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COVID 19 Action Plan Coming Soon – All for One, One for ALL

On the 11 April 2020 Prime Minister Mia Mottley addressed the nation to update on COVID 19. One of the decisions made was to establish a Jobs and Investment Council that includes former ministers of Finance Arthur and Sinckler. She also promised to address Barbadians soon on what an economic plan for the country will look like.

COVID 19 is a pandemic which continues to stymie ALL the economies of the world.  Sensible individuals have to admit that it will take a herculean effort by ALL well being Barbadians to push start the economy.

The past is the past.

We are here now.

We have to dust off our backsides and look the future in the eye with conviction.

Let us join hands and show we care about Barbados.

“What need in the country now …“- Mia Mottley

 

380 responses to “COVID 19 Action Plan Coming Soon – All for One, One for ALL”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    @Vincent

    The critique of the public/private sector was simply to highlight there needs to be a more efficiency and cohesion between the two. The private sector for example cannot be moving full pelt to digitally transformed their business activities and the public sector lags in the far distance.

  2. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    No.. am not. You cannot criticise the committee or its supposed policies until you know what they are. You cannot criticise something that does not exist.

  3. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    “it is a strategic mistake to be looking for a single magic bullet to replace the tourism industry because that will simply replace one vulnerability with another.”

    Thank you! BU is full of the WHAT and WHY, but ask the HOW and you get 🤐. Just spitting out supposedly potential industries void of context is illusory. The global economy is bigger than Bdos and the less than 300,000 people can’t support self-sufficiency as some are touting.

  4. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ John A April 22, 2020 10:29 AM

    The loss of purchasing power from 2008 onwards for the last 12 years (internal devaluation) was still not sufficient to restore competitiveness. One reason is that the USD has appreciated considerably against the GBP and EUR. We have lost a lot of competitiveness as a result. Also, the state sector is as bureaucratic and corrupt as ever.

    We compete with Jamaica and Guyana, which have a very cheap dollar. So it is only logical to complete the internal devaluation with an external devaluation.

    If a patient does not respond to a weak drug, we must finally move on to bloodletting.

  5. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Hal Austin April 22, 2020 12:16 PM
    I will be brief and eschew references to anything peripheral to the matter at hand. Ms Mottley gave us two components of the committee: it will include former finance ministers Sinckler & Arthur, and it will be “reflective of the social partnership.”

    Now here comes the advanced seminar in logic. Number of new ideas expected from Sinckler & Arthur = 0. Number of new ideas expected from those “reflective of the social partnership” = 0. Now the logic; wait for it… 0+0 = 0.

  6. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Enuff April 22, 2020 12:30 PM
    “but ask the HOW and you get 🤐”
    +++++++++++++
    I not only gave you the HOW, I gave you the WHY…. with real world proven EXAMPLES. Are you blind??

  7. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Tron
    “So it is only logical to complete the internal devaluation with an external devaluation.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    Here is the logic of that assertion. John A has shown me that we are lame on the left side. So it is only logical to complete the lameness by deliberately laming our right side as well.

  8. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @Vincent, I’ll use your remarks (as the history one caught me attention mostly) to jump on….Broadly ‘ll say this: As much as you learned gentleman are experienced and aware of trends you are singing quite unrealistic goals…the Blogmaster speaks of short, mid and long (standard for any feasible + practical governance) thus the 50% or 10% “OF THE ECONOMY” in less than 6 years seems beyond rational.

    Pray tell @Vincent other than very broad strokes how can a Bim of the 1900s be equated to current economy realities… what was done then that could be replicated now within context of our very DIFFERENT economy and operations!

    And to your later point surely previous admins tried to redress our over-reliance on tourism and get a more balanced return to agriculture (unsuccessfully) so yes ideally (as the blogmaster has said repeatedly) maybe this is the catalyst to get those in place.

    Thus I offer the alternative argument (or maybe you are saying this tongue in cheek) that Ms Mottley (particularly) and a host of her advisors do have “such an Agenda”… She shrewdly sees this as an opportunity to get lots of ‘buy in’. ..ipso, another fancy council… as someone said above…with ALL her advisers and a bloated cabinet do we REALLY THINK this new council offers her NEW ideas from folks who didn’t have them when they were n power!…. Let’s see the political posturing (some say politricks) for what it is!

