Curb Expectations – Cost of Living Matter

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Submitted by Steven Kaszab

The news cycle has centered upon issues of inflation, cost of living, transportation and housing costs. Are we living far beyond our financial capabilities? Are our expectations too demanding?

The true inflation levels are nearing 8.9-10%, something our governments tried to hide in an effort to bring our attention to levels they wish to achieve nearing 2-3%. Gas has reached levels never seen in our nation. Housing, both rental or owned is out of reach for most citizens. Everything from the food we eat, to what cloths us or entertains us has risen drastically.

Our expectations have brought upon us a feared financial apocalypse, and we need to revise our expectations and life styles if we are to survive and possible prosper.

Energy costs demand that we stop driving gas guzzlers, and move to smaller vehicle’s or perhaps even electric vehicles. Has the time come that an average person cannot afford to drive a sports car or large SUV?

Can we move away from costly food items to local nourishing foods that are less costly.  Steak, lobster can be  perhaps substituted with  poultry, shrimp and pork. Eating healthier while saving on your costs works for me. Purchase intelligently, communicating with the grocer what you want and what your willing to pay. They can be persuaded to compete more effectively.

Housing has been a magnet drawing many of our friends into costly mortgages and excessive debt. Perhaps it is time that we strive for less costly options like renting. In many large urban centers you can find people who have been renting happily for decades. The problem is finding rental units. Is it not time for you to pressure public officials to move their revenue expectations from large housing units towards town homes, well built  apartment buildings and large building lofts. If you make it known that that is what is needed, some developer will build them. And when you rent or buy such a unit don’t play the blind bidding game, but strive to pay what the product is truly worth. Make the housing game yours, not the real estate agents and developers. 

Even our governments may need to review the public’s expectation, and bring their spending under control. A assessment of what is truly needed vs what the public would like to see.

The time of passive immediate purchasing must end. Your expectations need to mature and evolve, just as you do daily. It can be said we have entered a period of recession, and depending  on what the World Economic Czars do about it, can develop into a horrid situation for many of us. Think 2009 but worse and perhaps lasting longer. Yah the horror, the horror.

Do you have a grandma, grandpa who lived through the Great Depression? There is a source of inspiration and advice you can tape. Make things last longer, learn how to repair, reuse and recycle. As long as your car works, use it, and conserve gas by not wasting your fuel. Manage your time, expenses and expectations that would make your elders proud. Vacation locally, and don’t go to the airport to travel far away, it is a place of stagnation, stress and anger, especially Toronto International Airport 🙁

“Well done, is better than well said. The more I expect, the more unhappy I am going to be”(Ben Franklin). The stress you are all feeling, going to work for pay, while paying more to go there, and your payroll remains the same. This is a feeling that will be with you a long time unfortunately. We are not going forward financially, but rather hopefully remaining where we previously were, only to fall into debt and despair. Two feet forward, three feet back. 

The only way you can change your predicament, is by changing your ways. Expect less, but expect better. Look for quality over quantity and revise your expectations.

80 thoughts on “Curb Expectations – Cost of Living Matter”


