@Artaxerex

Doctorate or not the point is he has to publish papers which of necessity must stand up to the rigour peer review. It puts him at an advantage in the debate.

@Hal

Of course we should thank our philanthropists in our midst BUT it will take many stakeholders doing many things to right right the ship.

What is difficult for me to comprehend is that eatlier this year the Govenor was predicing one per cent growth in tourism this year, largely due to the Four Seasons. Merricks and Port Ferdinand projects. Yet last week the President of the BHTA stated that they expected a 9 per cent FALL in long stay visitor arrivals by the end of 2012. Thats roughly 57,000 visors and I wonder if anyone has tried to calculate the fiscal cost to Government and the viability of the private sector tourism industry.

David,

Should read 57,000 visitors.
YES! But who in the traditional media is going to question anyone?

Going hand in hand with the continued earning of foreign exchange at a level adequate to support Barbados’ imports through exports, foreign loans, remittances from overseas (Diaspora) or FDI, is the prudence to recognize that when FX inflows decline, measures should be taken to reduce import levels, failing which foreign reserves will decline and if left unchecked, will threaten the currency peg.

It is poor fiscal policy to continue to permit imports of consumer durables at current levels given the decline in FX earnings and then have their retailing funded by local credit. I, the average Joe, can walk into any of several local retailers and walk out with the biggest flat screen TV, fridge or stove, having no equity, but agreeing to pay $15 or $20 a week on a never never basis.

As I recall and I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, the Tom Adams administration put measures in place to ensure that proposed purchasers of consumer durables from local retailers were required to contribute a percentage of the cost of an item and pay the balance over a specified time. This had the desired effect of dampening demand for these items and therefore the drag on the FX reserves. Should we not be considering similar measures now? Same goes for motor vehicles.

So what do you do, David? Continue the current high levels of durables consumption in the face of declining FX earnings and eventually and inevitably damaging the reserve position, or be proactive and take measures to protect them?

Granted, spending keeps the economy moving, but spending on what. The problem with Barbados is that we have so little that is locally produced to spend on. A balance must be found.

“This paper describes how fiscal policy is used in Barbados to manage the demand for foreign exchange and ensure that the Central Bank is always stocked with adequate foreign exchange reserves to supply the needs of the interbank market. This enables the Central Bank to maintain an unchanged exchange rate through intervention on the interbank market. Sustaining the peg in this way lends credibility to Government economic policy and provides strong incentives to save and invest in the local economy.” Abstract.

The historical evidence is that most of the fiscal, financial and monetary policies that these intellectually and politically bankrupt BLP/DLP Governments, and that those other critical institutions – including the monetary authorities and the commercial banks – have been putting in place over the years are systematically destroying stagnating ( not managing) many of the commercial and business affairs of this country generally.

Along with the insensate outmoded exchange rate parities with the Barbados Dollar, it is Taxation, Interest Rates, Motor Vehicle Insurance, Institutional Repayable Loans for Productive Services, Importing the foreign cost components (to our incomes/ payments, transfers domestically) of imports into Barbados, etc that are systematically destroying stagnating this country’s material productive affairs generally.

PDC

Emera in the news:

But we also do it because — as the latest report for the week ending Aug. 22 underscores — sometimes these reports just make for juicy reading.
Consider Emera Inc. president and chief executive officer Chris Huskilson who, along with other company senior execs, has been under fire for the level of compensation he receives.
According to the most recent filings, Huskilson exercised options that had been granted to him to acquire 172,900 Emera common shares at $19.88 and another 163,800 at $20.42.
Then he turned around and sold 146,800 Emera common shares at $34.62 and another 189,900 for $34.51. That implies a before-tax profit of $4.8 million for Huskilson.
In the most recent week, we also noticed that aggressive value investor George Armoyan was his usual active self.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/129612-huskilson-is-laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank

“There is little that Caribbean economies can do to significantly increase the inflow of foreign exchange in the short run, so adjustment policies must focus on a reduction in the demand for foreign exchange.” Taken from the paper by Dr. Delisle Worrell

This can only take place within the context where the main controllers of government, financial, productive and other relevant organizations in this country continue to maintain many of the old intellectually and politically bankrupt fiscal, financial and monetary policies practices and not seek to pursue proper and alternative fiscal, financial and monetary policies and practices away from those same bankrupt ones.

