If you’ve followed this blog, you’ll know one reason why these charts are going through the roof. To quote a Reuters article on Friday:

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold and platinum soared to historic highs on Friday amid a power crisis that shut South African mines, firm oil prices and expectations of more U.S. rate cuts.

South Africa’s three top gold producers and the world’s biggest platinum miner suspended production at all their mines in the country due to a power crisis. […]

Spot platinum hit a lifetime high of $1,697 an ounce.

“Energy is the lifeblood to keep these mines going. South African production is in terminal decline, notwithstanding the five-year bull run in metals, and these outages can only further accelerate their declining position,” Ross Norman, managing director at TheBullionDesk.com, said.

“We hold with our view that gold will hit a high of $1,250 this year,” he said.

Rising prices for precious metals are great for any economy that produces them. Would have been nice if South Africa were mining country.

Update: Replaced the original charts to include data for today, 28 January, courtesy of the excellent little charting tool at The Bullion Desk.

I have advocated turfing out the government whose national socialism got us into this power crisis. It is a grave crisis, after all, which will probably cost this country most or all of its economic growth, all its capacity for job creation, most of its capacity for heavy industry and manufacturing, all the central bank’s admirable work to keep price inflation low, all the treasury’s admirable work to pay down fiscal deficits, all the investment credentials painstakingly built up in the face of skepticism and fear, and all the growth in small- and medium-sized businesses that would have formed the bedrock of our economic and employment growth. I used to be optimistic about our ability to host the 2010 World Cup, but no longer.

In any sensible democracy, such a disaster would precipitate not only a swath of resignations and firings, all the way to the top, but the collapse of the government and its banishment to the electoral wilderness for years to come. That is what should happen here. The ANC used to have a moral right to rule. It has forfeited that right, by failing both its own constituency and the electorate in general, in the most serious fashion.

I haven’t however, advocated an alternative, and will continue to leave such a decision open for now. I think there is space in South Africa for a new party, one that is committed to free people and free markets, rather than paternalistic and unrealistic “government service delivery”. One that is economically conservative but socially liberal, and represents the true non-racial ideals that define the hopes and dreams of ordinary South Africans.

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Last year, after being cleaned out by armed robbers, I found myself in a tight financial situation. I had a lot to replace. So it seemed sensible to forgo the convenience of a laptop, in favour of a more powerful but less expensive desktop. Turns out I underestimated the catastrophic consequences of the government’s economic policies. Turns out I now need a laptop after all, just to maintain my income. My attempt at financial prudence has cost me dearly, and all I have to show for it is a treasured presidential apology.

Companies and individuals — those who can afford it, at least — have in the last few weeks spent fortunes recently on diesel generators, uninterruptible power supplies, solar power or water heating units, low-wattage lights, gas lamps and bottled gas, battery-operated electronic devices and batteries. Larger companies may be able to handle such expenses, but M-Net’s news magazine show Carte Blanche reported on one fellow who manufactures curious metal things for the mining industry, who is more typical of the thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that create most of the growth and employ most of the people in South Africa. He estimates that generating his own power will cost him at least a million rand a month, which his business simply cannot afford. Especially when his customers are shutting down operations. He’ll probably set up shop elsewhere, or go out of business. And he’ll be joining thousands of others, employing many more, who’ll shutter the doors as a result of such costs.

So who gets to carry the can for all these expenses? I’m not big into online petitions, and believe that even if they’re sensibly constructed, they carry little or no weight with policy makers. However, the sentiments expressed in this one are worth considering: have the taxman pay for everything. Just deduct all these unexpected and unbudgeted costs from your taxes with your next tax return. It’s a far simpler solution than having everyone sue Eskom and the government for the costs and lost revenue caused by their lies and incompetence.