

Shawn Hagedorn
For 20 years, Shawn Hagedorn has been regularly writing articles in leading SA publications, focusing primarily on economic development. For over two years, he wrote a biweekly column titled “Myths and Misunderstandings” without ever lacking subject material. Visit shawn-hagedorn.com/, and follow him on Twitter @shawnhagedorn
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Articles By This Author

SA’s troubling immunity to Trump tariffs
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Feb 3, 2025
Donald Trump’s capacity to threaten SA with tariffs has been greatly undermined by BEE and localisation policies. Trump’s tariff threats are similar to OPEC restricting

Is SA too out of step to step up?
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Jan 20, 2025
ANC leaders who routinely reference historical injustices to criticise Western nations are to welcome leaders of the world’s largest economies, the G20, to SA −

Trump-induced realism
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Dec 9, 2024
There are compelling reasons to dislike Donald Trump, yet many who had been put-off by him now welcome his realism. Trump’s domestic approval rating has

SA’s crisis management disposition
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Nov 25, 2024
If confronted by a perilous crisis, would we come together as a nation to objectively assess the situation and then design and execute an effective

US election prioritised economics over identity politics
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Nov 11, 2024
US Vice President Harris presumed that, as positive GDP, inflation and stock market trends reflected broadly improving living standards, she could become president by exploiting

Nobel Prize for exploring colonisation’s ongoing impact
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 28, 2024
As some movies are designed as “Oscar bait” and news organisations commission articles in pursuit of Pulitzer Prizes, the work that inspired this year’s Nobel

Inequality can increase or reduce poverty
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 14, 2024
Having the world’s highest inequality and youth unemployment is not a coincidence. Efforts to maximise reliance on the state have benefited the politically connected while

Woke versus productive
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 30, 2024
Can our government of national unity (GNU) − and the ANC internally − overcome our woke politics? Defining wokeism is complicated by its fundamental incoherence.

Creating a dynamic economy
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 16, 2024
If we don’t integrate our young adults into global supply chains, South Africa’s potential will remain largely unemployed. Peter Drucker, the legendary management guru, is

How neglect risks South Africa’s free speech
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 2, 2024
It is easy to make the case that free speech is under threat in some leading democracies, particularly the UK. Our free speech risks being