  1. Mottley’s cushion ‘not big enough’

    by COLVILLE MOUNSEY
    colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
    GOVERNMENT’S PLAN to cushion 1 000 vulnerable families from the rising cost of living is not broad enough to address the suffering of Barbadians.
    So says Democratic Labour Party (DLP) president Dr Ronnie Yearwood who contends that with so many people struggling to make ends meet, catering to such a small percentage of the population will not “ease the pain in a meaningful way”.
    On the other hand, pro-vice chancellor and professor of finance at the University of the West Indies, Justin Robinson, while supporting Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s plan, is warning that if it comes at the expense of the middle class, it will only worsen the situation.
    Yearwood said it was commendable the current administration was looking to help the most vulnerable and the DLP was all for any assistance to them.
    “However, we have to question the comprehensiveness of the Government’s approach to the cost of living crisis. It can’t be about offering quick sound bites. The job of leadership requires more than piecemeal responses. There is a moral duty to respond to people who are hurting across the board,” he said.
    The DLP leader charged that the plan, the details of which Mottley says she will reveal at a later date, was not steeped in statistical reality.
    In a study of Barbados by the Inter-American Development Bank, which utilised statistical data in 2016 and 2017, the poverty rate stood at 17.2 per cent. This represented nearly a fifth of the island, while 3.4 per cent of Barbadians were in extreme poverty.
    “Whenever a policy is devised, it must cover all Barbadians because you recognise that the middle class, especially the lower middle class, are deeply hurting in like manner to the vulnerable at the other end. So any policy to provide an ease must be data-driven, sound and at it has to be credible,” Yearwood said.
    Multidimensional poor
    “It is all well and good to cater to 1 000 families, but when we look at the statistics, there are some places that tell us that 30 per cent of Barbadians are multidimensional poor. So when you cover the 1 000, are you covering the base? Then you have the middle class who are also hurting, and they need to know what is going to be done to help them.”
    In announcing the plan during a press conference at Grantley Adams International
    Airport on Sunday, Mottley said the details would be fleshed out at a meeting of the Social Partnership on Monday. She added Government will be coming to Barbadians, urging them to come together to help feed the less fortunate, starting with the 1 000 most vulnerable families.
    Robinson told the MIDWEEK NATION while there was no shield from the rising inflation, Government had to focus its limited resources on members of society in danger of slipping to an “unacceptable level of destitution”.
    “Barbados is in the midst of a sharp spike in increased cost of living, driven by external factors. This increase in the cost of living is being felt by persons of all classes; there is no escape from this increase. Persons on the lower end of the income spectrum and persons on fixed income are the ones most vulnerable. Persons on the lower income spectrum already use their limited income to buy the basics and to maintain some basic level of dignity. They are in danger of slipping to a level of destitution that would be deemed unacceptable. So I am quite supportive of focusing limited resources within that category,” he said.
    “What I would want to add is that persons at the middle-income level are also vulnerable in that they have entered into obligations on the level of income that they normally earn. So they too can get pushed into precarious circumstances and therefore the assistance to the vulnerable should not be at the expense of these persons who are vulnerable in a different way.”

    Source: Nation

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  2. Self-sufficiency key

    THE RISE IN INCIDENTS OF THEFT, coupled with other crimes, does not bode well for Barbados, and it is no coincidence that the Mia Amor Mottley administration is moving swiftly to reassure the country while reaching out directly to the poor.
    The most disadvantaged are usually the ones who feel the full brunt of any crisis, particularly economic ones similar to that which we are now experiencing.
    Food prices, which were rising even before the current global upheaval, have now skyrocketed. Those who were affected by Hurricane Elsa and last year’s freak storm are yet to recover. The spectre of unemployment haunts us in light of the slow trickle-down from the post-COVID-19 tourism rise, and violent crime is now a daily occurrence.
    The connection between crime and poverty, therefore, must be seen for what it is, especially since Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce has stated that a link between the increase in theft and rising prices may be possible. This phenomenon and its attendant potential for social dislocation must, in turn, be examined against the background of what Prime Minister Mottley has described as a world gone mad.
    Most of us are aware by now that there will be no quick let-up in the hostilities in Eastern Europe and that there will likely be major fallout occurring between countries allied to Russia and those on the side of the United States and its allies.
    Therefore, several extremely vulnerable small island states like Barbados, caught in the middle of this madness, will feel the brunt of the inevitable chaos stemming from rising fuel costs, the deleterious effects on international travel and tourism, and the lack of imported raw materials and goods.
    Shipping costs have already begun to take their toll on what we eat and on the fuel which powers our very existence.
    International travel will also inevitably be affected because of the mentioned fuel costs and may be compounded if conflicts similar to the Russia-Ukraine one arise across the Western world.
    While these crises leave Barbados at a severe disadvantage, they provide a golden opportunity to redouble our efforts at growing our own food and maximising the use of renewable energy from our abundance of the God-given elements of sun, wind and ocean water.
    Such opportunities to be self-sufficient were envisioned by our past leaders, but not only were they costly to implement, the urgency was not yet upon us.
    That urgent moment has come, so let us be our brother’s keeper and join our leaders in throwing a lifeline to the most vulnerable, while combining this spirit of caring with renewed moderation and the traditional Bajan ability to “share a pot” and “cut and contrive”.
    In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, let us not “let a good crisis go to waste” even in the midst of disillusionment and the tendency to complain.
    Neither the Government nor law enforcement can totally shield us, but we can, with greater effort, empathy and prayer, shield each other.
    While these crises leave Barbados at a severe disadvantage, they provide a golden opportunity to redouble our efforts at growing our own food and maximising the use of renewable energy

