

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

Are we lost? GDP versus GPS
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Dec 11, 2023
The world’s many smartphones can accurately and continuously share their locations. But can South Africans, or those in other lands, make sense of this country’s

Promoting war
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Nov 27, 2023
Deterrence is as old as aggression. What has changed is that many people, particularly progressives, want to rely on condemnations to promote peace. Such indulging

Labelling Israel as an apartheid state
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Nov 13, 2023
Various facts point toward Israel being an apartheid state. While such comparisons can be constructive for those focused on solutions, commentaries on Israel’s latest challenges

Productivity, not altruism
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 30, 2023
Sympathy for the long-standing plight of Palestinians is insufficient to explain the support for Hamas expressed on the streets of various Western countries and among

Fly like a free bird
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 16, 2023
A recent survey revealed that 41% of French adults would support a lifetime limit of four flights per person due to climate change concerns. Among

Why today’s ‘great powers’ must not be trusted
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 2, 2023
Authoritarian rulers and left-leaning knowledge merchants both promote misperceptions about a multipolar world. Although great powers still shape the global order, citizen awareness in strategically

Vastly greater global integration SA’s only hope
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 18, 2023
With Eskom’s, Transnet’s and the National Treasury’s woes reinforcing one another, prospects for the ANC being booted out of the Union Buildings next year seem

How knowledge provocateurs abuse trust
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 4, 2023
The commitment of many leading media organisations and universities, locally and internationally, to objectively scrutinise events has been corrupted by pervasive ‘knowledge provocateurs’. The assertion

BRICS versus broad prosperity
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Aug 21, 2023
As this week’s Sandton shindig will not benefit ordinary South Africans, its vacuous pageantry must inspire a reality check. The ANC’s destructive economic stewardship traces

When elites block growth
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Aug 7, 2023
Why did nearly all societies stumble badly when confronting Covid? Why did the virus swiftly mutate in isolated South Africa whereas this country’s stand-offish economy