A relative reduction of use of foreign exchange – without reducing the use of foreign goods and services (which themselves are needed more than ever before to support a so-called political economy and else that must really grow at a rate of 8 to 10 % per annum on average over the long term) can however be accomplished by, et al, removing all exchange rates parities with the Barbados dollar, and at the same time making sure that a national regime is installed where the currencies that the particular goods and services import transactions are denominated in are made greatly available through the foreign exchange earning capacities of the local export sectors mainly – with a National Currency Board – which a future PDC Govrnment will establish – having responsibility for currency inflows and outflows.

PDC

@ The People’s Democratic Congress | September 19, 2012 at 6:26 PM

Sounds like some 1970’s communist of Cuban vintage prescription for our mismatch of forex consumption and earning abilities.

Why not move to a situation where people who earn forex are allowed to keep and spend with a 20% residue going to the State to fund the imports of goods and services to meet the needs of basic public goods like health, basic defence and education.
In other words, if you want big rides, holidays overseas and palatial houses with children educated overseas pursuing exotic studies you must earn the forex component before spend.

Of course, certain categories of workers like those in the export or hotel sector will be exempted.

http://youtu.be/M69GBL0IDzI

Sep 2006
Did General Motors deliberately sabotage the marketing of electric cars because they threatened the motor industry? That’s the allegation made in a controversial new documentary.
Ten years ago, GM unveiled the EV1 — the first electric car for the mass market. “The EV1 was really special because it was cool and fast and fun to drive,” states former GM marketer Chelsea Sexton. “These cars were so good, they would challenge the status quo of the oil industry.” But despite their popularity among owners, GM quickly pulled the plug on its new product. It claims there was simply no mass market. All the EV1s had been leased, instead of sold, to their owners. When the leases expired, GM refused to renew them and sent the cars to be crushed.

http://youtu.be/t20RGswC_0c

“The exchange rate is maintained unchanged by balancing demand and supply of foreign exchange, using fiscal policy.” – Taken from the paper by Dr. Delisle Worrell.

An exchange rate is never set by any demand for and supply of foreign exchange in Barbados, as implied by the Dr. Worrell.

That is fooolishness.

First of all foreign exchange is of no incarnate powers or forces and therefore cannot move or motion on its own – whether it is real currency or currency value (electronic e.g.), or whether there is any AMOUNT of it that is used reused by any numbers of persons for whatever purposes at whatever times.

Note we hereby use the term “use” in opposition to the fallacy the nonsense called demand for and supply of foreign exchange.

Anyhow, exchange rates are political legal financial statements made by those relevant controllers within the government and the monetary authorities based on many historical and current considerations (the relevant ideas, practices, etc.) and however much they remained fixed or are changed at given times..

Contrary to popular, but erroneous, belief exchange rates do not really exchange as say when 4 oranges are exchanged for 3 apples directly or indirectly via money/value. Even though foreign exchange can be said to be bought or sold with local currency at given rates (only because they are different and reflect real and imagined differences in nominal costs and other expenditure structures as between political economies), THE REALITY IS THAT MONEY CANNOT MAKE MONEY ( WHATEVER THE CURRENCIES INVOLVED) NOR CAN IT COST MONEY).

So, Dr. Worrell talking about foreign exchange reserves, foreign currency inflows and outflows, etc. has no relevance or meaning unless income, payments, or transfers here or outside of Barbados are pointed to in relationship to the various amounts income, payments or transfers that are costed outside.

So a nasty dirty fallacy and myth and psychological ruse has been long concocted by economics to make belief that currencies can really be paritied with another when in truth and in fact they cannot be because they are different and have different implications

So while that rubbish theory is fast putrefying, the fact though is that it is the cost of USING FOREIGN CURRENCY out of the total amount of foreign exchange here in Barbados at any given time, as a percentage of the incomes, payments or transfers that are earned or given up whenever, whenever use is at the same time made of foreign exchange here in Barbados or elsewhere..

PDC