    Source: Nation

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  3. A very sad state of affairs that after four years of present govt managing the country affairs
    Govt did not have vision to track a way forward with immediacy to help the most vulnerable sooner rather than later
    Present time is rather late by which govt starts to think of finding a way
    Late in the sense as cost of living increases govt spending also increased
    Hence the fiscal space to help.now determines how much govt can afford
    Unfortunately as time move forward and cost of living gets out of control there would be little.of nothing left in order for govt to help the people
    People who sat silent for almost four years tighten their belts and followed govt directives as painful as they are to repay household debt as well as govt debt
    Now govt comes up with a half a.ss plan to save i000;people
    A plan that makes one think WTF

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  4. Have encountered people on social media platforms living in Barbados asking me for help
    In turn tried my best to reach out
    However that being the case hard to understand how a govt knowing the dire financial circumstances for many barbadians can dare open mouth and ask the people to help one another which is another additional burden being placed on the backs of the people who can barely help themselves
    Earlier when COVID came ashore many were pointing govt on to a fiscal path whereby govt would have a financial plan to help the most vulnerable
    Instead govt found an easy way out and hand out food hampers
    Now today govt finds itself in a bind where the households of many barbadians are heading down the path of poverty empty handed and lost socially financially and economically
    What a sad state of affairs

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  5. “However that being the case hard to understand how a govt knowing the dire financial circumstances for many barbadians can dare open mouth and ask the people to help one another which is another additional burden being placed on the backs of the people who can barely help themselves”

    some people have been already helping immediate families for the last 3 years…AND more.

    ..this government did not enter the picture with anything for the vulnerable….all the taxpayers millions went to those who don’t need it but are covetious and thieving..

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  6. Waru

    This feckless dictatorial regime cares not about that. And these unrealistic demands will continue without end regardless of the state of their own failings. Scoundrels!

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  7. “Scoundrels!”

    People are so shocked, they can’t believe they carried on this racket for nearly 100 years AND GOT AWAY WITH IT….all at the expense of Afrikans…but the thing is there are those maggots who don’t want us to speak about any of it…just let it pass on into another generation of our youngsters for another 500 years or more and they are quite comfortable with that, because they don’t need to bother, no one to police them..

    Pacha…ease up on seamoss, ya always feel ya can lift a car, a trap, cost me 2 days bed rest, hope it does not last longer, likely will though…

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  8. Don’t mind them, apparently someone CAUGHT THEM violating the Public Order Act, you know the one that they engage their Slave codes to use against the Afrikan population, the same one used against Clement Payne and Marcus Garvey……that one.

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  10. don’t know how they could live with their bloated selves…come out fowls, ah know ya itching…

    how many human rights have they abused in that long, long period, all ya hearing is this one is married to that one, brother sister niece nephew cousin. like something out of Virginia or somewhere in the backwoods of Georgia…

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  11. I struggle for energy, part of healing process, nasty accident…

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  13. Waru
    There’s a supplement called Betaine HCL for digestive support. It’s basically the acid which the body produces to help extract nutrients from food. This problem sometimes occurs when humans past a certain age we’ve recommended it in the clinic with good success. Look into it. This maybe the problem. This not medical advice🤑

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  14. “I struggle for energy, part of healing process, nasty accident…”

    try looking at and doing some easy health qigong for energy healing work

    Spring Forest Qigong is a gentle practice to start

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  15. Thanks Pacha…will look into it. I have managed well so far, but it’s good to know what’s out there..

