The world is on repeat

It is unbelievable to think that we are four months into 2022 already. This has not been a good year for markets and there is no silver lining in sight yet. In South Africa we have not been as hard hit by the war in the Ukraine as some other countries, but we have been thrown right back into a state of disaster by devastating floods in KZN. It seems that natural disasters are here to stay; with either too little rain as in 2018, or too much. Our finely balanced equilibrium seems to be in turmoil, which we will have to live with for some time to come.

We also know that the repeat button has been hit when market commentators have nothing new to say and repeat the same story about high inflation and rising interest rates night after night. It is encouraging, though, that companies in the USA are delivering respectable earnings numbers and although share prices are not reacting much to most of them, at least it is a positive sign.

In South Africa our daily excitement is all determined by Eskom. Planning our day so that we get the car out of the garage before the power goes off, or having dinner ready before the house goes dark, are our priorities. These days the talk around the braai is all about inverters and generators, sun panels and solar pumps. It is commonplace to hear people discuss, with great excitement, some arbitrary service delivery from the municipality that actually went well. Actually receiving one’s driver’s licence renewal after only six months should not be perceived as an achievement, but in SA it is.

So for now it has to be said that if you do not like it, change it. If you cannot change it, accept it. Eskom, Russia, Covid and the ANC will all be around for some time to come and there is not much any of us can do to change those. But, unless you are directly involved in these ongoing problems, you can still pursue those things that actually make you happy.

 

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