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Does White Oak Have a Plan B?

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The Mia Mottley government forced a debt restructure on locals holding bonds. The government boasted about the speed it was completed although truth be told it was a Hobson’s choice.

On the other side of the debt restructuring transactions the external bond holders have so far been nettlesome at the negotiating table. Approaching 18 months and there appears to be a stalemate in the negotiation. The Mia Mottley government has been unable to deliver on a promise that the debt restructure transaction would have been closed by now.

Senior members of the BU family have taken umbrage to a recent comment by one of the government’s financial advisors Avinash Persaud.  Here is a pertinent quote.

What we have been trying to do is to get the best deal possible for Barbados, which means that it can’t be the quickest deal possible. If you play poker do you fold early? If you don’t need to borrow for four years you have a good hand. So, we are following the right strategy – No backing down

The blogmaster must agree at the idiocy of the statement when viewed through the eyes of a good poker player.  A good poker player will fold based on the game situation. It does not have one Rh to do with early or late in the game.

The blogmaster appreciates there is an element of table craft that will be exercised by actors sitting around a negotiating table. One must however critique the judgement of Persaud to feel embolden to have issued such a statement at this juncture in the negotiation.

Despite a bevy of officials recruited by the government with job descriptions to cover finance, communications, public relations and media liaison –  the public is left to speculate as to the current state of negotiations with the external debt restructure transaction.

Given the perilous state of the Barbados economy and the time it is taking to close the debt restructure deal with external creditors – the more aware citizens excluding the yard fowl variety – have started to examine the increasing downside risks threatening the Barbados recovery program. The blogmaster counts himself among those who is now very concerned that the high price White Oaks team has been unable to resolve the wedge issues.

It is time to go to plan B.

Do we have a plan B?

 

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322 responses to “Does White Oak Have a Plan B?”

  1. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ John A July 27, 2019 1:16 PM
    “I hear some here talking about returning to growth but wouldn’t that require a growth plan to begin with?
    Would growth not also require capital from the foreign markets for the private sector to have access to?
    Would the fact that our government defaulted and is by their own admission in no hurry to settle, help those from here now wishing financing from these entities in a negative light?
    For us to access capital on the foreign markets this matter must be he first settled. Until then the pie in the sky talk about projected growth is utter propaganda spread to the public in order to usher in a sense of stability.
    So wunna keep the Koolaid for those that drink blindly!”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Well said John, the A1 the financial analyst with an abundance of commonsense instead of theoretical bullshit!

    For Barbados to expect a complete a settlement with foreign creditors which would not be injurious to its future capacity to borrow on the open foreign market is like praying to a Jewish god requesting manna to fall from some spacecraft in the heavens.

    If Barbados cannot even get an over-priced consultant trained in the art of bullshittery to attract foreign investors to take up the Four Seasons project -which is sitting on some of the best seaside real estate in the tourism world and was going for a song- how can they expect the same bullshitter par excellence to win the poker bluffing stakes currently played with the foreign creditors and who are holding Barbados over a barrel of drowning sewage labelled “Devaluation of the Bajan Dollar”?

    That is why it is nothing but pure premature propaganda to promote the construction of an imaginary hotel corridor without indicating the source of financing of the same buildings in a sunset industry already plagued with a year-round below-‘the-standard-occupancy-rate’ challenge and with the expanding Airbnb hovering like a vulture to pick up the body of those tourists travelling on the cheap.

    Who are these targeted investors needed to finance the construction of these on-the-seashore hotels which Mother Nature would soon demand as sacrifice for the environmental sins of modern Barbadians?

    It can be safely wagered that Hyatt hotel would have been off the ground by now or definitely ‘in a few weeks time’- as promised by the MoT Richard Sealy some time back in 2017 or early 2018- if they were investors with foreign money lining up behind this project and flashing their foreign dosh in front of greedy politicians looking for their cut(s) while preaching foreign reserves salvation to the Media.

    Just another pipedream like the Pierhead marina or Sugar Point cruise ship terminal being propagandized as resuscitation aides for a dying capital on some poorly working life-support macine.

  2. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    Any sector you choose I can give you the names of successful black businessmen in.

    From shipping to manufacturing feel free to pick. If you want to talk manufacturing one of the most successful is James Husbands from Solar Dynamics. We can go on if you wish but I consider my point made.

    Rowe had a good business and mismanaged it. Today he is still being paid as a silent shareholder for basically doing nothing. Not a bad deal at all me thinks.

  3. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ John A
    @ David

    The predictable has emerged. Pray tell where anybody is blaming white people for the collapse of black business. However we cannot deny their culpability in some instances.My thesis remains. If we are only going to scrutinize the black political class for our socio economic maladies without clinically analysis of the role played by the largely white entrenched capitalist class , we are guiltily of intellectual malfeasance.
    As expected in the attempt to cover up for the atrocities of that group , obviously buttressed by a deep fear of being labeled racists, there is an attempt to use race as a red herring to defeat my position that cannot be seriously questioned because of historical truths.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Your last comment does not compute, error, error.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    You need to wake up from that old time thinking.

    Black people have to rally and demand their place at the table.

  6. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    You got me taking out Bizzy business. Lol.

    Yes he will buy back shares for cash or other employees are also allowed to buy the shares as well. The shares can also be used to borrow against as security too.

  7. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ John A

    The banks screwed Rollock. That was in the 1960s. Yet we have failed to develop an alternative to the high street banks in the 50 years that have followed. What happened to the Civic. I am trying to remember how many local banks Barbados had, all killed off since independence. We anted to save with Barclays and the Canadian banks, not locals. Our failure is in our heads.
    I have said that the poverty of ideas is worse than material poverty. Since 1966, both DLP and BLP governments have failed to fill this financial institutional gap. They can still do.
    Credit unions hold Bds$1bn, a quarter of household saving; there are 18 post offices in Barbados. Jeez, what more do they want? It is not exactly inventing the wheel. Some time ago a former governor of the central bank did a study of a credit union bank; what ever happened to that study?
    The collective inertia s frightening. Then you get buffoons coming on BU everyday talking about which party did what and who is corrupt. Barbados deserves better.

  8. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Your discussion shows how deep Barbados has already fallen. Now Barbados is being compared to the Spice Isle, although there is hardly anything left there except tree houses. If you sit in the basement of civilization after the hurricanes and communists like Grenada, it’s no wonder the economy is growing. If I follow your logic (Grenada as a reference state), Barbados would only need a major hurricane to recover economically. Argumentum ad absurdum.

    I am curious to see what comes next: a comparison with Zimbabwe or Venezuela?

  9. John A Avatar
    John A

    @David.

    Rowe sold product too often below purchase price to try and maintain market share. This ran him in trouble and hence he lost the location at sky mall. He still recives a monthly ” good will” payment none the less from the new entity.

    The fact that Massy placed a supermarket in there also shows the failure was not that of the location. The problem was Rowes project was way too large for the market to feed hence its failure. In other words it lacked the capacity to feed its size and related overheads. Today the location flourishes because of its variety of offerings in the same square footage.

  10. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ William

    Relative wealth, like relative poverty, is a subjective judgement. Rihanna is the top of the tree, not COW. As a little boy growing up, I knew a Bajan white family that my mother often had to bail out. I was thinking of them recently – the mother’s children and grand children. Most probably out of Barbados and doing well.
    @ William, there are about 10000 white Bajans in Britain, most of them in London. The only time they show their faces is when there is a controversial meeting at the high commission about land ownership and taxation. I have had three good examples of them, but will let it pass.

  11. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hal.

    Very true.

    In the old days it was a multitude of entrepreneurs and a shortage of capital. Today it’s a magnitude of capital parked in banks and credit unions and no new entrepreneurs. I therefore agree that the years and the system have encouraged a generation of employees as opposed to one of employers.

    When you look at it that way we have in fact gone backwards you are correct sir.

  12. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ David
    There is nothing wrong with using historical truths in a debate such as this. I have merely ask that we attach some serious analysis or discussion to what is the role of the entrenched capitalist class as we attempt to struggle with impending national economic ruin.

  13. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    “As expected in the attempt to cover up for the atrocities of that group , obviously buttressed by a deep fear of being labeled racists, there is an attempt to use race as a red herring to defeat my position that cannot be seriously questioned because of historical truths.”

    That is why i let no one stop me from calling these criminal minorities BY THEIR NAMES…THIEVES…..and RACISTS..

    don’t know why black people always allow these demons to dictate what they should think and say…who the hell cares about half assed thieves like Bizzy them who have been sucking the island robbing black people’s futures…AND STAGNATING ANY development or growth in the majority black population…using their BRIBED NEGROS…and some extremely filthy, dishonest negro lawyers, all in and outside the parliament….they can holler racism until the cows come home…THAT IS WHAT THEY HAVE DONE FOR OVER 50 YEARS….systematically DESTROYED THE ISLAND with corruption, THEFTS of land, money..and any hopes the black majority have of progress…and until all of them and their house negros are removed PERMANENTLY OUT OF THE LIVES OF THE MAJORITY POPULATION, that is the repulsive condition the island will remain in..

  14. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David Bu

    @ John A

    The models of business development do need a refresh. Particular notice must be taken of the changing markets in which businesses have to operate.

    @ David

    The Bynoes are good models to emulate. It is not what one learns ; but how one uses what one has learned. Bynoe does not follow the Peoples Market Model. There is a big input of Bynoe’s ingenuity in their businesses ( including the recycling business). The latter needs a “leg up” from the public regulators do you not think? And the latter are black.

    Could we downplay the race in this one ?

  15. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Vincent.

    I agree for some to insinuate that the business class is still the 1960s colonial class is not only misleading but disregards the success of men like Mr Bynoe.

    Today the business class is made up off all races and nationalities, some black bajan, some white bajan, some east Indian bajan and some trini bajan, if such a term is applicable.

    Actually if you look at what is owned by the traditional white bajan business wise, it is in fact shrinking with the sale of assets like BST etc

  16. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ John A

    The quantum of deposits that you see in Credit Unions and Commercial banks are not capital. They may at best be described as savings, maybe money, BUT NOT CAPITAL. These institutions are Financial Intermediaries, that may, according to their risk preference, transform them into loan capital. I note that one other high profile commentator makes the same mistake.

  17. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    You better than many are aware Rowe has some help pushing him down the hill from the so-called middlemen.

  18. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “To paint a picture where black business has failed, is therefore not a fair statement to make on their behalf.”

    John A

    One of the most successful black business men I know is Llyod Allenye of “Shamrock Trading” fame. Here was a man from humble origins who told me he worked hard at being a carpentry and small farmer before establishing “Shamrock.”
    “Back in the day” “Shamrock” was on the lips of my great-grand parents and people of that generation.

    Alleyne was successful enough to open outlets of “Shamrock” in Eagle Hall, Baxter’s Road, Barbarees Hill and Sweet Vale in St. George, I could remember at this time. Ironically, Although Alleyne had 14 children, many of whom work in his business, as well as nieces, nephews and other relatives, the “Shamrock” brand ended with the Barbarees branch being converted to a wholesale outlet, until he eventually sold the property to New Dimension Ministries. After his death in 2011, “Shamrock” is but a memory of the past.

    Alleyne admitted he was not au fait with the administrative aspect of business and relied on his relatives for that support. But, many of them used that opportunity to enrich themselves at his expense. Hence, one of the reasons that led to Shamrock’s demise.

    The Sweet Vale outlet was bought by his son’s mother, for their son, who after his mother’s death preferred to be an “employee,” rather than being an “employer.” That supermarket, renamed “Sweet Vale Grocery,” has been closed for over 10 years, though it is situated in an ideal location.

    References were made to N.E Wilson, “Civic” ……… I also remember a Grenadian who owned a popular haberdashery store in Swan Street; “Federal Supermarket” in Nelson Street; Neville Rowe of “Julie-N” fame; Ulric Mapp’s “Mapp’s Garment Factory” and “Uniforms Unlimited;”

    Edwin Worrell struggled with “Budg-Buy Supermarkets,” “Care Cosmetique,” “Catelli Macaroni,” “Rainbow Reef Hotel,” “Carlisle Bay Centre” ……. and now operates Savings Plus Supermarkets and Snack Shacks.”

    I wouldn’t say some of “Black owned” businesses failed as a result of a lack of “succession planning,” ……… not fully preparing their children or identifying the appropriate individuals to take over and expand the businesses. Or owners operating within parameters of the same business models with which they began and not taking into account shifts in demographically diverse target markets; competition…….. or the business simply outlived its original, intended purpose.

  19. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Mr. Codrington

    You are correct and I agree with you.

    Deposits at the credit unions and commercial banks are NOT capital…… they are simply savings deposits, which could be used in the form of loan capital to finance business ventures, for example.

  20. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    So guess what happens when ya been sellling out ya own people for DECADES…no one trusts ya..not even those ya sell out ya own people to….if i had cared by TRAITORS…ah would tell them what is being said about them, but nah, best to let it come back and bite them for the whole world to see. Everyone is watching anyway..

    https://scontent.fbgi3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/67574641_2298077493642319_6517595730465521664_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_oc=AQmkjQw20TdKDC-FyGcQnMij0JsY8KkwQgvYonTTOPvabsEls-8ElNSva2elBqoj10g&_nc_ht=scontent.fbgi3-1.fna&oh=24e9641b0c7ee5a477c5a1cc03872134&oe=5DA69E77

  21. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Vincent

    I shall say there is a great deal of money sitting on the banks and credit unions hence the availability to capital is not the problem.

    I trust that meets with your approval sir. Or in bajan terms ” dem got nuff money knocking bout nobody don’t want.” Lol

  22. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Miller

    First thank you for your kind words.

    Let me ask you a question how do feel about the failure of the opposition or press to explain this to the general public? Do you feel from where you sit they are as guilty at maintaining this sense of false safety to the public as the government?

    The reason I ask and correct me if I am wrong, is that I have heard nobody speak of the additional liability that we are encuring after the default till now under the old contract. People are being led to feel the creditors would say to us ” don’t worry about that let we start fresh from next month with only the loan amount.”

    Have you heard anyone above speak of this second liability that is growing daily?

  23. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Artax

    Yes I remember Shamrock Trading they had a massive bond down by Barbarees Hill that is now a church. That was a strong business for sure. I did hear also there was strife over money among those involved and that helped with their demise.

    I also heard my dad speak of Mr Tudor who along with his business, also owned considerably property too. I believe that concern died as a result of the offspring not being interested in continuing with it . He was said to of been a kind man that knew nearly every customer by their first name.

  24. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Codrington

    What savings for depositors are capital for another, even the intermediary itself. A distinction without a difference, losely speaking. The same money.

  25. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    Yes many of the middle men who offered him credit did pull the rug from under him when he failed to settle his account. The thing is though if his business was failing what option did they have? You either pull the plug and cut your losses or stay in and lose more.

    The problem was more though a case of the location being way too big for that business to feed. Stop and think today of how many separate businesses operate under the same roof now.

  26. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    If you believe that is the reason they pull the credit knock yourself out.

  27. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    Come now let’s be reasonable. If you were moving a considerable amount of product for a supplier and paying them on time you think they would of stopped supplying? After all at heart he is a business man.

    Trust me if you knew the amount some lost in that exercise you would faint!

    Anyhow don’t let’s dwell on one man’s failings let us focus on the success of others.

  28. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    When we discuss successes of the Black/business sector in Barbados picking one or two will not do it. Success is measured by something greater.

  29. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Artax

    Well said. There are some who believe that white owned businesses don’t fail. Another myth.
    We seem so obsessed with negativity regarding ourselves, that we never look at our successes.
    Indeed many of the businesses you mentioned were very successful.
    For some to even suggest that were all absolute failures is totally incorrect.
    Failing and losing considerable amounts of money with the option to get started again with “old” money is a lot different from failing and having nothing to really fall back on especially with the institutional obstacles stuck against you.
    In real terms the Millers, Alleyne, Tudors, taken the times in which they were able to flourish, were actually business geniuses.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    Many of those businesses failed because the next generation maintained little interest in retrofitting or making them fit for the times. Have you observed how the White owned businesses have transformed to include services for example? You are debating a point no one is challenging.

  31. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    I would go further and say look at how the Indian businesses have diversified.

    From salespeople in a van to real estate, insurance, PSVs, car part suppliers, reconditioned car dealers are just a few worth mentioning.

  32. Fund Access for Success | Barbados Underground

    […] – Vincent Condrigton […]

  33. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ John A July 28, 2019 11:01 AM
    “The fact that Massy placed a supermarket in there also shows the failure was not that of the location. The problem was Rowes project was way too large for the market to feed hence its failure. In other words it lacked the capacity to feed its size and related overheads. Today the location flourishes because of its variety of offerings in the same square footage.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Rowe also suffered from that black debilitating disease called the ‘Black Business(man) Syndrome’ by believing that sales revenue means ‘easy profits’ which should be used upfront to finance the acquisition of fancy cars and other material trappings required to live the big sweet (but short) life and to make deposits in many hairy purses or holes.

    Let’s hope that the modern day success of “Popular” continues and does not end up in the hands of the East Indian business community or the cash-rich Chinese.

  34. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    It is a universal axiom that black people the world over are risk averse when it comes to REAL entrepreneurship and BIG BUSINESS. We think in small terms. It is for this same reason why we populate the small scale subsistence business venture in our coutries, while other groups dominate the mid and upper level of the business ecosystem. Like everything in life there are exceptions of course. But the few tokens should be the rule, not the exception. We need at least100 more Dangotes.

  35. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    You need 2000 more Black.Dangotes on the island, who have vision and understand what it means to EXPAND>

  36. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    In the USA, black -america has over a trillion dollar in spending power, yet they own next to nothing.They spend the most per capita on luxury brands. Go figure. A big palacial house and a nice ride is our concept of generational wealth.

  37. David Avatar
    David

    Some here want to make out it is only a Barbados thing.

  38. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ John A

    Before we go astray with talk about which shop sold sweet breads and which sold turnovers, let us go back to the unofficial independence settlement.
    Post-independence political power was given (or more correctly left in the hands of) the blacks and economic power to the whites. But white economic control of the banks was not local, but foreign, Canadian and British, who had no more love for local whites, who they considered (and still do) as creoles, than the blacks, who they regarded as semi-civilised.
    But black people were also the consumers of the goods and services of the white-controlled businesses and their employees. Since 1951, they also had the vote. It was this abuse of political power that has led to the decline of the state. We lacked awareness of our power both as consumers and as voters and our political leaders have lacked imagination and ideas.
    Give you an example, the rum sector. As a little boy we had so many brands: Pretty Girl, Alleyne Arthur, Mount Gay, the list endless; yet today, one of the joys of progress is that people have more disposable income, which includes more to spend on their favourite drinks. Compare the global sales of rum with whisky, gin and even tequila.
    Or take the small grocery shops: when Barbadians started earning regular incomes and thus more disposable money, they opted to shop at supermarket (they used to be called cash and carries), not the small grocery shops they once shopped at and ran up debt. This aspirational capitalism killed off small shops as a viable concern.
    Or, look at the supply chain, if the small shops had formed a wholesale distribution company/cooperative (if they did not government could have nudged them to) that would have killed off, or at least seriously undermined Roebuck Street mercantile capitalism; and, as we have mentioned on numerous occasions before, if government had turned the 18 post offices in to post office balance sheet banks; or allowed the credit unions to establish a credit union bank, the foreign-owned retail banks behaving badly would have been chased out of town. Or, Heavens forbid, if our financial regulators had simply done their jobs consumers would have received a better service.
    I can go on and on, but you got my drift. The failure of Barbados as a state is nothing to do with the battle between capital and labour (how then do we explain digital capitalism?); the failure is a direct result of the political elite, part of which is allowing itself to be captured by the dominant business class.
    I will give you an example of this capture in developed economies: government establishes a financial regulator (an institution, not an individual) and spends a lot of money on training up specialist staff, from actuaries, lawyers, accountants, etc.
    But by definition they are public servants and their salaries are limited; then along comes some mega bank or insurance company and offers them double their salaries to join them, doing exactly what they do for the regulator, only this time they are sitting the other side of the table; more significantly, they have more expert knowledge than the officer from the regulator, who used to be their junior.
    This is regulatory capture in a serious way and is taught in business schools and on commercial law courses throughout the world. Complicated? Think Dr DeLisle Worrell and the government’s default on its foreign debt. You can also be sure that the foreign creditors also employ the best lawyers and accountants.
    To end here, the reality is that we do not understand the culture of modern business, even if we have the potential to learn. We are where we are because of our stubborn ignorance of how business works and allowing poorly trained lawyers to dominate our public debate..

  39. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    And because we are afraid to think BIG and accept RISK, the next best and easier route to RICHES for some is to get near the public purse ( a career in the public service or a career politician ) where all manner of corruption is practiced.

  40. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hal

    Yes without question consecutive governments must be held responsible for where we are today. They either don’t understand or do not want to enter into any serious discussion with the public on financial matters.

    The way this whole foreign debt restructuring and lack of a clearly defined growth plan has been dealt with, confirms all of this. The fact that the opposition is also made up of similar persons also does not augur well for us.

    The icing on the cake which shows a a lack of understanding of how money works, was clearly brought home in the utterances of their chief advisor though.