    Seamoss is really good, but the brain and body don’t speak the same language when ya all juiced up on it…ya feel strong indeed..

    Thanks…555

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  16. Even visualisation that you are doing an exercise if you are unable to do it moves energy to the pathways through the body, Chi energy has healing effects which aids the process for getting better.

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  17. @ David Bu
    I love the caption. I notice the same mantras from yesterday. Allocating blame. BUT I read no curbing of the unrealistic expectations from GoB. I wonder why GoB would have a magic bullet and the other countries in similar positions do not have it.
    Blessed is he that does not expect much for he shall not be disappointed. We select a GoB so that those with hair brained ideas will not lead us over the cliff. There are parameters within which a competent GoB has to work . Governments do not create output/income, businesses and people do. GoB collect a portion for the public services that it supplies.
    Finance is not resources. It facilitates the transfer of real resources. That is the real reason why there is inflation Too much finance chasing a fixed or declining production of real resources.
    Just bear that in mind. A word to the wise.

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  18. @ David BU at 10 :38 AM
    Thanks for the confirmation. He that wears the shoes feels the pinch.Another good reason to disallow non residents the vote to determine the GoB. They are usually not fully apprised of the fundamental issues nor workings of the local political and economic systems.

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  19. How come the govt of Barbados was willing and able to find a magic bullet for the IMF but cannot find one to help the people through this time of economic crisis

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  20. @ Vincent Codrington who wrote ” Another good reason to disallow non residents the vote to determine the GoB.”

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  21. I said over 2 years ago that a greenhouse project should have been started at the beginning of Covid by government using state lands for lease to small and medium size farmers. This was to help provide employment and reduce our import bill on food at the onset of covid. All I got was nuff long talk and yardfowlism. Today it looking soon like even if you got the money you may not find food to buy. So what’s the excuse now for delaying such a project oh divine leaders and fowls of said leaders? What’s the plan same as in 2019 then we will continue to depend on tourism and await its rebound to the glory day?

    Word for the powers that be covid may be easing, but a global recession is brewing. The end result will be the same on our tourism sector none the less. So what’s the plan we still going depend on tourism then and hope for the return of the glory days or we going try and feed weself instead?

    Dem is slow and then there is government slow!

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  22. Drive around Redlands in at John/ George. And see the greenhouses without roof after the hurricane last year .

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  23. @ John A

    I was of those persons who agreed with you that COVID-19 provided us with an opportunity to experiment with greenhouse farming.
    The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the tourism industry. Several owners of car rental companies were forced to sell their vehicles, while restaurants, hotels, apartments, guest houses etc, had to lay-off employees.
    With an ongoing war and ‘Monkeypox’ on the horizon, rather than explore diversification of the economy as priority, ‘government’ announced building more hotels.

    Unfortunately, in types of situations you’ll always be confronted with “yard-fowlism,” simply because some people are more focused on pushing their narrow political agendas, rather than having a rational discussion about the issues.

    I’m hearing talk from the ‘yard-fowls’ that ‘government’ should assist the poor, which has some merit.
    But, they haven’t considered the fact that there isn’t any regional or international ‘government,’ that has the necessary resources required to satisfy all the needs of its citizens.

    You realize anytime there’s an ‘economic downturn’ or some act of nature affects the economy, the private sector seeks financial assistance from ‘government.’
    For example, if heavy rainfall or drought affect crops the farmers ‘cry out.’ Or, events such as ‘911’ or a pandemic affect tourism, hoteliers and other players in the tourism industry, ask for loans or grants.

    For years the private sector has been profiting from poor people and I believe they could assist in helping them in these times of need.
    They’re given tax write-offs, but are often reluctant to write-off debt of those persons who, through circumstances beyond their control, are unable to pay.

    As such, assisting the poor and vulnerable should be a collaborative effort between ‘government’ and the private sector.

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  24. @ Artax

    I agree with what you have said but what government needs to do is assist the poor to assist themselves. Instead of that they offer handouts for the moment.

    That is why a major greenhouse project on state land that is currently growing bush and river tamarind could of been put to use. The ministey of agriculture in conjunction with the NCC could up built the greenhouses and supplied the seeds and hatchling to the small farmers for a price, then rented the green houses to small farmers, community groups etc. But no we still talking bout this hotel and that hotel to put who de ass in? You doubt me watch the occupancy figures for this summer and see what they are with all going on with markets and inflation. When you done look at the increase in food prices coming over the same period and ask yourself why any proactive goverment would be pushing sea and sand instead of feeding yourself and controlling food imports.

    But don’t mind me cause I ain’t vote for a fella last elections. Wait based on all that I said above you blame me?

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  25. But isn’t there a greenhouse programme already in place? Wuh I recall even the Island Growers project in the newspaper. #theintellectuallydishonestone

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  26. @ Enuff

    The only projects out there are all private sector financed projects. The ones I am speaking about are still in the LIP SERVICE STAGE. Who knows maybe they are waiting till demand from the bay street hotel cuts in to start the project. LOL

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  27. I believe when all this was being discussed in 2020 a politician did say they were “looking at” getting involved in a large scale green house project, but maybe it’s at the blue paper or yellow paper stage who knows.

    For enuff and other faithfuls let me explain what I mean by large scale. It is not a greenhouse here and there. It is say 100 acres of greenhouses in say 3 sizes all finished and bearing produce. So not lip service or pipe deam greenhouses but the real real ones!

    In other words a project that tackles food security in real terms as opposed to lip service and fodder for fowlism.

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  28. Don’t even have the energy today to tell them about the Liat workers who they are suffering, will lose their homes and who knows what else in this type of environment….over 2 years later and these people are not paid and have families to feed….only a lot of long slick talk for the last couple years and an INSULTING LOAN TO THEM of $2000.00 which they will have to repay…they work and instead of paying them ya give them a loan and believe ya so clever..

    this is DISGUSTING…

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  29. Have these Anglo,-Saxons have no mercy. Ukraine continues to be a meat grinder for Ukrainian soldiers.

    And all they could do is to send more weapons, give battlefield intelligence.

    Why don’t they step into the fray themselves if they are man enough. If they hard enough😑
    https://youtu.be/gnyow5VPXdo

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  30. Alquimi is the private sector project proposing the green house project in partnership will local investors hence the Island Growers Brand. IT THEREFORE IS NOT A GOVERNMENT PROJECT for those trying to score a few party points by misleading the public.

    Alquimi has also entered into arrangements with private growers in Trinidad as well. So this initiative is all private sector driven and financed in both islands. Alquimi claim that their green house can withstand winds of roughly 200 mph. I have not read their info for a while but I am fairly sure they claim their product will withstand a cat 4 hurricane.

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  31. “IT THEREFORE IS NOT A GOVERNMENT PROJECT for those trying to score a few party points by misleading the public.”

    Fowl fraud….can’t help themselves…

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  33. @ David

    To be honest I lost track of the promises, false starts, no starts and all the rest of it.

    What I am seeing is the some old tired ass tourism driven economy trying to be put forward as the bread winner in the post covid financially revised real world economy. Add to that a pending recession with record inflation and I am amazed that educated leaders are still hanging their hopes on tourism as our salvation.

    But I am only a shopkeeper in the bush what I know bout dese things!

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  35. Western News, Disinformation, Arguments, Lies, Half Truths, Public Opinion and Propaganda aside..
    Ukraine defeating the Russian takeover was never going to happen.

