We are therefore in for a bumpy ride, with the prospect of a series of “risk on” and “risk off” scenarios as global risk perceptions change in response to unfolding developments. We can expect financial markets, including the rand exchange rate, to remain volatile in response to these changing perceptions.
But although information technology is available, at least in theory, to the whole world, the recent surge in productivity growth appears to have been stronger in the United States than elsewhere, including the other industrialized countries.