    If you notice to date neither opposition or the press has challenged his statement, hence confirming what we already knew. Instead of demanding facts we are willing to accept statements like the one below as policy.

    ” we shall continue with our austerity program while focusing on growth.”

  41. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @John A

    It is part of what I call the Bajan Condition. You make bold statements, or try to rubbish what has been said by someone, or you try t guess what people mean, but you do not enter discussion. You get it on BU routinely. Just look at the myth of Barrow as Father of Independence.
    Something I have been asking for for years is for the central bank to publish its research methodologies; if they do it means we can shadow their research assumptions and challenge them on nonsense such as austerity and growth. So far they have refused to. Is it DSGE or DGE? We ought to know.

  42. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @@ John A

    I forgot to mention. It is big news where former public servants go to work. In my time we used to publish a regular list of former regulators who now work in the private sector, their salaries, and the cases they worked on as regulators. Did any of their cases involve their current employers?

  43. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    A lot have been mentioned as to why previous ground roots black business failed that started out as mom and pop stores and some became fully established then to fail
    Some who insist on burying head in the sand as how much role big financial institutions played in their demise must also look outside of barbados and into international countries where the same can be said of many black business who were deliberately shut out (of ) by big financial instutions out of fearful perception and to grossly stigmatize
    Throughtout small towns in america one can witness an onslaught of big companies like Walmart and Walgreens who have taken over black neighbours which once were dominated by small black businesses
    The banks in that case had perceive an outcome and refused to give the small business man any capital as a mainstay to compete with big business
    The analogy can also be said towards the small business man in barbados as the captalist imperialist made way across the Carribbean Region a new territory was open which the banks saw as an opportunity to increase their financial networth and close the doors tight on the small business man

  44. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    The IMF is promoting inflation targeting monetary policy for the region central banks.They have been trying it in Jamaica since 2016. I don’t think inflation targeting is appropriate nor would it be credible for small open economies given the nature of their small, almost monopolistic, and unsophisticated financial sector. The interest rate transmission mechanism would be a big factor.

    For it to be attempted in Babados, the fixed exchange rate system would have to be dismantled. Because the nature of inflation targeting requires a free- floating currency.

  45. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @Mariposa. Black-america demise overall was destroyed by integration in my opinion. Blacks in america right up to the 50s owned a vast amount of land. Today they own a minute fraction of land, compare to what they owned in the 1920s. One of our biggest downfall is that we suffer from a WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX.

  46. David Avatar
    David

    @fortyacresandamule

    Make up your mind, which model are we using?

  47. Dullard Avatar
    Dullard

    The general timbre of this latest discussion on black business is sad and highlights the problem.

    After
    -decades of independence
    – having 95% of the population
    -$Billions spent on education by taxpayers
    -stable political system

    The best we can do is talk about NE Wilson, Shamrock, Julie N etc. The conversation always boomerangs there. These were mid sized businesses even in the Bajan context. By now there should be large black owned businesses on the island, champions competing with those of the neo-plantocrats.

    Lets be honest here for once. BBs do not see themselves as capable, deserving of owning and controlling big business. This is clear from the self-imposed limitations to the sabotage waged by our fellow BBs

    Until the mindset changes BBs will always be workers and employees.

    Or does the white man control our thinking too?

  48. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Dullard
    You require a name change.
    Certainly, they are others here more deserving of such a moniker. Lol

  49. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    John A
    July 28, 2019 10:09 AM

    Agreed. Re diversification, of course, the Indian businessmen have seen where the profits lie and targeted those areas that you mention.

    On the issue of savings vs capital, of course, the large commercial banks are using these funds to make their own profits, which they make a lot of, as you know.

    This is why Barbados needs, as some of you suggest, to think carefully how to develop these funds into mechanism that provide better inflation resistant and return providing models, albeit with reasonable but not criminal risk.

    I think that part of this discussion must be the matter of imported goods and services.

    For example, what is the point of local investor setting up a plant to process local vegetables, when his market is flooded with cheap canned vegetables? Maybe I am wrong, but right up front he has an issue. Unless of course, he manages to distinguish the product being branded organic or cleaner than the others etc.

    Just an example, but you get the idea, while not being outright protectionist, there must be some warranty against unfair competition.

    To look at the funding without looking at the market (term used in the wider context) will not work. Each tentacle of the economy must work symbiotically, not on its own in a vacuum.

  50. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    @David. Which model ? are you alluding to the exchange rate system fixed vs floating?

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