  lies at the root of Ghana's economic mismanagement and underperformance. To understand current economic problems, looking back to the 1960s and 1970s for lessons on Ghana's Failure To Thrive (FTT) syndrome is instructive. 

Then, Ghana was newly minted as the first independent country on the continent and a vanguard of the anti-colonial struggle across Africa. Kwame Nkrumah's triumphalism atop the explosive mix of nationalistic optimism and the euphoria of independence morphed into a fetish cult of personality and hero worshiping. Ultimately, this paved the way for dictatorship, unquestioned wasteful expenditure, corruption, and... finally, when government expenditure could no longer be covered by government revenue, a catastrophic fiscal disequilibrium brought the party to an abrupt end.   

According to Vito Tanzi (1982), the causes of disequilibrium are classifiable into five categories: export boom; price-inelastic tax system; public enterprise performance; increased expenditure produced by political exigencies or administrative weaknesses; and worsening terms of trade. In Ghana's case, one of the most serious problems encountered by Nkrumah government was rising government expenditure caused by inadequate control mechanisms and certainly Nkrumah's hubris that he could create heaven right here in Ghana within a generations. 

And now? 
Ghana is newly minted as an oil producer and the same cancerous atmosphere of leadership hubris, euphoria and unquestioned optimism of the masses (herd mentality) has resurfaced. In the current dispensation, the twin evil of ethnocentric political exigencies and severe administrative incompetence has skewed political governance along a path of least resistance toward a catastrophic feeding frenzy. The ongoing wasteful expenditure, wanton patronage and spiteful corruption, to an absolute certainty, have led to a very severe fiscal disequilibrium. Thus, instead of a strategic and judicious management of the temporary windfalls to establish a foundation for a long-term economic prosperity for the country, the inordinate serial blunders by the corrupt ruling class have squandered a unique opportunity for an economic quantum leap. Ghana, essentially, is once again a heavily indebted poor country (HIPC). By most conservative analyses of the current economic and political landscape, Ghana is bound for a very austere IMF-prescribed path of economic reforms. 

Because of fiscal indiscipline across the board, the hand of the prodigal government has been forced to turn to the IMF for help to deal with the debilitating self-inflicted wounds. As the denouement of Mahamanomics plays out, Ghanaians would have to buckle up for what is set to be a very difficult economic environment up to 2017, at the earliest.  Given that IMF assistance is conditional on the government of Ghana meeting a range of economic management and performance targets, Ghanaians will have to condition themselves to bear the indignities of the IMF's undesirable pressures. The truth of the matter is that in the next few years, Ghana will be leashed and led along a path of austerity to an unfamiliar territory of extreme frugality. For a nation that has just barely tasted oil wealth, the prescribed medicine would be particularly bitter. 

The behavioural economics lessons at stake here border on causal ambiguity among Ghanaians in general. And that is: what a little bit of economic discipline on the part of the government could have accomplished with much less pain for everybody, will now be imposed on Ghanaians with amplified pain by a bunch of youthful number crunchers at the IMF; all because when it mattered the most our leaders made reckless decisions with our money. The sad truth is that while our sovereignty is tossed over to the IMF, the architects of the mess will have the time of their lives, counting their looted stash. Shame.  

What Ghanaians hope for, and expect, is for the pathological binge borrowing under the current administration to be brought under some form of rational sanctity and control, and that the disparate, and often conflicting, policies currently in vogue will be given some strategic alignment to propel the economy forward. It is my cherished hope that the state will emerge out of the current crisis with a more streamlined and disciplined governance framework, including a much stronger checks-and balances element, and that the IMF will resist all forms of political pressures arising from the 2016 general elections to deviate from the much needed reforms.  Is that too much to ask?

Ghana in 2015: An Outlook

To an absolute certainty, 2015 will have huge implications for Ghana's political, economic and social developments for many years to come.

One scenario stands out as the most probable: A severe economic downturn.

