The economies of the English speaking Caribbean (which includes Barbados) was established on the free labor, blood and behinds of people who became Barbadian. During my lifetime and for sometime before there are many whom have promoted other methods for economic stability but they have been trumped by many who include our erstwhile leaders. These so called leaders often suffer from a blend of ignorance, greed and stupidity.
The continued selling of one’s behind soon leaves little cushion that is self owned and sparse outlet for any waste without paying rental or lease.
My limited information strongly suggests that this is the time to cease ass selling. It will be painfull to buyers of that commodity but those of us who retain our butts will certainly feel the difference. There will be less bling and we may keep our transport equipment longer. We may even walk more and upgrade public transport. We will have a little more control over our economy and those whom we select to lead us will find local bribery more attractive than that which is rewarded in foreign currency.

And soma wunna vex bout ass pedalling round de garrison. Remember de prices gone down because there is a glut on de market. Only the prettiest and unblemished ones might get a buyer. No POXY ones please!

@ David

Well now the Bushman has seen everything….
Bushie thought that it would have been at least November before you came around to facing this reality…. LOL after you (Mr Optimist) put up a post like this, what do you leave BT to do…?

Bushie is hereby revising the expected date for Straight Talk’s coming to the realization of BBE’s intent and timetable (as expounded by BT here on BU)….. to Independence 2011….

LOL….and Zoe will get over his ‘Trinity’ obsession shortly thereafter if the bushman’s revised expectations are correct….

It is NEVER wise to sell ASSets of such supreme, irreplaceable quality!

It is interesting to note that the difficulties associated with the world recession and a high public debt have forced Jamaica to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and restructure its entire domestic debt stock (Jamaica Debt Exchange, or JDX). Under the directions of the IMF, Jamaica is currently pursuing pro-cyclical fiscal policies in an effort to meet its large debt obligations. As a consequence, the Jamaican economy has failed to recover from its recession, with real GDP growth estimated to have been negative for fiscal year 2010/2011 and unemployment remaining persistently high.
Jamaica, like Barbados is confronted with similar problems as it relates to high debt and an increase in government expenditure. However, the Jamaica debt is not a consequence of profligate government spending; the debt interest rates are very high, (leading to extremely high debt servicing costs), and are partly due to an increase in the share of debt that is domestically financed. Unfortunately, a significant amount of government expenditure has been allocated to pay this exceedingly high debt burden, which has caused a reduction in the allocations of funds for investment in education, economic and social infrastructure. The lack of investment in these areas is a serious impediment to achieving sustained productivity increases and growth in human capital.
The IMF measures places a particular emphasis on controlling government expenditure as a means to reduce the deficit, as well as reducing the wage bill. These measures can also have serious implications and negative consequences for a developing country that needs to increase spending on sectors such as health and education. A reduction in government spending will also affect the Jamaican tourism sector, especially when the island needs to rebuild its image after the Dudus Coke affair.
Despite the fact that Barbados’ economy may not be in dire straights like some of our Caribbean neighbours, we may experience an exodus of persons from those islands to Barbados, with a view of becoming involved in the lucrative underground economy.

@David…

Well, duh….

@David

I wrote a few days ago that there was a “gentleman’s agreement” concerning the Presidency of the World Bank and the Presidency of the IMF.

The World Bank belongs to the USA and the IMF to the Europeans, do you think that an American President of the World Bank will make disparaging remarks about the US greenback?

To David:
Most of what is being discussed here is very similar to the book “the coming economic earthquake”. The book concentrates the cause of the economic disaster to the piling up of debt. What the author describes here is the impact of the debt crisis, seen both in canada, the u.s and europe. It is also the underpinning of the religious right as part of their rapture theory. For those who are seeing it for the first time it may be interesting, but I am not enthused. what you also have here are hot dogger who believe they know more than most about the financial markets and they are spewing their venom. I am simply not impress.

@The Scout: “Bajans have been selling their ass for a long time now, politicians have been prostituting with big businesses both locally and foreign as they sell Barbados for persal gain. The average bajan too has been prostituting with the many intruders both regionally and foreign, many bajans will refuse to give a local a job just because an illegal person is willing to work for a small fee, just for personal gain. Many local contractor hired these illegal persons.

@The Scout… In your opinion, have the *people* achieved their objectives?

