My deregulatory aspirations for 2005

摘要

I visited Johannesburg a few months ago to give evidence in a major arbitration. I was struck, as any visitor would be, by the prominence of security measures throughout the city. Anyone who bought shares in South African security technology 10 years ago would by now have enjoyed a phenomenal return, and it has by no means peaked:security success, after all, is measured by keeping the rogues at bay rather than defeating them. Just as with anti-virus software or hacking detection devices, this means staying one jump ahead of the demons until they, briefly,get the upper hand. And on it goes: it is both self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating.