The government has announced its decision to lead the country into an IMF program. Soon the citizenry will brace for the roll out of phase two, three and the several others that will be required – given the stasis state of recent – to kick start the economy and the social benefits that must be be sustained and improved.
The blogmaster shares the following video to support the job of continuing to create awareness about our current state, the plan and …
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Redguard is on point.
@ PLT
Both yourself and David tend to be respectful of shiite talkers with fancy qualifications…..
Bushie does not suffer from this weakness…
@ sirfuzzy
Education is a most interesting phenomenon.
It is actually the physical equivalent to the concept of life itself…. where we undergo a temporary period of preparation for a productive working life as an adult…
A meaningful education should build on all past knowledge (you don’t want your children having to reinvent wheels that you spent valuable resources inventing) …and then you want to prepare them to take the society further FORWARD.
Sound education is therefore about passing on knowledge – but then also about GUIDING talents ( some that you yourself may not even understand) – to be at their very best….. while instilling basic VALUES of ethical and moral standards.
We spend lots of time ‘teaching’ shiite that did NOT even work for us, to children who can SEE that it did not work, while instilling NO ethical or moral or spiritual values – because we have decided to discard any crude ones we found when we came… and completely ignoring and discarding many talents (except for the very crude ‘academic’ gifts of remembering what you have read.)
In short – our education system is SHOT
…as is any hope of a successful future.
It is why foreigners run every shiite in Barbados now – and why this will even get worse.
When the Government has to IMPORT senators, Czars, and other leaders from overseas just to get business up and running in 2018…you MUST know that the only place from here is down…..
@ PLT
just don’t lie about it by calling it a “corporate revenue tax.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That was Grenville…
Bushie would ‘lie’ and call it a tithe…
LOL
ha ha ha
@Bush Tea
Fortunately or unfortunately the interconnected world we live in requires a heavy dose of pragmatism as it affects policymaking. Emphasis on interconnected Boss.
@Bush Tea September 3, 2018 8:37 AM
“… tend to be respectful of shiite talkers with fancy qualifications…”
+++++++++++++++
I tend to be polite to everyone, including “shiite talkers with fancy qualifications” for whom I have great contempt. I thought you might have noticed that from my interactions with many here on BU 😉
“The SIMPLE fact is that a basic, flat tax on sales will be easy to understand, easy to manage, easy to collect, easy to police and easy to administer – and it generates more revenue than ANY OTHER shiite system that we can conceptualise.” Quote,
I didnt realise what you were saying until g;lanced at the sunday sun . Taxi mane saying thre fuel tax mekking things harder etc.
We just moved from a user fee(road tax) that was collected by the BRA only if the user felt inclined to pay. Thus ot easy to collect.
The road tax was very hard to police. It actually required the Police dept tp police it in practise
With the road tax being part of the fuel cost, all the positives are apparent;
a) easy to collect(BNTCL is the collection agncy for all purchases
b) easy to understand its a fixed amoun per litre
c) easy to manage (bntcl is the sole agency to interface with)
d) easy to collect (bntcl sole agency collecting the tax)
e) easy to police (u pay at the pump)
f) easy to administer ( a fixed rate per litre and a single agnecy to interface with; fuel is easy to measure litres sold)
So why not do this with a :”revenue tax”. So say that doing the same thing and expecting differnet results is a sign of madness.
maybe its time for a change in the madness we do as a government.?
just asking
LOL @ David and PLT
I tend to be polite to everyone,
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Sorry fellas…
When yuh pushing a whacker there is no inclination to differentiate between a centipede and a earthworm…
Bushmen does just whack every shiite….
…the good grass will recover and grow even better
…and the shiite weeds will go away…
@ sirfuzzy
QED
it is why foreigners run every shiite in Barbados now – and why this will even get worse.
When the Government has to IMPORT senators, Czars, and other leaders from overseas just to get business up and running in 2018…you MUST know that the only place from here is down…..
@bushtea. You are 90% right.
We didn’t have to import one “shyte” ; we choose to. Those imported and sold to us via a PR campaign was “jobby”
They were politically reasons for importing those legislators. Why the need for importing them, go ask MAM and the Roebuck street crew.
But then again we importing eva thing now a days from coconut water. tamarinds and now legislators lol
The political class only pays attention to ideas formulated or devised in George and Roebuck streets
But the last time i checked they are many other streets in the town, like Spruce Street, Garnet street, Church Street; Bay Street; Vine Street etc; but those streets are only canvassed when looking for votes but never when looking for ideas
We debate that the the homegrown talent pool is responsible for bringing us to this point, then we criticize when there is an attempt to disrupt the status quo y ‘boosting’ the talent pool from outside. A case of damn if you do and damn if you don’t?
