Mascoll makes himself a target saying that he is a spokesman for the opposition party and writing weekly in the newspaper and on the radio call in programmes.

Mascoll is the one doing the attacking and for the record, he succumbed to politics of inclusion because he is basically a political wimp who because he “got out” wanted to take up his bat and go home but the game went on with out him.He does not know any more economics than anyone else in Barbados but his constant self promotion will fool the gullible yardfowl that he does. He is an intellectual impostor who has zero name and academic recognition beyond this 166 square miles.
Two years as junior minister of finance and his legacy was 2 million dollars of our precious money thrown away down a Hardwood hole, never to be seen again.

Regarding the unscrupulous statement by another blogger,”As soon as signs appeared on the horizon , Mascoll was taken down.”
REPLACE the word MASCOLL with MIA and then continue.
Hypocrite!

The BLP will fool those who allow themselves to be fooled.

@ ! | July 13, 2012 at 6:02 AM |

You seem to be well versed on economic matters and view Mascoll as a political lackey so any pronouncements from him should be taken with a dose of salts.
You also seem to rate Dr. Frank Alleyne- who is a known DLP sympathizer and possibly party man- as fair and objective.
So explain to the BU family the position taken by Alleyne on the foreign reserves. He claims that any significant additional spend in the local economy would immediately translate into severe pressures on the foreign reserves that can threaten the stability of the currency peg i.e. trigger a devaluation. The question to you is why did the MoF give income tax reductions knowing full well these would result in additional spend in the economy?
Have the fiscal and monetary conditions that gave rise to the tax impositions changed that significantly as to grant these concessions at time when the foreign reserves are lower and under greater pressure than when the tax burdens on workers were first imposed?
The economic reasoning coming from Dr. Alleyne befuddles me. On the one hand he supports granting the tax concessions but on the other hand he argues that any pressures on the foreign reserves from additional spend in the local economy would have serious ramifications for the country maintaining its foreign currency parity.

Please explain to us this economic paradox and dilemma.

I see I have the same problem as Moses when he led the people out of Egypt…..first you ask for ‘PRODUCE’: producing example….that I provided..now you want me give….”the measure of output”….man get real do….next you will be comparing that with Timbucktoo…Stop moving the goal post David ..do….now one of your more favorite pass times.

By the way we build Polyclinics and 4 post offices…they all produce social benefits too…..you want me “measure the output” there too ?

Face it David..the DLP will have a problem measuring up.

@Onions

In the context of the discussion surely you understand what ‘produce’ means? Check Crusoe’s last comment.

@ David
Production can’t be conducted in isolation. Infrastructure must be in place to assist whether high speed internet connectivity (wifi included), proper roads, seaports, etc, etc. Isn’t sports part of our development plan?

Doesn’t cricket deserve a proper home? Ten twenty20 contracts for Bajans
are worth what in FOREX? Jones needs to build the long overdue football centre so we can aim for 10 professional footballers too.

The BLP built on what was then a competitive advantage (had the current government not fallen asleep at the wheel that advantage would still be in place), and it is silly to now come and condemn such an approach since to this day not a fella can advance an alternative. RE? Can we build PV panels to compete with the international companies that are way ahead of us?

I asked why in those three consecutive years 2004 to 2006 when the reserves were lower than they are at present didn’t the B’dos dollar face devaluation or the economy collapsed?

The DLP has shamed Barbados with what they failed to produce for its people.We were once the pride of the Caribbean. Now we are laughed at and spurned upon.THANKS DLP…..thanks ac…..we have a lot to thank you lot for.

@Miller

Agree that Governor Worrell’s comparison to 2008 was not well thought out.

Based on our own research, there is no more than US $200 million in foreign exchange in this country at this stage.

Therefore, references to some belief that Barbados has BDS $ 1.4 billion in foreign reserves are totally unfounded and misdirecte

Recent research done by us shows that at this stage in Barbados there is no more than US $ 200 million in foreign exchange in Barbados.

References by some people to some idea that there is BDS 1.4 billion in foreign exchange reserves are therefore unfounded and misdirected.

There is not that magnitude of foreign reserves that Barbados has now.

What foolishness!!

And to think that some people believe in that nonsense as well.

PDC

In this environment, The Minister of Finance can give income tax reductions but it is important to couple this with expenditure restraint or revenue gain.