    The council itself (as all others around the world) will draw down on long discussed economic remodeling… thus the Brits actually got out of the blocks, so to speak, faster than most… Also, the US POTUS’ screams about a $400 Bll ($320 specifically) balance of trade deficit with China…makes him look ‘smarter’ now when seen against this economic reset debate.

    But also accept that neither of those nations can change so drastically as a 50% remodel to deeply ingrained economic structures in six short years and neither can Bdos.

    We must plan to change most definitely but this has been an endless fight here and other places so your arguments though valid are overly optimistic…outsizely so!

  9. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ PLT

    I hope you did not pay for your tutorials in logic, just as you attended economic tutorials without fully under standing the discipline. There is a legitimate basis for criticising the IDEA of the committee on the grounds you make, that Arthur, after 14 years, and Sinckler, after nearly ten years, had an opportunity to put in to practice all their ideas about economic development and failed. The nonsense about the social partnership is Hitlerian.
    But, and here is logic 101, you cannot criticise a committee that does not exist and one that has made no policies or proposals.
    Your criticism is of the suggestion, the idea, of the committee. Don’t pay me for that brief tutorial. Make a donation to a good charity.

  10. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    The plan would be similar to the USA give large sums to big corporations and droppings to the general public
    Meanwhile the Corporations come out ahead with double servings having already received tax cuts in barbados
    The people once again told to stay the course

  11. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Hal
    Now that you have proven Godwin’s law, the matter is exhausted.

  12. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “The global economy is bigger than Bdos and the less than 300,000 people can’t support self-sufficiency as some are touting.”

    The short-sighted Fowl does not realize that what is happening is the domino effect from WASTING DECADES…..sidelining the majority population SO THAT THEY COULD NOT PRODUCE and DEVELOP any industries…all ya kept hearing is about a bunch of tiefing social partners….NOTHING THAT EVER BENEFITED THE MAJORITY….

    The people are the ones who GENERATE THE TAXES…they should have been the ones given the ECONOMIC POWER…but weren’t because of you bunch of sell outs….the crimes yall committed against them will now BITE YA GREEDY BACKSIDES….

    so now that multiple SHIT is hitting multiple FANS and all at the same time, we will hear the word CAN’T being thrown around more and more…oh, we can’t do this and we can’t do that….FOWLS have no SHAME…

    the only CAN’T i see is that it will be harder and harder to TIEF FROM THE PEOPLE ….as has been done generationally by the gang of parasites for decades.

    this is the result of the DISPARITIES IN WEALTH and DISENFRANCHISMENT of the majority…don’t care how yall try it will not fit into BLAMING THE PLAGUE…the disenfranchisement is WAY too broad, big and large…and IN CHARGE…

  13. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Vincent.

    You and I both know it don’t call for no big lot of long talk. It’s a simple formula

    Foreign exchange loss from tourism activity = Y

    Savings from alternative energy, import substitution, fall on food import, locking in on oil price futures etc= Y

    Basis of formula = a USD saved is a USD earned.

    Give UWI economic class this and they will come up with the answer in a week without all the tra la la and resurrection of political cadavers the boss lady want to spend money doing. Double Stupes! Lol

    I mean wunna asking the father of 20 downgrades for economic advise! 😂😂

    Lord I deading here

  14. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ PLT

    Lord you hitting them hard at 98% in 5 years. You know it going take 2 years of green papers and blue papers first. The bureaucratic approach they already want to use should show you they are not ready for a rapid response here.

  15. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    PLT
    Not you, that’s why I used your comments and said “thank you”. I seldom disagree with you and this is certainly not one of the times I will either.

  16. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    Wura de liar

    Stupse! Stick to cut & paste.

  17. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    “ peterlawrencethompson April 22, 2020 8:38 AM

    Devaluation is simply another recipe for austerity. It achieves nothing that is productive or positive, it is simply a way of punishing the vast majority of Bajans.