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  37. Stupse! Did I say it was a government project? Does it have to be a government project? Isn’t government’s role that of facilitator? Where are the lies? Vincent is right about how misinformed the loudest mouts in the diaspora tend to be.
    https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/weir-barbadians-need-to-engage-in-freight-farming/

    https://iica.int/en/press/news/minister-indar-weir-barbados-working-ensure-farmers-have-access-water-food-production

    https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/good-start

    https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/resilience-key

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  40. “IT THEREFORE IS NOT A GOVERNMENT PROJECT for those trying to score a few party points by misleading the public.”

    Score political points? After two 30-0, scoring political points is unnecessary. I leff dah for those on BU with their gotcha agenda. Did I say it was a government project? Must it be a government project? The local newspapers are filled with stories of the government encouraging and expressing its interest in facilitating greenhouse, freight and vertical planning even before the pandemic. Aren’t shade houses being imported?

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  42. Maybe they coming the same way the steel house from China coming. Wait though i here they been here for months at a location rusting out cause the preparation work and floor slabs ain’t even start yet so nothing can’t be erected. Lol

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  45. Enuf words like ” encouraging” and “expressing interest in greenhouses” bla bla bla is what politicians and mouth pieces do well DEM DOES TALK SWEET TALK. Unfortunately you can’t cook nor eat the sweet talk so em worthless. That is the difference between those that do and those that TALK bout doing. We real good at talking and using words like “diversifying the economy” and ” moving towards greater food security ” bla bla bla, but when it come to doing and not talking we is a dam joke. Anyhow the Guyanese coming to feed we now so all should be well, don’t mind every rainy season I going still have to eat imported lettuce and tomatoes.

    Good I done talk too. Lol

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  46. @David, I was just browsing one of the online rags originally outta Moscow and realized that Russia is holding one of their spectacular international trade shows.

    With the angst that Biden just experienced with his Summit of the Americas it was exciting to see that the Russian St. Petersburg International Economic Forum -SPIEF (or Russian Davos, I believe they label it) was well received by the Taliban,. Belarus leader Lukashenko and several others like that!🤦‍♂️

    Of course there were no delegations from those listed as “unfriendly countries” so that was a bit of a drag but lots of interesting tech and robotics on display… And not a word on any war!

    Life is grand out East. And the US preparing for possible civil war … what a thing!

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  47. @Vincent Codrington
    Another good reason to disallow non residents the vote to determine the GoB. They are usually not fully apprised of the fundamental issues nor workings of the local political and economic systems.
    ++++++++++++++++
    Of course, all the local residents are fully apprised of the fundamental issues and workings of the local political and economic systems.

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  48. “Even our governments may need to review the public’s expectation, and bring their spending under control. A assessment of what is truly needed vs what the public would like to see.”
    Good luck.
    The pandemic unlocked more debt in 2 years, than the prior 10. JT returned from LA promising more aid, in fact, I see the deputy PM will join MAM and IMF chief this week in Barbados.
    Yet we still cannot fund our own Canadian problems.
    JT is gunning for an international job post his PM role. And it will cost taxpayers dearly.

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  49. John A,

    Pity about the imported lettuce and tomatoes.

    I am here struggling to eat all of mine before they spoil. Gave away some and yet….

    So damn easy to grow lettuce and tomatoes for yourself! SO DAMN EASY!

    As a matter of fact I am picking okras, spinach, chinese greens, TOO MANY SWEET PEPPERS, eggplant, beets, carrots, string beans, celery and even sour sop and pomegranate at present. And of course, all the herbs I need.

    Cucumbers, cabbage, radish, squash, cucumber and pumpkin, water melon soon come.

    Chinese cabbage, cassava and sweet potato also in progress.

    Mangoes just finished. Other fruit trees coming along slowly.

    Waiting on Bush Tea’s coconuts to drop and watching my cousin’s breadfruit tree on the “abandoned lot” next door. In the meantime, I get sweet yellow meat from my garden helper cousin.

    Much of my meal comes out of my garden and meat, eggs, fish from two of my nearby cousins.

    We are making this thing harder than it is.

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  50. Oh dear, I forgot that I have too many scotch bonnet peppers as well!