By the middle of the year, the accretion of the systematically irrational decision making at the highest echelons of political governance over the last couple of years is expected to reach a crescendo. The worsening fiscal disequilibrium, severe balance of payment deficit, shrinking foreign reserves, huge debt repayment requirements and a depressive business environment will lead to an oppressive economic downturn.

To a large extent, the tragedy of Ghana's failure to thrive at this crucial hour of Africa's rising only illuminates the magnitude of the cripplingly bad decision  making at the centre of our political governance. As our reputation as a viable frontier economy takes a beating, foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to dwindle significantly, wreaking havoc on our economy with severe repercussions on the already weakened cedi.

With he advent of another IMF-prescribed economic recovery programme, troubling echoes of our recent past will come knocking, tearing down further our collective pride as a nation. All in all, the cedi is expected to bleed again and inflationary pressures are likely to be on the ascendancy in 2015, weakening the hands of our national leaders in any negotiations with IMF.

Contrary to familiar presidential pronouncements, problems with electricity supply will not get better in 2015. In fact, “dumsor” will get worse, dragging down economic and social welfare across the country. Thus in 2015, Ghanaians will increasingly feel the heavy weight of the state’s administrative incompetence.

Because our political decision makers manifestly lack the kind of discipline necessary to sort out the problems they have effortlessly created, Ghanaians should expect an environment of economic haziness and a clumsy misery of confusion throughout 2015.

Alas, investors, business people and Ghanaians in general would need to temper their expectations; for Ghana will fare rather poorly in 2015.

Economics: 2009 Highlights & 2010 Forecasts

In every respect 2009 has been a real bitch!
I will not be surprised if, a few years from now, the number 2009 becomes synonymous with nastiness, catastrophe and bad omen. The superstitious bunch will do everything to avoid that number like a plaque. 2009 shall forever be remembered as the year the bottom fell out of the global economy setting an unprecedented chain reaction of business failures the like of which has not been seen in modern times.
All the vital socioeconomic indicators of the year have been abysmal.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that when the hard statistics of 2009 are finally computed and analysed, the extent of devastation in terms of cost and human capital will be substantial. Millions of workers, investors and entrepreneurs have already lost their livelihoods and, with it, the middle class lifestyle they have built over the years for themselves and their families.
2009, in a major positive way, will be benchmarked as the starting point of a new global economic order. So as the year screeches to an eventful end, it is hoped that the many victims of what has been the annus horribilis of the global village will find some reasons to expect a quick recovery of fortune.

The Global Economy 2010
With the death of the laissez faire free market franchise, the birth pangs of the evolving global economic consensus will continue to be felt in 2010 and beyond.
The emergence of the new global economic order and with it the shift of economic momentum to the East will continue to accelerate, breathing new life into the economies of the global South.
However, the economic prospects of many emerging economies and developing countries alike will continue to experience some form of constraints or even deterioration in the short to medium term as a result of diminished demand for their exports in the United States, Europe and Japan.
My expectation is that the present positive momentum will cause the tide of the global economy to rise significantly in 2010 and lead to a deepened optimism among consumers in the northern hemisphere and subsequently a rebound in global economic activity. Consumption in the East will pick up considerably.

Obama’s America in 2010
The resurgence of the global economy will not happen to the extent that it should until the economy of the United States is up and running. There are already tangible signs of an up-tick in economic activity. The most plausible scenario is that the new health care bill will pass and there will be a steady increase in employment coupled with some easing of the tough credit regime by financial institutions. These and other measures will unleash positive sentiments which will inevitably lead to increased consumption in 2010.
Having said that, 2010 will still be a pretty difficult year for the American economy in general. Barack Obama and his economic team would need the wisdom of the gods, the political acumen of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the economic wizardry of Franklin D. Roosevelt to get the economy booming again.