    It will also reinforce the class and racial divisions which have plagued Barbados for 400 years. The upper class will continue to be be those who have the capacity and connections to earn foreign currency: those who are already rich and mostly White.”
    @ PLT
    You are absolutely correct. Trinidad withstood devaluation because it had a then booming oil industry . On the other hand Guyana has been in the economic doldrums for decades until recent developments. Jamaica is no better off with devaluation.
    Without devaluation the Barbados economy has performed better in real terms .
    I challenge any of the proponents of devaluation to visit Trinidad, Guyana or Jamaica and report on the : housing stock, the schools and other indicators of socio economic development . I state boldly here that no Barbadian child at any primary school in our country has attended a school with pit toilets in many decades. Please check what transpires in at least one of the countries mentioned.
    Devaluation without the ability to earn foreign exchange is nothing more than an economic myth. Devaluation will also cause a dramatic decrease in wages especially for those who are already earning less than 300/400 per week. It will violently wipe out all the major gains of the working class.
    The first step toward real growth in the post CONVID 19 economy is to work diligently right away to decrease imports by another 15 to 20 percent by embarking on a radical agro/ fisheries program to save foreign exchange and have a healthier population.

  18. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ William

    Plse explain how devaluation will lead to a fall in wages and, while you are at it, what are the gains of the working class that will be wiped out?

  19. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Wura de liar”

    am…. “de liar” but at least 40% of the population have been living just barely ON THE POVERTY LINE for DECADES….

    another 25% give or take have been living BELOW THE POVERTY LINE for DECADES…a generational poverty created by both governments..

    we won’t count the ones who HAD TO FLEE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES in the bigger countries because yall REFUSED to accomodate them with their own money…..but ya were and still are HAPPEY ENUFF FOR THEIR REMITTANCES…although for DECADES yall refused to admit that those remittances helped keep the island AFLOAT…yall refused with ya mangy selves to give Bajans who worked in extreme weather and even more extreme social conditions to send back something to help their countries…

    and i am being generous here…

    then ya have the 5% PARASITES who have been living like LORDS off the backs of the majority population FOR DECADES….and not only tiefing but hoarding everything….ya want to know why, because both low crawling sell out negro governments enabled them..

    so why was that…

    yall will NOT GET AWAY with blaming any of this on the PLAGUE..

    ya been complaining FOR YEARS about my cut and paste, until i made it my moniker…now ya want me to CUT & PASTE…ah wonder why..

  20. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    All the proposals here cannot hide the fact that all attempts to restructure public finances and boost GDP since 2008 have ultimately failed.

    Our political class and its advisors have known only one way since 2008: to live at the expense of international creditors, not to repay debts and to increase taxes.

    The probability that this will change in the future is 0.000001 percent. The economic downturn will continue to be steep. I forecast a 20-year phase with zero growth (baseline 2008).

  21. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    …although for DECADES yall refused to admit that those remittances helped keep the island AFLOAT…it was always tourism this and tourism that…..yall refused with ya mangy selves to give Bajans who worked in extreme weather and even more extreme social conditions to send back something to help their countries…ANY CREDIT…cause none of the sellouts thought they deserved it…

    but look how the WE GATHERING was supposed to fix all of that…magically..

  22. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ William Skinner April 22, 2020 2:14 PM

    Propaganda again. Guyana is a flourishing country where new skyscrapers, cinemas and shopping centres are being built day and night.

    You’re talking about savings that don’t exist. The Barbadian middle class is already totally impoverished. We can’t take anything more from people anyway. Impoverishment is only possible if you are not already poor.

    We should think first and foremost of the top performers and not of those who rest on the hammock all year round.

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @enuff

    Let us try to keep the discussion where it has been all morning.

  24. David Avatar
    David

    The prime minister is on record throwing her committent to maintaining the parity of the Barbados dollar to USD. Unless there has been a cataclysmic shift in thinking this is a wasted debate.

    https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/163060/mottley-committed-maintaining-value-dollar

  25. John A Avatar
    John A

    If you want a committee that will actually work, forget gathering those that have brought us here and summons the following groups to put forward their representatives.

    THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

    THE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SECTOR

    THE BMA

    THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

    THE SMALL BUSINESS ASSOC.

    THE BANKERS ASSOC.

    Now put these representatives in one room and let them thrash out all the hurdles that stand in the way of their businesses. Wunna could take notes.

