In 2008 Warren Buffett issued a public challenge to the industry he most despised: hedge funds. Charging its clients 2% of assets under management plus 20% of any profits, Buffett wagered none of them could beat the annual return of the S&P 500. That bet was accepted, and ten years later the token wager of one million dollars was duly paid to the charity of Buffett’s choice.

Below is a graph depicting the results of the participating funds against the returns of an S&P 500 Index:

It is a well-documented fact: merger and acquisition waves tend to coincide with stock market peaks and their immediate subsequent downturns.

Unless you are living under a rock, you know by now that current times are nowhere near economic stability. In fact, there has not been such “stability” (regardless of what politicians and central bankers say) since the ending of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1971. What did ending the Bretton Woods agreement mean to the world? Since I am no expert on the topic, I suggest reading this article by the CATO Institute.

The following is a real-world example (and unfortunately not a parable) of what happens when the perils of modern monetary theory (MMT) and price controls both are ignored.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the world’s largest free trade area by the number of countries. It is the most ambitious and, given demographic trends, the most promising free trade project on earth. The AfCFTA matters very much to Africa’s economies separately and to the continent’s collaborative and integrated economic development. If successful, it also carries significant implications for the global economy. As such, the AfCFTA matters. Not just for Africans but for everyone.