Our Long Walk To Economic Freedom

Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom is an entertaining and engaging guide to global economic history told for the first time from an African perspective. In thirty-five short chapters Johan Fourie tells the story of 100,000 years of human history spanning humankind's migration out of Africa to the Covid-19 pandemic. His unique account reveals just how much we can learn by asking unexpected questions such as 'How could a movie embarrass Stalin?', 'Why do the Japanese play rugby?' and 'What do an Indonesian volcano, Frankenstein and Shaka Zulu have in common?'. The book sheds new light on urgent debates about the roots and reasons for prosperity, the march of opportunity versus the crushing boot of exploitation, and why it is the builders of society – rather than the burglars –who ultimately win out.

The book that inspired the major new motion picture Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela tells the extraordinary story of his life--an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph.

Bringing together contributions from those who have wrote for the Institute of Economic Affairs, this text examines issues such as monetary policy, unemployment, and government regulation, as well as considering the power of language and ideas.

" Ever since Mr. Olduvai and Mr. Rueul were introduced after graduating from different universities, they have shared a dual bond: respect for each other and dissatisfaction with the world around them. They see that the nation seems to be perpetually debating how to handle poverty, inequality, loss of personal freedom, and government debt. As years pass, supposed fixes come and go, but the problems remain. Yet the old friends still seek answers, and over the course of two days, they unravel the causes of economic problems and offer potential solutions. As they talk, they hash out the merit of simple laws governing access to land, the ability to say no, and the role of government, which together protect the nature of economic freedom. These basic laws allow capitalism to embrace and reward the demands of the entrepreneur, while also offering dignified alternatives for the less talented or uninspired --all without taxing a nickel of anyone's income. Our economy has the potential to eliminate financial insecurity for every citizen and still be the strongest economic engine in the world. Find out how by joining the conversation in A True Free Market. Excerpt from A True Free Market Would more freedom be available to us today had better economic choices been made in the past? And what do we mean by freedom in the first place? Must the state and the individual be adversaries? In effect, are the ideals we hold ideal to hold? Good design stems from human will, smartly applied to the laws of nature. A building, for example, cannot stand for long when designed in ignorance of physics. When physics is misapplied, the building crumbles. A farm cannot thrive when it is run in ignorance of agriculture, for when the basic needs of plants are not tended to, crops die. And a free market cannot thrive when constructed in ignorance of economics. When its fundamental forces are unappreciated in our lawmaking, the market fails. We have seen buildings collapse, and we have learned to build them better. We have seen crops die, and we have learned to better understand their needs. We have also seen markets fail, but we have not yet learned the nature of a true free market. We have tweaked our economic rules or applied new laws from political expedience, intuitive habit, or fear. Then we have proclaimed that great lessons have been learned. But in reality, we have only learned to wait for markets to fail again. We have not been quick to understand why cycles of economic dread persist among us or why our birth circumstance, more than anything, determines our economic fate. A true free market can be ours to enjoy. We only need to make it. "

Shaanan challenges the conventional view that unrestricted economic freedom enhances our economic and political well being. He demonstrates that unrestricted economic freedom provides benefits but also inflicts a heavy toll on democracy, free markets and, paradoxically, economic freedom itself.

Is access the alternative to ownership? In 2011, the sharing economy was dubbed by Time magazine as one of the 'Ten ideas that will change the world' and it has been widely hailed as a major growth sector, by sources ranging from Fortune magazine, to the World Economic Forum, to former President Obama. The sharing economy is a new economic model that focuses on access to assets or resources, instead of ownership. It has exploded in popularity over recent years and has disrupted a significant number of mature industries such as accommodation, automotive, and entertainment. The total value of the global sharing economy is estimated to grow from $14 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025. With limited resources, the desire to become more environmentally conscious, the high cost and burdens of ownership, and a rapidly growing population, living increasingly in densely populated cities, consumers are faced with greater challenges and opportunities to fill their consumption needs. People are experiencing a significant value shift with a desire to reconnect with products and services in a more meaningful way, are becoming more cost and environmentally conscious, and are prioritising experience over ownership. An organisation's ability to reimagine and reinvent its business model to offer unique opportunities for humanising technology and developing innovative sharing platforms, such as Uber and Airbnb, would be a game changer for them. While the Fourth Industrial Revolution and COVID-19 pandemic are influencing and changing consumer behaviour, organisations are facing a dilemma that is affecting the future of their profitability, existence, and sustainability. In The Rise of the Sharing Economy, Kevin Govender shares his insights and expertise on the evolution of the sharing economy, consumer behaviour, and alternative business models, and empowers consumers to rediscover and realise the enormous benefits of access over ownership, and the potential savings in time, money, space and the opportunity. Access is a cultural and socio-economic phenomenon that is transforming businesses, consumers, the way we live, work, learn, consume, commute and play. Access is the new ownership.