David | August 15, 2011 at 3:05 PM | @TB Walk down any public street many parts of the world and this is what you see.

According to the Commissioner of Police, complaints from neighbors indicate that the young people are attending fetes and having sex in public (I assume) in the areas around the location.

When BU highlighted some time ago that VOB and other radio stations were helping to popularize people like Lil Rick and the Guinness half hour which helped to feed the frenzy…

When we highlighted some time ago that many of our popular DJs were composing sick music to be played on PSVs…

We tolerated it.

While it was not the only cause there is absolutely no doubt in the BU household it has contributed in some way to deeply embedding a subculture in our society which is now biting us in the ass.

Here is a post by the respected FT.
Why we cannot inflate our way out of debt
By Raghuram Rajan
We are experiencing financial panic. A downgrade of US debt has triggered a flight to liquidity towards the very assets downgraded. Ultimately, the cure for market paranoia is strong economic growth. Several commentators propose a sharp, contained bout of inflation as a way to reenergise growth in the US and the industrial world. Are they right?
To understand the prescription, we must understand the diagnosis. Recoveries from crises that result in over-leveraged balance sheets are slow, and are typically resistant to traditional macroeconomic stimulus. Over-leveraged, households cannot spend, banks cannot lend and governments cannot stimulate. So why not generate higher inflation for a while? This will surprise fixed income lenders who agreed to lend long term at low rates; bring down the real values of debt; eliminate debt “overhang”; and spur growth. Yet there are concerns. Can central banks with anti-inflation credibility generate sharply higher inflation in an environment of low rates? Will it work as intended? What could be the unintended consequences? And are there better alternatives?
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Japan’s central bank tried and failed to generate higher inflation. Banks were too willing to hold the reserves that the central bank put out as it bought back bonds. Perhaps if a central bank announced a higher inflation target, and an asset purchase programme financed with unremunerated reserves, to continue until the target were met, it could have some effect. More likely though, any target would lose credibility once it became changeable. Market participants might conjecture that the programme would be abandoned once it reached an alarming size, and well before the target is reached.
Moreover, the central bank needs a rapid, sizeable inflation to reduce real debt values quickly. A slow increase will have very limited effect because lenders will demand both higher nominal rates and an inflation risk premium to roll over claims. But a sizeable inflation may be hard to contain: if a central bank abandons its inflation target for growth, will markets believe it has the stomach for high, growth-killing interest rates to reduce inflation?
Turn next to whether it will work. Inflation will do little for entities with floating rate liabilities (many households that borrowed near the peak of the boom) or relatively short term liabilities (banks). The US government, with debt duration of about 4 years, is unlikely to benefit much from a surprise inflation unless it is huge; and the bulk of its promises are social security and healthcare that cannot be inflated away. Even distressed households that have borrowed long term could be worse off – with unemployment likely to subdue nominal wage growth, and higher food and fuel prices cutting disposable income.
Moreover, inflation will clearly make debt holders worse off. Who are they? Rich people, but also pensioners who moved into bonds as the stock market scared them away, banks that will have to be recapitalised, state pension funds that are already deeply underwater, and some insurance companies that will have to default on their claims. Will inflation just shift the problem, ensuring the malaise persists? In the best of worlds, it would be foreigners with ample reserves who suffer the losses, but they may be needed to finance future deficits. Of course, if central banks regain credibility for being anti-inflation hawks soon after subjecting investors to a punishing inflation, there is no problem, but…
This does not mean nothing can be done. The US experienced periodic debt crises during the 19th century and Great Depression. Its response was to offer targeted, expedited debt relief – often by enacting temporary bankruptcy legislation. In this vein, a recent proposal to facilitate mortgage debt renegotiation could help reduce the household debt overhang and avoid value-destroying foreclosures without government subsidies. It is less clear that shifting the burden of bank and government debt to others will help the economy.
Too many of our problems come from impatience with the pace of past recoveries and overconfidence in adventurous macro-policy responses. Rather than grand macroeconomic plans, we need many microeconomic actions. Unfortunately, they are disregarded because, as Daniel Burnham said, they have little ability to stir people’s blood.
* A Loan Modification Approach to the Housing Crisis, Eric Posner and Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago
The writer is professor of finance at the University of Chicago and author of Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy.

Dear David:

We can sell old Cornwell as long as we don’t sell our souls.

Juanita

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