    Now once the hurdles and walls that Stand in the way are identified, have them documented then pass them on to the relative ministers and give them 30 days to remove them.

    There is the solution, problem solved let we go to the beach. All of us know what want doing question is who got the balls to actually do it. Now the word balls is not used to be gender critical but speaks to the determination and fortitude of said person regardless of gender.

    Next thing the women’s movements will he sending me hate mail!

  26. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    What you described is what the social partnership/BPSA should be leading without a call from the PM.

  27. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The prime minister is on record throwing her committent to maintaining the parity of the Barbados dollar to USD. Unless there has been a cataclysmic shift in thinking this is a wasted debate…(Quote)

    Discussion ends. That is it. The end of history.

  28. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    David
    I have no intention of wasting time with the one-trick pony. Ego is a funny thing.

  29. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/245133/urges-action-avoid-biblical-famines

    the PEOPLE have to find containers, google how to…AND ALL MEANS…of growing their own food right outside their doors to sustain themselves, DO NOT depend on supermarkets….GROW YOUR OWN FOOD..

    …..do not go and slave on anyone’s land…grow ya own…everyone will now learn how to BEND THEIR BACKS..if they want to eat, no more playing they are too uppity, or off white, or pretend white, or some shite to take some hot sun to grow food…

    “Millions across the world already rely heavily on food aid to survive. (Reuters)

    LONDON – The world is at risk of widespread famines “of biblical proportions” caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the United Nations has warned.

    David Beasley, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), said urgent action was needed to avoid a catastrophe.

    A report estimates that the number suffering from hunger could go from 135 million to more than 250 million.”

  30. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Ego is a funny thing.”

    yall should know all about egos, especially about the NOW DEFLATED VARIETY..

  31. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    I sincerely hope, the GoB does not follow the lead of NA, where they toss untold $$$ (Debt) at all and sundry, while having no RH idea how it will be serviced (let alone repaid). These have been untargeted, poorly managed, POLITICAL responses. The latest buzzword is “Shake Shack loophole”, and we know business is good at finding every loophole. Government can only do ‘so much’. Covid is everybody’s issue, not just government. Let us hear the employers response, beyond, “I’m waiting to see what the government does”. And people. ALL of us need to examine our revenue and expenditure plans.

  32. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ William SkinnerApril 22, 2020 2:14 PM
    “Devaluation without the ability to earn foreign exchange is nothing more than an economic myth. Devaluation will also cause a dramatic decrease in wages especially for those who are already earning less than 300/400 per week. It will violently wipe out all the major gains of the working class.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Ok William, both you and PLT have presented convincing arguments against Devaluation of the “voluntary” type since the burden of that sacrifice would have devastating effects on the already eroding standard of living of the ‘working poor.

    How about it being forced upon the country in return for future balance of payments bailouts as the tourism industry remains in ICU and remittances from those in the Diaspora dry up?

    If not Devaluation would you be prepared to support a cut of emoluments (and in some cases, pensions) right across the board?

    Under the coming economic dispensation shouldn’t there be a cap placed on all emoluments up to, say $10,000 p/m, with any thing earned in excess (including benefits) be subject to a special 75% rate of income tax?

    The time of Bajans having champagne taste and mauby pockets (even borrowed from foreigners) must come to an abrupt end.

    The game is up for the sweet life in Bim.

  33. curley16 Avatar
    curley16

    Agriculture 50% organic products 80% for export only 20% high end local..
    Agriculture 100% all for local consumption and agro – processing.
    Solar and wind energy retrofitting of all fossil dependant machinery & vehicles in 5years
    Initiatives and tax incentives for healthy living, we need to cut our healthcare and education budget in half.
    Concentration of the tourism industry tying with agricultural and community tourism
    Tourism product health and wellness base period.
    Change the education system to export labour. E.g turn Cave Hill into a research with concentration on sciences,
    Vocational schools- insurance, engineering, computer data base and systems,banking & finance – Practical trainers with years of industry experience need only to apply. Tailoring skills for export and home “labour” to earn foriegn exchange
    Trade schools – Master craftsmen to teach – this is centered to our once thriving fine mahogany furnishings and clothing barbados brand sea island cotton premium market
    Cottage industry – jam, jellies,sugar,rum everything local with hybrid marketing team for export.
    Premium grade bajan marijuana as is ,value-added products inclusive of pharmaceutical for export and local consumption
    Retraining of the workforce lean management processes with emphasis on productivity period.TQM, you can only manage what you can measure.
    We are in this together the world is our market. Leave you with the school motto. Possunt Quila Posse Videntur.