@ peterlawrencethompson September 3, 2018 8:23 AM
so what is the big thing on what the tax is called. We can call it a “panty tax”. its the administration and collection of the tax that matters. Please explain if u can your choice of wording
@PLT,
You are getting confused. What intangible good and services? Name them. Law, medicine and accountancy can all be replaced by artificial intelligence tomorrow. If we develop our infrastructure (ie bulldoze the slums and rebuild), we will provide a number of jobs, from architect to labourers; they will go out and spend on their own homes, good, groceries, children, etc; in turn the providers will increase their stock and staff; they will pay income tax, AT etc, and government will earn more revenue in order to provide more public services.
Imported goods will have to pay tariffs, VAT etc. With a domiciled bank, young people with business ideas will find a listening ear, businesses that want to grow will find a friendly banker, the more businesses the more jobs and the more taxes. More importantly, the people will have an improved standard of living.#
@PLT I remember when people cooked on bricks, with cane peeling providing the fuel, then they moved up to kerosene (paraffin) cookers or various makes, then to calor gas. They had outside toilets (some still do), bought ie on Sundays, now they have refrigerators, they had Rediffusion and not television sets, etc. Life was much more exciting then because we were more community-spirited.
Ignore this generation of economists, who were the outstanding economists of the 1950s and 60s, the years of vast improvements in our standard of living?
PLT wrote: “I personally think that economic growth is a con game played by the rich against the poor. I think that economics as practiced in capitalist economies is fundamentally evil.”
And even some of the “free markets would solve all our problems” capitalist types are having their minds opened by the overwhelming amalgamation of mind boggling amounts of wealth among the 1 percent of the 1 percent while the poor continue to get poorer.
@sirfuzzy (i was a sheep some years ago; not a sheep anymore) September 3, 2018 9:23 AM
Corporate greedheads conned Solutions Barbados into trying to sell it as a “corporate revenue tax” in order to convince the electorate that it was a tax that would replace corporate income tax and be paid by corporations. The name matters simply because it is better to tell the truth than to tell a lie.
Elsewhere the Wild Coot is suggesting to free up the US dollars. Scrap the 70% demand by the central bank to surrender. Remove the need to secret out US dollars from Barbados.
And the talk continues for without a beat.
David September 3, 2018 9:20 AM
We debate that the the homegrown talent pool is responsible for bringing us to this point, then we criticize when there is an attempt to disrupt the status quo y ‘boosting’ the talent pool from outside. A case of damn if you do and damn if you don’t?
That is not what it really is. The talent pool in Barbados is wide if not deep. Dr Kevin Greenidge for example. I never heard of him until last week. How many other are other there just like him? But nasty gutter water filth infested retail politics keeps our best & decent & brightest and competent far away. Let cal them the “potable bottled water crew”
So when bottles of potable water is not available we get our political talent from the cess pools at Roebuck & George Streets or from the. “the Kool-aid Gang”. our “the Brothers in arms platoon”, etc. What they have in common? the cess pool water circulating in their veins instead of blood.
@Hal Austin September 3, 2018 9:28 AM
The export of medical intangible services would be medical education or medical tourism. The export of legal intangible services involves mostly corporate manipulations connected to the offshore finance industry, and the export of intangible accountancy services is the same market. You are correct that legal and accountancy services are threatened by AI.
However the important intangible services in the contemporary global economy are software, mobile services, musical entertainment, video games, cinema, and the wide range of cultural industries.
Your idea of buldozing slums and rebuilding them is more complex than it appears on the surface. How do you propose to pay for this redevelopment? Higher taxes? More IDB loans? How are you going to stop COW and Maloney Bjerkhamn and the usual band of pirates from hijacking the process to their own enrichment and leaving the public with the debt?
Where are we with the operationalizing of the Cultural Industries and intectual property apparatus? To give wings to selling services to the world we must transform to become fit for purpose! That jargon is for Bushie.
@ David September 3, 2018 9:38 AM
I agree with Harry.
As was said in an earlier post, any Bajan citizen or resident (not charged for money laundering) should be allowed to keep a foreign currency account from which he or she could buy goods and services duty-free on condition the foreign currency is purchased by the Central Bank from the merchants.
