An inability to see the crisis for the trees: a response to Tim Cohen’s recent IEJ tirade

Dr. Gilad Isaacs, Executive Director of the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ), responds to criticisms made by Tim Cohen regarding the IEJ's position on South Africa's fiscal situation. Isaacs defends the IEJ's call to halt indiscriminate budget cuts proposed by the National Treasury, arguing that such measures exacerbate hunger and social crises. He asserts that the IEJ acknowledges the need for economic growth to sustain debt but disagrees with using budget cuts as the primary strategy, while condemning Cohen's allegations of corruption against civil society and academia.

• The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and over 100 policy experts and civil society organisations have challenged the characterisation of South Africa's current financial state as an "acute fiscal crisis," arguing that such labels are sometimes used to justify "unpopular, anti-poor policy measures."
• The IEJ opposes the National Treasury's proposed budget cuts, stating these measures will worsen hunger and service delivery. Specifically, the IEJ notes that the National Treasury is using budget challenges to justify the removal of the Social Relief of Distress grant.
• The IEJ maintains that the only sustainable way to manage high debt costs in the medium term is through economic expansion, asserting that the state requires growth to support a larger debt stock and that reducing spending on social services and infrastructure will shrink the economy over time.
• Dr. Gilad Isaacs describes Tim Cohen's claim that proponents of fiscal irresponsibility are motivated by a desire for government to "reduce the feed to their troughs" as a defamatory allegation and part of a "dangerous and ugly anti-NGO rhetoric."

APA

Isaacs, G. (2023). An inability to see the crisis for the trees: a response to Tim Cohen’s recent IEJ tirade. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/an-inability-to-see-the-crisis-for-the-trees-a-response-to-tim-cohens-recent-iej-tirade/

Chicago

Isaacs, Gilad. An inability to see the crisis for the trees: a response to Tim Cohen’s recent IEJ tirade. Institute for Economic Justice, 2023. https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/an-inability-to-see-the-crisis-for-the-trees-a-response-to-tim-cohens-recent-iej-tirade/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Isaacs |first1=Gilad |title=An inability to see the crisis for the trees: a response to Tim Cohen’s recent IEJ tirade |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=25 October 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/an-inability-to-see-the-crisis-for-the-trees-a-response-to-tim-cohens-recent-iej-tirade/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{isaacs2023inability, author = {Isaacs, Gilad}, title = {{An inability to see the crisis for the trees: a response to Tim Cohen’s recent IEJ tirade}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/in-the-media/an-inability-to-see-the-crisis-for-the-trees-a-response-to-tim-cohens-recent-iej-tirade/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }