A new chapter

Readers of Econ3x3 will notice that the website has undergone a comprehensive makeover. It is brighter, with easier-to-read fonts, more graphics, and easier navigation.

This is largely thanks to the Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme, a United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) supported initiative that promotes evidence-based policymaking to tackle inequality, poverty, unemployment, among other development challenges.

As part of this new chapter, we offered 11 PHD students and early-career economists the support to turn their research into articles accessible to a broader audience and be published on our website. 

Academic research often fails to connect with a broader public, even specialist policymakers or the media. Econ3x3 has long sought to bridge this gap. Now, with the support of UNU-Wider and SA-Tied, we have reinforced that bridge.

The launch articles in this new phase explore critical questions such as whether moving from one city to another can improve job prospects; why South Africa is not realizing its export potential; two examine how the returns to university education have changed and probe the extent of graduate unemployment; how disused coal mines can present employment opportunities; and whether innovation can address inequality. We will publish more such articles from young researchers in the coming weeks.

We've also published two incisive pieces on the 2025 Budget. Imraan Valodia wrote in the midst of the fiery controversy about the proposed 2-percentage-point VAT increase. His evidence countered the populist arguments from politicians: VAT is not a regressive tax and the consequent loss of revenue for the fiscus has meant trimming social programmes aimed at the poor.

Andrew Donaldson echoed Valodia’s warnings about the country’s dire fiscal situation. He also explored the “extraordinarily large increases” allocated to such entities as SANRAL, the SETAs, and UIF that don’t account to Treasury for their spending. 

The growth outlook remains bleak, public debt is growing faster than the economy and Budget 2025 simply deferred the tough decisions, as Donaldson wrote. “Better analysis and public engagement on trade-offs and priorities might contribute to …more sustainable public finances.”

More recently, we have a piece about business turnover in South Africa, by Justin Visagie, Ivan Turok and Andrew Nell, which examines why, despite “churn” being generally good for an economy, in South Africa it has had little impact on job creation, and another on why the gender pay gap persists (by Ihsaan Bassier and Leila Gautham).

These articles show the value of policy-relevant research, while the sound and fury in the run-up to Budget 2025 shows the dangers of ignoring the evidence. 

Pippa Green