China, India and The East in 2010
China and India will continue to consolidate their emergence as the flywheel of global economic development in 2010. The role of the two countries in the economies of the developing world will gain momentum in 2010. You can count on their ferocious appetite for natural resources to boost commodity prices in the second half of 2010 as the momentum of global demand begins to pick up. China and India will once again grow at breakneck speeds.
And China will once again be at the forefront of investing in Africa’s infrastructure projects and in the acquisition of large chunks of her natural resources.
I foresee some simmering tension in the relationship between America and China as the weight of Chinese influence continues to grow in 2010 and beyond.

Africa’s Economy in 2010
The emerging tigers of Africa will keep on doing well.
A 5% continental growth average is the conservative forecast.
With the recent reforms in Africa's agricultural sector, the productivity and output of the sector is expected to increase in 2010.
Africa’s infrastructure development will continue to occupy the centre of economic planning and development. Chinese companies have proven themselves as reliable partners in the provision of basic infrastructure across the continent and will continue to get the bulk share of such projects in 2010.
The inexplicable dearth of big American and European non-oil investments into Africa is not expected to change in 2010. Little to no change is expected of the traditional and conservative we-will-come-if-you-do-what-we-tell-you approach by investors from the northern hemisphere towards Africa despite the unprecedented and growing profit margins Africa offers compared to other parts of the globe.
The rate of growth in trade between Africa and China is expected to grow faster in 2010 than in recent years with the maverick, China, expected to overtake the pace of US investments in the continent.
Sadly the overwhelming reliance on her trade with China will inevitably lead to economic security issues sooner or later for Africa. African countries will need to diversify not only their produce but also their international trade arrangements to offset the unhealthy dependence on big brother, China.
I predict that a great deal of political security issues will continue to bedevil the usual suspects in our corner of the world. The Guinean crisis, the Zimbabwean turmoil and the challenges in Niger and the DR Congo as well as the political quagmire in the Cote d’Ivoire will linger on throughout 2010.
Expect some erosion of economic development in these places by the end of next year.
Expect little change in the economy of Ghana in 2010.
Expect the Oil money to begin to trickle in by 2011.

Wishing you and yours a blessed twenty thanks!

Africa: One Billion & Counting

Some time before the end of this year, somewhere on the mother continent, the billionth African will be born.
It is remarkable in itself that the population of Africa has breached the critical 1 000 000 000 mark. In spite of the chillingly brutal history of slavery, colonialism, racism and the other atrocities of mass destruction that have been unleashed upon Africans for centuries, we have not only survived in our own continent but continue to show extraordinary resilience even in the most challenging and culturally inhospitable regions of the globe.
The dynamics of Africa’s population growth suggest that her portion of the global population will continue to increase going forward.
It is estimated that by 2050, the population of Africa would have surpassed those of India and China.
Such an expectation is bound to present a number of interesting scenarios.

First scenario

1) Economic growth across the continent continues to gain momentum. The quality of infrastructure, education, health care and other leading indicators continue to improve across many parts of the continent. Democracy, political stability and the rule of law are entrenched. Africa’s share of global trade and investments begin to accelerate lifting millions of Africans out of poverty. Africa at peace with itself and with the global village. A sustainable trajectory of prosperity is established.
The growing population and prosperity leads to a formidable African market.
More FDIs and businesses set up in Africa leading to more prosperity across Africa.
Africa finally at her best.

Second scenario

2) Majority of African countries keeps to the status quo. The rate of economic growth and development across the continent is virtually at par with the rate of growth of the population leading to stagnation in human development and standard of living. Education and health care and other social services are at best mediocre for the growing population. A cycle of under-performance becomes the order of the day.
Africa barely surviving.

Third scenario

3) Economic and political mismanagement worsens across Africa. Economic growth and development falls drastically below the rate of growth of the population. Poverty, unemployment, instability and conflicts worsen. Infrastructure, education, health care and other essential services in total disarray. Africa’s share of trade and investment declines further throwing millions of Africans into debilitating poverty. Unemployment, lack of essential skills, instability and conflicts worsen.
Capital flight, brain drain, unfavourable climatic pattern intensify worsening agriculture leading to dire economic and social situation in many places.
Africa on the ropes.