  34. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Godwin’s law, had never heard of that before. Well used.

  35. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Hal
    Devaluation technically weakens a country’s buying power and once there is not enough earned foreign exchange or a dramatic decrease in imports, the economy essentially stagnates. In such a scenario, you are confronted with galloping unemployment. Once this happens, the competition for scarce jobs, would automatically force workers to accept lower wages. You are already seeing the weakening of trade unions and this will deepen. That is how the gains fought for by the working class would be wiped out.
    Hal, you better than most, should know that the historical gains , of the working class , stretches back to 1937. All countries have historical land marks. In a discussion such as this historical and cultural landmarks cannot be ignored.
    I hope that you can now understand my ideological and philosophical position on this topic.
    @ Tron
    The skyscrapers etc that you reference in Guyana are of most recent times. They are not the result of devaluation they are banking on the recent oil finds etc. If devaluation was beneficial to the Guyanese , they would not have been seeking jobs in Barbados just a few years ago. Even with the promised wealth many Guyanese are not that eager to return. To even suggest that what ever is taking place now in Guyana is a result of devaluation and turning a currency into Monopoly money for decades is incorrect.
    No where in my submission did I mention “savings “ or the “middle class”. It is a known fact that in most economies , and we are no exception, the middle class , exsists from pay check to pay check. That is not the topic under discussion.
    I am merely defending my position , that devaluation will be useless unless you have the ability to protect the same devaluation by earning or saving foreign exchange, especially in an economy such as ours that does not have the ability at this time to earn high levels of foreign exchange from sectors other than tourism.

  36. John Avatar
    John

    peterlawrencethompson
    April 22, 2020 10:55 AM

    Vincent Codrington April 22, 2020 10:35 AM
    The Cholera epidemic of 1854 wiped out a quarter of the population of Barbados. There was no economic recovery until Bajans went to work on the building of the Panama Canal 1904-14.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Probably you will find the economic output did not fall much as Barbados was grossly overpopulated for the number of jobs available prior to Cholera.

    After Cholera you will find a conversion to steam and a removal of the cap on milling capacity.

    My guess is sugar output rose after Cholera.

    My educated guess would be that the economy grew after Cholera.

    STEAM, or was it STEM!!

  37. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ David April 22, 2020 2:47 PM

    This Covid crisis presents a golden opportunity for the current administration to do to the Bajan economy what the Stuart’s administration promised but failed to do since 2013.

    This Covid council for economic recovery is just an incarnation of her “20 Eminent Persons” cabal of big talkers which Stuart said, quite rightly, already existed in his Cabinet.

    At least she would have onboard a ‘lying’ expert in the art of big talk of the BS brand and outstanding in the delivery empty promises wrapped in toffee-coated paper.

    MAM’s kitchen cabinet is superfluously packed with a bevy of highly-paid consultants who ought to be thrown off the gravy train at the next stop on the IMF junction of the Covid line.

    Who is going to bell the cat called Covid?

  38. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Curly
    always value old Lodge boys (one of the few who didn’t find it needed to follow the old scholars lead)
    Some interesting broadscope ideas

    Change the education system to export labour….how does Barbados recoup the costs or benefit? Haven’t they been essentially doing this for years?

  39. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/content/no-fast-food-just-yet-home-dining-only?fbclid=IwAR12IwL-jwm-D3dVPDlDNrxBO1beBr9RjqrPaGwDDa8EToTNvsdCEv5T0W4#.XqCCfMev5uM.facebook

    I thought the governnent said they were trying to save lives, they shut the supermarkets for 2 weeks and then it was another hell to get decent opening hours, so why now are we hearing about opening unhealthy fast food restaurants…..people need to cook their own food and stop courting disaster…they need to save what little money the now have to grow their own food.

    as one doctor pointed out this development can mean instant death for those already suffering from NCDs because of bad, unhealthy lifestyle eating and then now with the ADDED PLAGUE…there will be many deaths….

    oh well, we shall see.