    Too many food crops. Can’t eat all!

    Can’t even REMEMBER all!

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  51. Oh, by the way, I understand that some white man from overseas is going to set up to grind cassava into flour. The BADMC was trying for years and years to get some monied Bajan to do it. Small timers try but the products is too expensive for the average person.

    BADMC made an agreement to purchase all the cassava the farmers could grow and ended up with a cold storage full, unable to keep up, with their small scale processing. Price therefore remained too high for the average person.

    Cassava is soooooo easy to grow and requires little watering. How the hell hard could it be dry it and grind it into flour.

    But noooooooooooo, we prefer to depend on wheat from Ukraine and cry crocodile tears about soaring bread prices.

    Cassava flour sometimes needs a pinch of wheat flour to hold it together but it makes delicious bread.

    I made cassava pancakes yesterday. Much better than the wheat ones.

    Going to make cassava dumplings for my soup tomorrow.

    Had breadfruit pie day before yesterday. Got breadfruit flour in my cupboard and sweet potato flour too.

    “No woman, no cry!”

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  52. No, Sarge! But we pay for our ignorance, as well we should.

    We don’t wish to pay for yours. You will not pay for it up there. And that wouldn’t be fair now, WOULD IT?

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  53. “Oh, by the way, I understand that some white man from overseas is going to set up to grind cassava into flour.”

    The New World Order soon come, (this means Top Global / Corporate American Brand / Food markets will buy up businesses and industries and sell it’s expired out of date products at premium mark ups). Mergers and Acquisitions is the name of the Game.

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  54. “Of course, all the local residents are fully apprised of the fundamental issues and workings of the local political and economic systems.”

    a 14W x 21L 166 sq mile island with CORRUPT managers from the 1930s, that’s all they have ever had… and it would be difficult to understand the dynamics at play, for those living in the diaspora WHO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT GOES ON IN BARBADOS..than the average citizen living on the island……how complex can it be when there has only ever been MISMANAGEMENT and TIEFING….

    nothing complex about that at all….

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  55. @ Donna

    Good for you ! The sad thing is that back in world War 2 when little came here, I understand from the old folks that Barbados was able to feed itself. My grandfather told me the inovativeness of the bajans then, from stuffing car tires with cane trash to people growing food even in window sills. He used to go in the market on a Saturday and said we as a people were so productive in those years, that you could even buy locally made cheese and so on there. They hardly missed the lack of imports.

    Fast forward 80 years and we are so dependant on imported food it’s embarrassing. I guess that’s the price of progress one could argue.

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    • @John A

      That was a different time, a different culture, different lifestyle, different attitude, different home training.


  56. @Donna
    Where did I ever indicate that I was interested in overseas voting? In fact I was very explicit in another segment that I wasn’t interested in voting unless I resided in Barbados.
    I responded to VC because his assumption didn’t pass the logic test.

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  58. John A,

    Cynthia Wilson wrote about it in her book “Whispering of the Trees”.

    Seems her Philippian grandmother grew everything they needed and had a cellar for storage just up the road from here. Ground her own corn flour etc and processed other products for extended shelf life. Made most things from scratch.

    From the time I read it I became fascinated by the lifestyle. I thought how very USEFUL she was. Something like Dame Bajans and Cuhdear Bajan.

    I always admired people like Carmeta Fraser and Marion Harte but Cynthia Wilson’s book made it seem magical.

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  59. Donna at 11:4 6 AM
    Whispering of the Trees is one of my favourite Barbadian novels/ autobiographies. It is a mirror whose reflection informed us how we reached where we are at. Some of the stories took place in the neighboring parish where I was born and reflected quite closely the characters that I recognized. It is very insightful book.

