South Africa economy avoids recession

South Africa has avoided being tipped into recession after second-quarter GDP figures showed the economy grew by 0.6% during the April-to-June period.

The economy had contracted by 0.6% in the first quarter. A platinum strike in the country was blamed for the poor performance in the first three months.

South Africa was last in recession in 2008 amid the global financial crisis.

By 2011 it had made a substantial recovery, but there have been worries recently that it would slip back.

Africa’s most advanced economy, and the continent’s second largest, grew by 1% on an unadjusted year-on-year basis in the quarter, against growth of 1.6% in the previous quarter.

South Africa’s agriculture and financial sectors grew 4.9% and 1.5% respectively in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the under-pressure mining sector contracted 9.4% quarter-on-quarter in the second three months of the year, and manufacturing contracted by 2.1%.

The wholesale and retail trade sales shrank by 0.2%, while construction expanded by 5%.

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Digestible Politics

The Importance of Community Cohesion in Society in 2013

What is community cohesion?

Community cohesion refers to the aspect of togetherness and bonding exhibited by members of a community, the “glue” that holds a community together. This might include features such as a sense of common belonging or cultural similarity.

About Community Cohesion

Not too long ago in the UK the concept of community cohesion literally meant having one or two minorities in your neighbourhood. Nowadays, there has been a greater emphasis on creating a society where many different people can interact from many different backgrounds. Today, in 2013, the importance is still ever growing.

The Importance in previous years

In previous years there have been many riots, including those in 2001 between white and Asian communities in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford. Furthermore, four years later, the 7/7 terrorist bombings in London brought the concept of community cohesion to the forefront of people’s minds in the fear of further attacks. After all, cohesion creates a unified society.

The Importance in 2013

The importance of community cohesion in 2013 lies in the factor that the citizens of the UK most fear – that is the prospect of a triple-dip recession and increased levels of unemployment. Therefore, community cohesion is vital if the UK is to prevent these issues from occurring. How? Well, community cohesion would create confidence in each other and, as a result, in the economy meaning we would spend more money and revitalise the economy. At present there is too much tension between people causing them to save and not spend fuelling the recession.

However, the debate lies in how much more would you spend with increased cohesion? We think the best example of this can be seen in the Olympics of 2012 which boosted the UK economy by ‘£13 billion’. If we were able to sustain such community cohesion then the UK would be ‘virtually immune’ from issues in 2013. Without, the triple-dip recession is inevitable.

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Digestible Politics

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