All those who want to drive around luxury vehicles on the makeover donkey cart roads of ByeBye Bubadus will have to find their own foreign exchange to pay for the full-cost (duties and taxes included) excepting the foreign diplomatic corps.
@PLT
Only in Barbados is infrastructural development complex; also medical practice is more prone to AI than book-keeping and reconciliations; about how to control Bjerkham and COW, that can bee done through the normal procurement process., Government is not obliged to accept the highest or lowest tender; and it can insist that certain parts of the work be sub-contracted out.
@Hal Austin September 3, 2018 10:02 AM
So what you are saying is that we need to revolutionize our procurement process, because what you outline has no resemblance to what is “normal” in Barbados. I agree. But you have not let us know how you will finance this redevelopment.
@ peterlawrencethompson September 3, 2018 9:44 AM
“However the important intangible services in the contemporary global economy are software, mobile services, musical entertainment, video games, cinema, and the wide range of cultural industries.”
Agree, totally!
The I.T. platforms are now available to make those export opportunities become realty.
It’s time young Bajans stop seeing their communication gadgets as conduits for gossip but as tools to be used for business opportunities to earn money, especially forex to pay for the same gadgets.
Also ripe for the taking, like low-hanging fruit, are the golden opportunities to save forex both at the level of the ‘foreign-owned-and-controlled’ official economy and the underground dark economy.
Why does Barbados import bottled water?
What about promoting and using Bajan water stored in locally-made clay pots called Bajan monkeys? Could you ask for a better tasting thirst quenching natural liquid for the human body?
What about using locally-grown marijuana as the basis for a Bajan-inspired culinary and pharmaceutical revolution?
Sorry, Peter. I have done so on so many occasions. It is one reason why I am retired.
Here we go again: I would develop that entire with the River Road, Bay Street, Fairchild Street area. It does not have to be a one-off development, but gradual. It will be an architecturally designed development of apartments, shops, offices, a school, a police sub-station, recreational facilities (swimming pool, basket/netball facilities, ten-pin bowling), a garden, nightclubs, doctors’ surgeries, a cinema, restaurants, and small work shops and a bus and taxi terminal. It will become the centre of our night-time economy and the initial money will be raised through the capital markets.
Since the land will be compulsorily purchased, first refusal on the apartments (no higher than six floors and including social housing) will be for the previous residents, then offers going to a mix of people to maintain a wide demographic; the leasehold sale of apartments will be off-plan initially, with that money going back in to the development.
Such a development would provide jobs for carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, scaffolders, attorneys, architects, quantity surveyors, gardeners, shop owners, shop assistants, etc.
In short, it will be a normal infrastructural development and can be done within five years – even in Barbados.
GreenMonkey September 3, 2018 9:29 AM
Interesting video. This is often the intent of many economic models; they have these goals as their objective. of course the economic model needs the legislators in the respective nations to make it all legal.
“often what is legal is not moral and what is moral is not legal”
Why does Barbados import bottled water?
What about promoting and using Bajan water stored in locally-made clay pots called Bajan monkeys? Could you ask for a better tasting thirst quenching natural liquid for the human body?
We need to get on with selling in small or large quantities any type of product will a high as possible local content. That will maximise the forex retained.
lets take a look at carbonated beverages. SWe import so many botltes.
Say Busta from Tdad. What are the inputs .
a) WASA or Well sourced water
b) Plastice container/bottle
c) Label
d) Plastic Screw cap/cover
e) Flavouring and dyes and preservatives
f) Co2 fizz
The least expensive input into the Busta soda drick is probably the “wasa or well sourced water”
Imported sweet drinks are adding so much “value add” to the Tdad economy; because the Tdad local water is a not imported than exported to Bdos. it is a local tdad resouces that earns them forex. ; so every time u drink a busta a Trini is saying thank u. lol
We made a big mistake when did not expad our business into the region.
@ Hal Austin September 3, 2018 10:21 AM
“… initial money will be raised through the capital markets…”
+++++++++++++++
Capital markets?? Surely you jest. There are no capital markets in Barbados. International capital markets are looking for a fat return on investment and will not in any way consider a jurisdiction with our credit rating. Capital markets direct investment toward the highest expected rate of return at a given level of perceived risk. We have a historically low rate of return coupled with a historically high perception of risk. There is categorically no possibility of redeveloping the River Road, Bay Street, Fairchild Street area by raising money on capital markets. One might as well hope to raise the funds by buying lottery tickets. Wheel and come again.
@ peterlawrencethompson September 3, 2018 10:36 AM
Can’t you see Hal is living in a bubble of make-believe?