  40. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Miller
    You ask if I would support the cutting of emoluments etc. No.
    In a post CONVID – 19 economy, I would freeze wage increases and decrease income tax, land tax and other taxes where necessary. Quite frankly , if we follow areal new deal , we can eliminate income tax in about twenty years. I would recommend a retail tax of 3- 5 percent.
    Once we reduce imports by 10 -15 and hopefully 20 percent in 7-8 years and increase exports by at least 30 percent within the same period, the economy will be firing in all cylinders within two decades.’
    We have to imagine a more dynamic and far reaching economic model, that is in concert with our needs and not wants. Within that time, the tourist industry would have regained its footing but agriculture , fishing , manufacturing would be on almost equal footing . We can easily increase the cultural industry to earn 3 times what ever it’s earning now. The entire object should be radically diversify the economy and not be solely dependent on tourism.
    I am proposing a national holistic approach to economic management. It will be based on the importance of collective responsibility and the development of a unified citizentry. It’s time to throw the Eurocentric text books and theories in a bond fire.

  41. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    I’m going to approach the whole problem from a very different perspective, from the perspective of narration: The local politicians, their so-called consultants, the trade unions, the social organisations and others have been telling us the same story every year since 2008: that next year things will be better. This prophecy has never come true. Not in 2009, 2010, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and not in 2020.

    They want to appease the people with this narrative every year anew, so that the people are willing to bear the excessive tax burden, especially the excessive import duties, for even longer. These high taxes finance 23 ministries, one parliament, one senate, one jurisdiction, countless state companies and other state metastases.

    Every year, the people should think: OK, let’s bear the metastases in the state, things could go up next year. Next year there could be enough money to afford all these public expenses.

    After 12 years of zero growth, even Chris Sinckler should be aware that we can no longer afford an operetta state that fits a population of 100 million, but not for a mini-island with a micro-state.

  42. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “MAM’s kitchen cabinet is superfluously packed with a bevy of highly-paid consultants who ought to be thrown off the gravy train at the next stop on the IMF junction of the Covid line.”

    don’t know if IMF can tell them to trim, but many people who pay their salaries believe there are way too many of them and they are not getting any value or benefits for their money…

  43. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “The entire object should be radically diversify the economy and not be solely dependent on tourism.”

    ah wonder how many more years ya will be singing that song for, just like we have been singing for years and years and no one listened…..the ego trips to nowhere had them..

  44. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ William Skinner April 22, 2020 4:12 PM

    Your proposals contain the right ideas, but look at it from the point of view of sociology and how people actually behave.

    Of course, freezing public sector salaries would be the first commandment. But what did the government do two years ago? It massively increased civil servants’ salaries, even though it had just declared national bankruptcy. You can read on one hand that civil servants’ salaries will continue to be increased against all human reason, simply because the government depends on civil servants as the electorate.

    The reduction in imports and the increase in exports also sounds good at first sight. But consider the empirical reality: Why should we succeed in this, although we have failed for many decades?

    The whole discussion on BU does not sufficiently take into account the lack of insight of many decision makers and their voters. They deliberately do the wrong thing. They will never listen to rational voices like PLT. For example the massive additional burden on tourists through numerous new taxes, of which I, as Cassandra, warned two years ago. They laughed at me. Now these taxes are falling on our feet. They scare off impoverished tourists and, due to a lack of tourists, currently generate no income at all, so that a big hole is opening up in the budget.

  45. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “They scare off impoverished tourists and…”

    wuhloss…is there such a thing, to hear the tourism pimps tell it all the tourists are wealthy and makes the island wealthy too…ah guess the truth will not come out in the wash…that it was all a facade..

  46. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Addendum:

    Local economic policy follows the logic of the ballot box, not the rationality of economics and good governance.

    For this reason, measures are being implemented which calm the electorate in the short term but cause the greatest damage in the medium and long term.

    One example: the introduction of numerous new tourist taxes. They are aimed specifically at those who are not entitled to vote. Nevertheless, these taxes are extremely damaging to tourism, especially in times like these.