The way forward

Let African countries as a matter of urgency relax the unfriendly laws and regulations that hinder intra-African trade and investment and quicken integration within the various regional economic blocs. The fragmented markets as they pertain today will never on their own unlock the tremendous synergies available that could be realised in a market with a 1000 000 000 consumers.
May the birth of the billionth African bring a billion answers to Africa’s developmental challenges.
Long Live the African dream!
Long Live Africa!

Cents & Sensibility

There is evidence pointing to the fact that the global economic contagion is bottoming out. There is some sort of optimism on the distant horizon in many markets out there.
The Chinese economy is in a sound shape. In its China Economics Outlook for 2009, the Hong Kong-based Morgan Stanley Asia forecast China's baseline GDP growth would be around 7.6% percent this year, with the bull and bear scenarios projected at 9 percent and 6 percent respectively. That is pretty decent considering the acute downturn in China's exports to the west.
The Indian economy is also doing pretty fine; driven by domestic consumption and a growing middle class with a colossal appetite for the fine things of life. A 6.5% growth rate is forecasted for 2009.
Going forward, China and India are clearly two of the most important markets considering the weight they carry in global trade. After all, these two make up about half the population of the entire global village. The other BRIC economies-Russia and Brazil-are expected to record very low growth in 2010.

Commodity prices are beginning to show signs of positive momentum. So there are some indications of hope.
Having said that, it will take years before there is a complete upswing in the global economy once again. The expected growth in Africa stands around 3.5% this year. Pretty dismal!
There is, therefore, the need for nations, firms, families and individuals to continue keeping a tight budget for the foreseeable future. A cent saved here and there will ultimately bring about a relief to the many living on the borderline.
It is time to upload the austerity measures. Swap the fuel guzzler for an economy car. Cut down on your utility consumption to the barest minimum. Postpone the holiday travels. Cut out eating out altogether, if possible. Do your shopping at the cheaper alternatives.
However, in all your cuttings, make sure your life policy, retirement policy and medical aid policy are not sacrificed for comfort. You never know when you will really need them.

Finally don't forget to search within yourself for other skills you have that you could utilize to bring in the extra buck. Entrepreneurship is critical at a time like the one we are living in not just as a means of survival but most importantly for building a solid foundation for prosperity in the next cycle of boom. Where there is a will, there is always a way.

Feminist,. . .,Fup Or Sup?

If you were that unemployed young man who sat by the stied side of the road, hands -on-head, wandering distantly into unredeeming space, which of the following
questions will really tickle your furlong fancy? . . .

The total dearth of the male equivalent of a feminist?

The art of winning over a rabid emotionalist?

The fact that the contemporary theory of economics is a fup?

Or the protruding dread that nobody gives a toss whether you yuck, duck or sup?

President Zuma First State Of The Nation Address

Today, 3 June, is the opening of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
The president, Mr Jacob Zuma, is expected to give the state of the nation address in the National Assembly.
South Africans are waiting with baited breath for the president's first state of the nation address in which he is expected to announce a new program of action to address the socio-economic problems facing the nation.
The provision of social services, the fight against crime, health and education are expected to receive serious attention in the address of the new leader of South Africa.
The speech of president Zuma comes at a time when the economic prospects of South Africa have been weakened by the global economic crisis. Officially the economy is in recession. Jobs are being lost across all sectors. The fiscus has suffered as a result of reduced earnings from exports, taxes and trade. The new administration has to balance the needs of the masses against the reducing resources at its disposal.
Let us hope president Zuma will manage this tough balancing act for the benefit of a nation that is expecting so much from him.
I wish him luck.