Unlike you, he has refused to return to his land of birth to make that much needed difference required from a son of the soil.
A national duty so encapsulated in that moral motto ‘Noblesse Oblige’ or put succinctly and more recently by JFK:
Ask not what your country can do for you but what ‘You’ can do for your country [Barbados]”.
Any person who consistently argues that the earning and saving of forex is a misguided objective for a country in which over 80% of its GDP has a foreign import’ ‘component must give some credence to the misguidedly misleading belief that black Bajan people who live in the UK must be mad as hatters living in an alternate universe of double standards.
@ Miller
Return to what home what??!!?
In all fairness..
We all know that Hal has nothing to offer
and, having been rejected by his adopted country – can only finds solace in BU –
despite the fact that the blogmaster refuses to kowtow to his demands on how the blog should be run…
…and despite Bushie constantly pissing him off with the cold, hard truth
….that he was always an idiot…. 🙂
No offence meant
It is just a fact….as he constantly demonstrates…
Sorry.
@ Bush Tea,
Some of us are contributing by NOT returning to Barbados.
Oh Peter,
Yes. Capital markets. Barbados does not even have peanut sellers. Your observation about global capital markets (the only capital markets) is wide off beam. Stop thinking like a little islander. And the area is ripe for development.
I remember having this conversation with David Thompson (we were not mates) and he said there was a Fairchild Street development plan. What happened to that?
@David
Quote :‘boosting’ the talent pool from outside. A case of damn if you do and damn if you don’t?
BOOSTING THE TALENT POOL FROM OUTSIDE, PLEASE OUTLINE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF “TALENT”.
Hiring nepotism individuals will not help the problem but agrivate the situation, as is the case of the MIA government. Outside qualified and EXPERINCED TALENT, I agree could contribute to a solution with a non Bajan viewpoint. The question is would anyone in government take them seriously.
@Wily
What do you suggest the locals can do to boost the talent pool?
@David
BOOSTING THE local TALENT POOL, this will be difficult in the PRESENT incestuous environment. I personally believe that there are a number of Barbadian individuals with integrity, ie our house senator for one, that are more than capable of taking a country leadership role. The BIG question is how does the country get these individuals established into a position of authority. The talent is locally available but how do we get them motivated to participate with the PRESENT atmosphere and open doors so that they can be effective in a leadership role.
Also there is a lot of negativity towards blog members that are not permanently resident in Barbados, some local Bajan bloggers should pay more attention to thier ideas as they come with an outside perspective and not wrapped up in the blind Bajan mindset.
The major problem Barbados has, both past and present, is the lack of THINKERS WITH GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING. Barbados problem solvers are too centric in their approach to problem solving to such an extent FAILURE is almost guaranteed.
@Hal Austin September 3, 2018 12:02 PM
“Your observation about global capital markets (the only capital markets) is wide off beam.”
++++++++++++++++
Part of my day job is helping to put together internationally based investment capital funds (yeah, I know, the irony of an anti-capitalist immersed up to the eyeballs in capitalism), so I know exactly what I’m talking about in discussing whether we can access global capital markets for Bridgetown redevelopment.
DESPITE ALL THE LONG TALK BY ALL AND SUNDRY, IT SEEMS THAT BERT
IS ASLEEP
OR DEATH
OR GONE ON A JOURNEY
OR JUST DONT CARE
BUT DIS I DE RUM SHOP
SO LET US TALK AND TALK AND OTHER WORDS THAT MEAN TALK ……..
BUT WHAT IS BEING DONE?
The major problem Barbados has, both past and present, is the lack of THINKERS WITH GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING. Barbados problem solvers are too centric in their approach to problem solving to such an extent FAILURE is almost guaranteed.
in addition to that, there is inertia. we are afraid to try stuff unless it is not sanctioned from the guru that call George or Roebuck Streets home. The politico do not wantt an negatives attached to the pending action so we do nothing; or they are willing blame all and sundry when/if it falls but they shove “all and sundry aside” if/when it succeeds.
We need to repurpose our political class
@PLT
I do not know anything about anything, but if you think my suggestions would not find funding in the global capital markets, then you are not as familiar with the markets as you imagine. It is the reason why the government should call in experienced consultants, and not family friends, to advise them on these big projects, or worse, try to do it themselves.
