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

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) defends its analysis of South Africa's fiscal position against claims by Tim Cohen, arguing that the National Treasury's narrative of an acute fiscal crisis is being used to justify budget cuts that would harm the vulnerable and hinder long-term growth.

• The IEJ argues that the National Treasury is using the characterisation of an "acute fiscal crisis" to justify indiscriminate budget cuts, including the potential scrapping of the Social Relief of Distress grant, which would exacerbate hunger and cripple service delivery.
• The IEJ contends that South Africa's current fiscal trajectory is unsustainable without meaningful economic expansion and that the only way to address high debt costs in the medium term is to grow the economy for the benefit of all.
• The IEJ asserts that reducing expenditure on infrastructure and social services will reduce the overall size of the economy over the medium-to-long-term, as debt and growth are mutually reinforcing only if borrowing is used for productive purposes.

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} }