William M. Gumede at PostGlobal

William M. Gumede

South Africa

William M. Gumede is Associate Editor at Africa Confidential. He is Research Fellow at the School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He recently released the bestselling book Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC. Close.

William M. Gumede

South Africa

William M. Gumede is Associate Editor at Africa Confidential. more »

Main Page | William M. Gumede Archives | PostGlobal Archives


Budget Surplus With Poverty?

South Africa is enjoying the first budget surplus in a generation, and the first ever in recorded African history. Should a county have a budget surplus and low budget deficits, low inflation, no debts etc. in a country where you have 25% unemployment and lots of poverty? It's good to have a country's book's balance, but what if a majority is without food. What about the U.S. case where there are large deficits but people are relatively well-off? I'm just trying to think this through for myself, and would appreciate your thoughts.

Please e-mail PostGlobal if you'd like to receive an email notification when PostGlobal sends out a new question.

Reader Response

ALL COMMENTS (2)

Post a comment

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.

PostGlobal is an interactive conversation on global issues moderated by Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria and David Ignatius of The Washington Post. It is produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com, as is On Faith, a conversation on religion. Please send your comments, questions and suggestions for PostGlobal to Lauren Keane, its producer.