Two major surveys in the past few days have provided a rare glimpse into the state of the real economy, including the views of thousands of international and more than 50 South African CEOs as well as input from 12,000 private companies.

South Africa can achieve electricity supply security without investing in further nuclear power. Alternative power sources are cheaper and they can also help us achieve our Copenhagen pledges to reduce carbon emissions.

The future of our existence hangs in the balance, because access to nuclear weapons could dramatically increase over the next fifty years.

One child policies in rich countries and the introduction of a supra-national body to implement sweeping reforms could shift the inevitable, says leading economist and sustainability pioneer Jorgen Randers.

SHL recently announced the release of the first annual Talent Report, providing a worldwide view of the capability and potential of talent pools across industries, regions, and job functions.

A proliferation of cooking schools and classes across the country; a spurt of specialist food markets across SA and a new-found taste for the exotic. Saaleha Idrees Bamjee wonders if we are turning into a foodie nation.

The online education revolution is here. But simply making intellectual content available online will not necessarily add up to learning.

In the face of disruptive change, higher education needs a new, more innovative business model.

Now that we are entering the fourteenth year of the current century, some of the megatrends shaping this century have become evident.

We are now in a new kind of economic era. An era in which fanatical cost-cutting, downsizing, lean Six-Sigma, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain management, off shoring or outsourcing are no longer the basis for competitive advantage.