

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

Purging politically induced learning blockages
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Dec 26, 2022
The Covid pandemic freshly queried how we define ‘freedom’ and ‘to live’. Meanwhile, political actors sought to shape and exploit such views. A year ago

How the ANC’s playbook resembles Donald Trump’s
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Dec 12, 2022
The ANC’s policies, and antics, are so frequently counterproductive that its opponents confidently presume they can do better. Yet, as its rivals lack plans to

Why does Africa continue to underperform?
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Nov 28, 2022
Now is the time, and South Africa the place, to understand why Africa has been such an economic laggard. Scars remain from nearly all of

The next twist in SA’s social justice saga
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Nov 14, 2022
Is social justice to economic development what physics is to engineering? No. Social justice mixes ethics with believing in a false utopia. Economic development, like

The US and the West … China and Africa
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 31, 2022
Given today’s fluxing geopolitics and economics, the value of criticising Western policies must be balanced with better appreciating their benefits. For professors of cultural studies

Will Putin cancel ‘cancel culture’?
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 17, 2022
Stopping the fighting might soon be in everyone’s interest but there are conflicting priorities. Those who delight in criticising necessary-but-imperfect trade-offs will baulk at advancing

SA lessons for Putin’s enemies
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Oct 3, 2022
Vladimir Putin is more a symptom than a cause. Russia and South Africa were both reconstituted in the twilight of the Cold War and, like

Scoring post-colonial outcomes
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 19, 2022
As the Second World War marked the beginning of the colonial era’s demise, the Russia-Ukraine war is a pivot point that should inspire a fresh

Confronting misplaced ideals
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Sep 5, 2022
Many Europeans will struggle to heat their homes and pay their bills this winter. South Africa’s trajectory is more troubling still. The costs of clinging

Dutch Disease … South African Syndrome
- By Shawn Hagedorn
- . Aug 22, 2022
Sudden geological wealth threatening investments in worker productivity is termed Dutch disease. Does our entrenched youth unemployment crisis stem from a sudden and unexpected spate