Pete’s blog

I have to start this post by apologising to my loyal readers – I have been conducting a social experiment with you without your knowledge. And I am very disappointed, you all failed the experiment.
My last two emails have been about HIV and AIDS and I have received not a single comment from anyone […]

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So continuing from the last email about HIV forcing us to confront the truth that sex happens, I want to have a rant about how many of our HIV prevention campaigns seem to ignore this truth.
HIV prevention is usually summarised by the mnemonic ABC – Abstinence, Be faithful, use a Condom. Driven largely by […]

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Complete change of topic for this week - I am going to tackle one of the most significant causes of social change in the modern age. Something that has made us confront our morals, our beliefs and to acknowledge things that were once easy to deny – the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
HIV has had […]

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Was all ready to write this email, when I thought I should have a quick look at the numbers. I’m glad I did because I was just about to perpetuate the popular view. A handy tip – always check the numbers and beware of ass-umptions. Just because everyone says one thing and […]

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So just to recap last week’s email quickly. Increasing interest rates decreases money supply and decreases inflation. Also increasing interest rates decreases economic growth as people borrow less and spend less. Conversely decreasing interest rates increases money supply and increases inflation. Decreasing interest rates fuel economic growth as people can borrow […]

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I’m going to talk this week about money supply, how interest rates affect money supply and how this impacts the rest of the economy. Going to try and write it simply so that people who find economics tricky can understand it – like Mr. Greenspan. I have a lot to comment about both […]

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the economic problems that America and other place have been experiencing – the infamous ‘sub-prime’ debacle. I have a lot to say, so I’m going to split this into two parts, first: what is sub-prime and what actually happened? The second part will be about the […]

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After the responses I got to last week’s email I thought I should clarify my position on the death penalty, and how I think we could reduce crime in South Africa.
I am 100%, completely, unequivocally against the death penalty. I believe that some people are so evil and bad for society that they […]

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In a recent talk, Jacob Zuma said he would support a referendum on whether to bring back the death penalty or not. This of course has further convinced me that he is just a demagogue and not a man of principles, but it has also made me think about the death penalty. So […]

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To continue on from last week’s email, I will move away from the past and into the present, and have a look at what government is doing wrong and what the media’s role is.
I think government’s biggest problem is that they live up there in the clouds and us mere mortals have trouble understanding what […]

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