If Broke Fix It

I am finding it pretty difficult to get over the shenanigans of the present political dispensation in Ghana.
According to the transition team of the Atta Mills' administration, Ghana is broke.
Big deal!
As far as the macro-economic outlook and prospects for the economy to absorb further investments are concerned, Ghana's economic situation has never been better since the days of Kwame Nkrumah. I believe that the economy is in a good shape.
Even though Atta Mills and the NDC have won the elections and are therefore supposed to be governing, they are acting and behaving as if they are still the party in opposition.
The standard democratic principle is that the ruling party must be concerned with solution-finding, whereas the political opposition does its best to fault the policies and plans of the government! Heck no. They are still doing what they have been doing for the past 8 years.
More time is being wasted on spin, fault-finding and criticising the government that is no longer in power every day. If indeed Ghana is broke, where are the innovative responses to get the country back on track? Where is the urgency?
What people expect of the new administration is that leadership is provided and the cause of Ghana advanced. Instead we have paralysis of leadership and a total lack of urgency.
When is John Atta Mills ever going to really begin his responsibilities as the President of the Republic? He is behaving like a President in the last days of Office rather than one who has is just beginning.
The utter lack of dynamism, rigor and passion on the part of our new President is becoming a pain in the groin!

What the Hell is Happening!

I had really hoped to catch the release of the final tally of the presidential election live on the web. Alas, my zeal is gradually turning into annoyance, thanks to Afari-Gyan and his team.
Having begun with the patience of Job, I must confess that the Electoral Commission of Ghana has single-handedly managed to turn the euphoria associated with the elections into one of total disenchantment. The silence from their quarters is stupefying.
It is simply not funny any more and the earlier the officials at the EC woke up from their provocative slumber the better it will be for everybody.
By their obfuscation, they are giving ample ammunition into the hands of those prone to bizarre utterances to unleash mayhem and anarchy.
For goodness sake release the results NOW!!

Matters of Speed and the Pocket

Yesterday, I had some me-time and decided to go and check out some of the latest cool toys in town at the Johannesburg International Motor Show.
Let me state forthright that I love cars, good cars I mean.

After literally jumping all over the place, I could not make up my mind on what I would buy if I had the money.
Like all forms of window-shopping, visiting a motor show has its own advantages.
First, you don't need to part with any money apart from the entrance fees and whatever you choose to spend on snacks. Second, it is a feast for the eyes. Third, you can stand by some of the cars and dream yourself to mechanical heaven.
The problem, of course, is when you see something that you really want but the pocket is not deep enough to afford it. With the credit crunch pointing to severe financial troubles going forward, I don't want to take anything on credit.

Four New models really caught my attention: The Audi Q5, the Merc C class, the Nissan Murano and the Land RoverLRX. All of these cars are fabulous and wicked but where the heck am I supposed to get the absurd money for something which for all intents and purposes will become an anti-matter in a matter of two years.
My verdict: I am keeping my golden oldie!

The Fleece Market

The free market as we know it is no more!

One of the central pillars of economic theory is the expectation that people and economic entities will always take reasonable decisions and make sound choices.
Oh boy, how wrong we have been all along!! It would have been better to have assumed that, as a matter of fact, all humans are incorrigible morrons and on that premises we could have put together the necessary safeguards in our economic theories to minimize the risks.
The unfolding economic quadmire the whole world is wallowing in, makes a mockery of the much-heralded assumption of reasonableness. We are all witnessing the consequences of the untested and laissez-faire decisions that have been made over the years by greedy and callous men and women in charge of many branded financial institutions.
Let me express a very critical fact that many seem to forget so easily:
designing very complex financial derivatives and other instruments and simply passing them through the system for implementation by people who have no idea of what they are dealing with coupled with the total disregard for checks and balances will always sink the ship!

Greed, deregulation and irresponsibilty are essentially the hallmarks of the present contagion.
As it was with Nick Leeson so it has been with these clueless managers of our financial resources. Only this time the scale has been massive, brutal and catastrophic!
Global brands are collapsing like dominoes before our eyes every day. The Securities Markets have lost trillions of dollars in a matter of weeks. This is unprecedented! It will take years for the markets to get back to where they were. I wonder if any lessons would have been learnt by the time it is all over.