@Hal Austin September 3, 2018 1:53 PM
“if you think my suggestions would not find funding in the global capital markets, then you are not as familiar with the markets as you imagine”
+++++++++++++++++++
So please explain then why, since your “conversation with David Thompson [… when] he said there was a Fairchild Street development plan” it has attracted absolutely zero attention from capital markets over a period which must by now amount to at least a decade.
@sirFuzzy
Any idea how you would repurpose the political class?
Today the world or economies are driving/running on credit. I guess Barbados is no different; Usually local business cannot wait until a person has saved enuff to purchase a good or service therefore credit is offered and the end users borrows etc.
There is a market for credit, buyers and sellers. The market has rules that govern it. Although they are occasions when he big players break the rules etc. Usually on rare occassion but sometimes with devastating effect. But in large the market works.
he market tried to balance itself by moving the interest rate for the different level and type of borrowing sought and the creditworthiness of the borrower. This principal can be applied at the national and personal level.
In theory there are few that have money to lend and many who want to borrow. But good debtors are a rare breed. They are disciplined and honourable. These traits also make them more likely to succeed with what they borrowed the money for etc, and if they succeed in doing the right thing with the money borrowed they are less likely to want to borrow again. Eg BRIC nations. they slowly become lenders and not borrowers.
Therefore the economic model that the other lenders pursue must be tailored to keep them as borrowers for all long as possible because if the market is allowed to be in balance with more and more becoming lenders; the return on borrowing will fall and no lenders really wants that.
Barbados is following an economic model where a precious few(nations) are allowed to prosper and the majority are kept in a state where they can repay the loan but never really escape fr0m the debt.
We need to rethink the economic models we are pursuing; The IMF is firstly about Barbados repaying its debts to our international creditors. so we can go borrow again to supposedly get ourselves outta the now larger debt. I
It may work but precious few manage to thread the needle, or maybe better put allowed to escape the pressure cooker.
Yes indeed, some are curious how a country tagged with junk to selected default credit rating status will attract the significant investment needed for regeneration of the City as proposed. Is this not the reason Barbados has finally entered an IMF program to not only unlock cheap funds from IADB, World Bank and others but IMF acknowledgment is anticipated to encourage investors looking for the discipline an IMF program will trigger?
The IMF was invited in because we messed up. A big part of the reason is that we engaged in fiscal indiscipline. We do not have anybody to blame but we ourselves.
David September 3, 2018 2:02 PM
@sirFuzzy
Any idea how you would repurpose the political class?
Give them a time share at the Dodds vacation spa and internment village.
You do appreciate the very political class you distrust has to carry out your wish?
Looks like wishful thinking sirFuzzy. You should get on your knees and pray to Bushie’s BBE.
David September 3, 2018 2:10 PM
The IMF was invited in because we messed up. A big part of the reason is that we engaged is fiscal indiscipline. We do not have anybody to blame but we ourselves.
This reminds me of the van stands during the peaks times a few years ago. Total chaos. But once a policeman is posted some form of orderly behaviour returns. It boggles the mind; these folks know what is required of them, but will engage in chaotic and self destructive behaviour when no authoritative figure is looking.
I guess the same thing applies at the national level over our economic affairs?
Maybe we need to rethink what independence means; cause we didn’t or have chosen to act like an IMMATURE PERSON unless we are policed by a foreigner?
Can we apply or submit an application to the UK for “colony status” after al these years? lol
David September 3, 2018 2:42 PM
You do appreciate the very political class you distrust has to carry out your wish?
Looks like wishful thinking sirFuzzy. You should get on your knees pray to Bushie’s BBE.
You asked me a question; i give u my opinion or answer. End of transaction?
Most things are not workable or doable in Bim cause we like it so
We have to find our way.
Our story will test the fable of the Phoenix rising from the ash.
Note that is a generalization. Many do not like it so. What we are now engaged is a process of escaping from the maze by dialoguing. In some countries we would have witnessed riots. This is the Bajan way. Do not be discouraged.
sirfuzzy (i was a sheep some years ago; not a sheep anymore) September 3, 2018 2:51 PM
David September 3, 2018 2:42 PM
You do appreciate the very political class you distrust has to carry out your wish?
Looks like wishful thinking sirFuzzy. You should get on your knees pray to Bushie’s BBE.
As advised by you on many occasions. “i live in hope”. I never contemplated a 30-0 whitewash in the political duopoly i inherited or only knew to exist. .
Maybe it will happen again the electors has demonstrated that i wants results and is willing to give one party the complete parliamentary control to make such happen. if they fail maybe a third partly slate of MPs will be willing to put country before self and do what i have asked?
I live in hope 🙂
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