The MOF financed a requirement for each of the departments to have an adiitional 2% budgetary cut and incentivized areas like alternative energy and food production where foreign exchange savings can be realised.
The BLP will obvious tell people what they want to hear- people should be intelligent enough to reason.
The budget reply by Ms. Mottley was extremely irresponsible – promising everything – cut taxes, increase spending- in this environment?
If the government had presented the “blatant electioneering reckless proposals” that Mottley outlined, Barbados would have been downgraded by the ratings agencies before the desk thumping was finished at the end of the speech.
Sinckler was responsible and visionary.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados recently stated in the review of the half year performance of the Barbados political economy and else, that there was a $ 63 million decline in foreign reserves for that period over the corresponding one.

He also went on to state that imports are paid for from out of what foreign currency comes into the country.

Now, imports are in the region of 3 and a half billion Barbados dollars plus yearly.

Exports are in the region of 2 and a half billion Barbados dollar plus yearly.

What this tells so many Barbadians is that Barbados has a serious current account deficit on the Balance of Payments yearly.

Nevertheless, what the Governor has really been suggesting is that this deficit in the current account of the Balance of Payments will still be closed out of foreign capital inflows into Barbados (this is an accounting truism).

What is also clear from the Governor statements (represented above) is that there has also been a decline in foreign capital inflows because within the first half of the year, the government had to DIP into the foreign reserves this time around to pay for imports and other things.

Well, as it stands right now, if the Barbados government is paying for imports and else things out of foreign currency coming into the country, it must mean that when one reconverts the values the Central Bank gives for imports from Barbados dollars to US dollars (vis-a-vis removing transaction costs and taxation costs (to income, payments, transfers) which have falsely inflated the import figure (Barbados dollars) in the first place), it must mean that by doing the necessary statistical calculations and synthesizations there must be fewer than US $ 200 million in foreign reserves in Barbados at this stage.

What is clear too is that these insensate DLP and BLP Governments and their so-called economist supporters have over the years been terribly misleading the public on the amount in foreign reserves that Barbados really has in store.

Both the DLP and BLP must go.

PDC

The Nation newspaper is so predictably the BLP public relations machine that everytime the BLP opposition leader speaks at a Sunday meeting , a call is made to the Nation newsroom and the following day his comments are placed in a prominent position in the Monday paper.

Watch this trend carefully – either the front page, back page or page 3 (the first page you see when you open the paper).It happens everytime like clockwork.
The BLP held a politically orchestrated event before their women’s league on Sunday, July 15 about the economy – look and see the prominent and extensive coverage which is given by the Nation newspaper of this event.
You will clearly see how closely the BLP leadership and the Nation newspaper editors collaborate – almost as if they have the same mission.
Journalism is Barbados has gone to the dogs and the oppostion can do or say anything for votes knowing that the biggest newspaper in the country has pledged its allegiance to a political party first and the country second.

@David,

Well, so much IS rigged. International politics and finance is NOT above Board. Recent events in finance include the Barclays fine, JP Morgan trading losses of $4Billion, which were apparently blamed on a breakdown in controls (even though their quarterly earnings have still been VERY profitable and a US brokerage house has gone bankrupt, allegedly with fraud.

The ‘financial’ crisis in institutions has not gone away, because it is structural, made for manipulation and as long as profits generate CEO bonuses, do you really expect any change?

The smoke and mirrors are endless, on big convoluted game. I reiterate, Libya and Iraq were casualties of the ‘game’, being the oil industry trump cards.

Now that the trump cards were played, what have we left? The obvious answer for Barbados, keeps going back to self reliance and food independence, that which some claimed could not be done, but which can be done.

The regeneration of backyard butchers and cottage industry is necessary, because the centralisation fo such facilities only suits the ‘big boys’ and large corporations which kill small business.

You can have both, but the option should be there. We should not adopt regulations because it sounds like what would be done overseas, our regulations need to allow local small business to prosper, whether the backyard butcher with such a license or the agriculture co-op or the small hotel.

What measures can be done to create a resurgence for the small man?

As last week’s firings show, the distribution sector is fickle and reliant on the decisions of a few overseas.

Local business, generating real local income, not just the marginal profis of imported goods, is where we start.