Real house prices could slide through 2010 too

There's been talk of a recovery, talk of the end of the recession... is it possible? Or are we still a long way off?

According to Absa's House Price statistics, there is a possibility that we will still see house prices falling into 2010.

It's a wait and see game I guess. And it's not fun if you are in the position of wanting to to sell your property, or worse, if you HAVE to sell.

With inflation bound to increase again next year, and banks still being very cautious in their lending, I personally think it will be a while before we see some growth in residential property prices.

Read this article from FAnews :. South Africa's Premier Financial and Advisory News & Information Portal

National Health Insurance - The ANC way

I have been following the National Health Insurance (NHI) debate from a distance, as it doesn't directly affect my market, but am starting to pay a lot more attention to this now. The ANC's decision to push ahead with NHI directly affects each and every one of us in South Africa. Especially the "Haves" - those of us who pay income tax.
 

The unofficial guidelines contain the following phrase: “The system will be based on two principles: the right to health which will mean health services will be free at the point of use and social solidarity, where the rich will contribute a percentage of their income to fund health services for the poor.”

It's back to the days of Robin Hood, if you ask me. We are already paying taxes which is supposed to be used to fund government hospitals and healthcare facilities.

The NHI proposals were designed by the ANC, not by the government, and a rough draft was published on the ruling party’s website, not on that of the Heath Department. The actual policy document is still not available, but when it is eventually released, input and discussion will be requested from an advisory committee made up of 23 representatives from government departments and stakeholders. This seems to be an attempt to get input only from those that are most likely to give the plan the 'thumbs up'. 

 

An article published in the Financial Mail (FM) stated that “…there is no financial modelling or rand estimates of what an NHI system would cost.”
 

So the NHI gets driven forward by the politicians, who, in my humble opinion, don't seem to have done the maths, and are not interested in the opinions and input of those who will be burdened by the cost of the system, but are willing to consult with those who will most likely give them the answers they are looking for.

Is this a fair process? I'm not sure.

Cars may one day mimic fish to avoid collisions - Imagine how that will impact on an insurance company's losses

Cars may one day mimic fish to avoid collisions

Can you imagine a world where cars avoid bumping in to one another? "Never in South Africa!" I hear you say.

Maybe not, but that's exactly what engineers at Nissan are working on. It's fascinating to watch a school of fish swimming in a given direction, then suddenly they all change direction as if it was a well choreographed piece of dance. We can learn a lot from nature indeed.

Now, imagine the savings to insurance companies, as well as to you and I if our cars were smarter and avoided those bumper bashings. I can think of a couple of clients who would jump at the first chance of having this technology installed!


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