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  60. There can be an upside right now depending on position your in . I have a mortgage on a rental at 2% for another 3years, I had never put any money in a tax free savings account so as a couple I can put 162000 in a 3 year gic at 4 % my mortgage is paid for the next 3 years. There are ways of saving money by just shifting things around ,

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  61. @ Donna

    Will search for that and give it a read. Recently been reading up on the minimalist movement in the USA. it is amazing when you read some of the bloggers on those sites how their life’s changed when they radically cut back on the materialism of life and its excesses. The clearly have learnt how to separate wants from needs. Thing is too some of these minimalist were dam wealthy people too who just decided to hell with it I am cutting way back and just living life.

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  63. John A,

    It is a really good read.

    Vincent,

    Cynthia and her siblings grew up knowing my father and his siblings. I grew up hearing about them. Had some interactions with her through NIFCA. So I rushed out to buy her book immediately. I was not disappointed.

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  64. MORE BIG DECKIE IN DEY CRUTCH!

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    YOUR MAKING REFERENCE TO LORENZO

    LOL

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  66. I googled with the intention of buying the book. Not certain that I am seeing the right price….

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  68. TheO,

    If you mean Whispering of the Trees, it wasn’t expensive when I bought it years ago.

    It is a very good read. Grabbed me from the first paragraph.

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  69. Theo really a book? Didnt you say a while back that people call you illiterate , but your positive your parents were married.

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  70. Harm of obstacles to making decisions
    The Prime Minister’s language was direct. It needed to be.
    “We have been waiting for investments to be able to get started purely because we can’t get the FTC (Fair Trading Commission) to do and act fast enough with respect to issues relating to feed-in-tariffs,” she declared.
    “At the end of the day when the directive (from the FTC) comes, what use is it going to be? You are going to hear that we have waited so long that we can’t access the panels or you can’t access this material because of the supply chain disruption.”
    The Prime Minister was taking part in a panel including managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussing the Barbados economic landscape last Thursday night.
    In an earlier Editorial, we asked why FTC permission granted to Barbados Light & Power (BL& P) to hedge fuel prices by signing future contracts was not given sooner.
    We ascribed no blame then. But current high fuel prices have justified the effort in 2020 by the BL& P to bind its suppliers to a fixed lower price for fossil fuels needed to produce electric power for sale to consumers.
    We were acutely aware then, as we are now, of our duty to protect the public interest. Hence, we asked our question. We also knew that approving the hedging request was not simply a matter of rubber stamping and that the FTC had to seriously consider a number of concerns in order to protect consumers’ interests.
    But the Prime Minister’s statement raises issues which have knock-on consequences. As it turned out, the FTC decision giving the go-ahead with hedging contracts led to the kind of result spoken of in the second half of the Prime Minister’s point.
    When the FTC go-ahead decision came, it was too late. It was no longer possible to lock in lower prices in the volatile global fossil fuel market. The changed circumstances mean that the rapid increase in fuel prices is now causing the kind of financial pain from which BL& P was trying to protect itself and its customers.
    The issue here is not simply a matter of the FTC getting the decision made. Rather, it is one of making regulatory decisions in a timely manner. This objective means removing obstacles militating against sensible, well-reasoned, but timely decisions in matters which are always complex but made more so by the turbulent economic environments.
    It is no easy task for Fair Trade Commissioners anywhere, but the demands of these times mean that the interests of this country may be harmed if tardy decision-making kills proposed investment. In the BL& P hedging decision, the chance of locking in cheaper fuel prices for the benefit of consumers was lost.
    Turbulent economic climates call for quick decision-making. The Prime Minister’s view that we must adjust our shot-making (to use cricketing analogy) to suit a changed environment is sound.
    Regulation predates Independence as part of our democratic process. That the Public Utilities Board got the job done and rendered fair and timely decisions is well known. Entrepreneurs could make investment decisions and the economy benefited.
    But as the Prime Minister said, “when regulation is not effective or takes too long, it is a drag on the economy”.
    In our opinion, it is a drag we certainly cannot afford at any time.

    Source: Nation

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  72. Quadruple???? Why set unrealistic targets???? Who can take such mouthings seriously????

    Wuh yuh wan bet muh dat we will do no such thing?

    Not even close!

    Steupse!

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