Solutions Barbados is the only political party that has published a workable economic plan that does not require IMF funding. The BLP and DLP have embraced development philosophies that no longer work when a country is in this level of debt, and have taken us to the brink of economic ruin. That is why many economists recommend that borrowing from the IMF should be part of their economic plans.
Should voters choose to elect Solutions Barbados candidates in the upcoming general election, then they can finally experience well-managed government services and a fair economy in which all participants can benefit. Since we are not following the BLP/DLP failed development philosophies, every resident can become healthy, wealthy and educated if they choose to, without being politically favoured.
If Barbados has the misfortune of electing any other Party, then as soon as the election results are announced, they should prepare for the worst, because within one year, they will likely be living their nightmare. Mercifully, they may only have to survive the 5-year term of the nightmare that they voted to experience. Some useful post-election advice follows.
Those with cars need to ask their mechanic to replace every part that will likely need replacing within the next 5 years, especially the wheels and shock absorbers. If persons cannot afford to have them installed now, then they should at least purchase the parts while they can still afford to.
Persons should not apply for home mortgages, and those who were recently approved for a mortgage should not take it. Those with houses need to complete any outstanding maintenance projects such as power-washing and sealing concrete driveways, painting external walls and roofs, and installing new tiles and faucets. Everyone should consider purchasing a new computer, cell phone, camera, TV, microwave, washing machine, and any other device or home appliance that may need to be replaced within 5 years.
All employees in an export related sector should try to protect their salaries. Such employees should request that the basis of their current salaries be in US dollars, but paid in the equivalent Barbados dollars. If the company claims that it only exports say, 50% of its products, then the employees should not expect to have more than 50% of their salaries protected.
Persons in this ‘export’ category include maids and gardeners in foreign-owned villas, all employees in the tourism and international business sectors, and all employees of those who directly export goods or services.
Persons who can access their pensions should try to protect them before they are worth less. Those who do not qualify to access their pensions should weep for their dependents and join their fellow Barbadians, who recklessly decided to suck whatever is left after the salt that they voted to suck has gone by not voting for Solutions Barbados candidates.
All of this will be necessary because the IMF has one main role – to protect the country’s foreign currency earnings from the country’s residents. They are well-aware that if you have access to foreign currency, you will spend it. They are there to ensure that the foreign currency is used primarily to repay those from whom we borrowed – it does not belong to us.
To prevent us from using foreign currency on our needs or wants, they will likely devalue our currency to make the foreign currency very expensive for us. They will also significantly increase income taxes so that we will have very little money to spend. Finally, they will increase sales taxes so that after we have spent our remaining money on our bare necessities, there will be nothing left. So the foreign currency will be protected from us, and we will basically be working for nothing, like slaves.
In an IMF program, we should not expect our politicians to represent our interests. That is because the IMF has learnt a very important lesson of slavery – feed the overseer and he will beat his fellow slaves. Therefore, the only persons who normally do well during an IMF program are politicians, who are rewarded for carrying out the IMF’s instructions without mercy. It is instructive to note that when the IMF doubled the income tax rates on Guyanese, their politicians offered no meaningful objection whatsoever.
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