Viewed from an historical perspective, it is interesting to recall the views of John Maynard Keynes – one of the towering economists of the twentieth century – regarding “the triple evils of modern society”. The first evil, in Keynes’ view – which has resonance in South Africa today – is the “vast enrichment of individuals out of proportion to any services rendered”.
He saw the second and third evils as being “the disappointment of expectations and difficulty of laying plans ahead”; and third “unemployment”. Re-stated in the elegant prose of Mervyn King, “Fat cats, short-termism, and the jobless society”, this in the United Kingdom, in 1923!