  47. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    David
    Construction will clearly be a part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 economic recession. It gives government the opportunity to not only create jobs and other direct and indirect economic benefits but also an opportunity to build structures that are energy efficient, low carbon, easy to maintain, healthy, easily accessible by the elderly, people with prams and wheelchair users, discourage car use, IT compatible, contribute to greening Bdos, promote alternative energy, proper waste management (recycling, garbage separation), water efficiency and sustainable drainage systems. It is hoped that part of this construction would look to upgrade and modernised our social infrastructure–schools, polyclinics, QEH, sporting and cultural facilities and of course housing given that long, long list at the NHC. The projects also present opportunities for spreading the $$ and other benefits during and after construction through procurement, training and employment. This is just how one sector can be reformed to be transformative. What the government envisaged 2 years ago needs to be accelerated, for example the ease of doing business is still very relevant.

  48. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    “Local economic policy follows the logic of the ballot box, not the rationality of economics and good governance.”

    which is an extension to how Buchheit explained sovereign debt management, how politics guides discussions and actions.

  49. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Tron
    I am hoping that the post CONVID-19 will bring new thinking and new approaches. I am also hoping for a new wave of nationalism , not based on insularity, but love of country and really focusing on a vision of the legacy we want to create for future generations.
    Your point of the difficulties with moving forward are well taken.

  50. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ William

    I think I should make it clear that my proposed changes to the Bajan is to decouple from the Greenback, fix against a basket of currencies and commodities and float against the others. Who are our main trading partners?
    The obsession with foreign currency has become a chapter in the holy book of our secular religion. When asked why we need this obsession with foreign currency the reply is always to pay off our debt.
    But, as I have said on numerous occasions, if we traded in derivatives for our key commodities, not only will they be cheaper in real terms, we will also have a better cash flow because we will not have to pay for them until delivery. We do not because we are terrified of the unknown. We can buy in that expertise.
    Also, if we have a strong diverse economy, including tourism, then foreign currency will come because we will trade and visitors will want to come to our country. We have turned economic development in to a party political issue.
    @William, you are right about devaluation and the value of goods and services. But this inflationary price increase will only be with imports, and that will be a good thing. Wages will remain the same and domestic goods and services will be priced the same way.
    Barbados has a serious current account deficit, in other words we import more than we export; devaluation will put the brakes on that. If consumer discipline has failed then devaluation will help.
    The reality is that the Barbados dollar has not ben devalued, it has been appreciating – 14 per cent in 2018 alone, the first year of the Mottley regime. Not a word has been said.
    With a fixed currency we do not fully control our monetary policy, that is done by the Federal Reserve, we are simply the monkeys dancing to the tune. The panic when we fixed the dollar in the mid-1970s, the middle of the oil crisis, has now become a stubborn fixation. That it has compromised our control of our sovereign currency has become a mere marginal issue.
    I do not want to blind you with science (as if I can), but read modern monetary theory, a discipline dominated by women and that may be significant. There is no real threat from printing our sovereign currency, apart from asset price inflation, and that can be managed.
    In terms of Barbados, there are two other tools in the box: first, control of imports, and that is restricted by our membership of the WTO; and second, the formation of a prices and incomes commission, which is a road that Stuart, guided by his genius of a finance minister, should have gone down. Any increases in prices and wages must be approved by the commission.
    @ William, then there is regulatory discipline. Barbados (and other Caribbean islands) have allowed the use of the US dollar as a de facto official currency to develop without any control. The result is that we do not know how many Greenbacks there are in the country. We think we know.
    Go to Swan Street and spend a US dollar and see what the store owner does with the money – it goes in his/her pocket and not in the till. That has become paper gold and does not leave that person’s possession easily.
    Make it illegal to accept US dollars as currency in retail premises, including hotels. Devaluation is not the economic devil it is made out to be in Barbados. The reality is that we have fallen in love with the notion of being fixed to the Greenback and find all kinds of bogus arguments to justify it.
    @William, the real way to preserve the few gains working class Barbadians have made since 1951, and to give them control of the government, is to embark on a massive infrastructural development programme, train up public sector managers, and return ethics to the public life – start by teaching ethics in schools. All that we should have done since 1966.

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