{"id":60588,"date":"2024-02-06T08:26:58","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T08:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor"},"modified":"2024-02-06T08:43:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T08:43:43","slug":"eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor","title":{"rendered":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard University\u2019s Professor Ricardo Hausmann.<\/p>\n

About two decades of power cuts, exacerbated by the government\u2019s inability to make decisions and its adherence to hidebound ideology, have de-industrialized what was once a promising economy, said Hausmann, who has advised the South African government and studied the country for two decades.<\/p>\n

While de-industrialization is a global phenomenon, \u201cthe speed at which this has happened in South Africa since the global financial crisis of 2008 is orders of magnitude worse than anywhere else,\u201d he said in an interview with the Johannesburg-based Centre for Development and Enterprise, a transcript of which was released on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found very strong evidence that this decline was strongly linked to the collapse in electricity provision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hausmann, who heads Harvard\u2019s Growth Lab, paints a picture of a country facing self-inflicted problems that have resulted in its citizens becoming progressively poorer.<\/p>\n

The government hasn\u2019t been punished for its slow decision-making because, with one dominant party, there\u2019s been little political consequence for the collapse of state services, he said. An ideological view that the state should lead the economy has also hindered pragmatism, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn any economic benchmark you could choose, the performance of South Africa has been lousy,\u201d Hausmann said.<\/p>\n

His observation is backed up by the government\u2019s own data \u2014 Africa\u2019s most industrialized economy has expanded by less than 2% every year for the past decade, and the unemployment rate stands at around 32%.<\/p>\n

The country has been dogged by rolling blackouts since 2008 because the state power utility didn\u2019t properly maintain its power plants, and there was inadequate investment in new capacity.<\/p>\n

While Chile and Colombia worked their way out of electricity crises relatively rapidly, it took until 2022 for South Africa to allow private sector investment in generation and permit the direct purchase of power by municipalities.<\/p>\n

Hausmann listed a number of other impediments to economic growth, including poor commuter transport, corruption and an aversion to the import of foreign skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Africa cannot prevent its talented people from leaving, but it is preventing talented people from the rest of the world from getting in, and it does so at an enormous cost,\u201d he said, adding that he raised this concern as far back as 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been impossible to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

source:dailyinvestor<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard University\u2019s Professor Ricardo Hausmann. About two decades of power cuts, exacerbated by the government\u2019s inability to make decisions and its adherence to hidebound ideology, have de-industrialized what was once a promising economy, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":60587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-60588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nEskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard Un ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard Un ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-06T08:26:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-06T08:43:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-06T08:26:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-06T08:43:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\"},\"wordCount\":421,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\",\"name\":\"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-06T08:26:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-06T08:43:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard Un ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":432,\"caption\":\"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor - South Africa","description":"South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard Un ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor","og_description":"South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard Un ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2024-02-06T08:26:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-06T08:43:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor","datePublished":"2024-02-06T08:26:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-06T08:43:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor"},"wordCount":421,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","files"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor","name":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-06T08:26:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-06T08:43:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"South Africa\u2019s woeful economic performance boils down to one key factor \u2013 a lack of electricity, according to Harvard Un ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/02\/sm_1707196310.918301.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"caption":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/eskom-to-blame-for-south-africas-lousy-economy-harvard-professor#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Eskom to blame for South Africa\u2019s \u2018lousy\u2019 economy \u2013 Harvard professor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}