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About Me
Blog Archive
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2014
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May
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- My Brother’s Keeper
- LED In Gros Islet
- Going To Another Planet?
- Cost Of Food
- August Celebrates Chocolate Heritage
- What About Our Seniors?
- St. Lucia Gets Kudos For Windwards Games Plans
- Quina - Rising Star At 13
- ‘Lightning’ Strikes In Barbados
- John Eugene Academy on Show At G. Islet CRICKET FI...
- Div. One Cricket Today
- Digicel Kicks Off Clinics
- Sports Imitating Politics ... In Decline?
- Smoke Screens, Flashing Lights
- Maya Angelou
- An Alternative To 5% Pay Cuts
- ‘Adjusting’ Government
- Pasta Co. Hails Reading Month
- OUR LOST BOYS
- New Export Strategy Soon
- Calypso Tents Struggle
- Bahamian Preacher For Anglican Crusade
- Female Boxer Among Trio For Guyana
- Vieux Fort To Salute Its Own; ModesteDownes To Be ...
- LED Strategic Plan For Gros Islet
- Season of Deferred Tidings
- Our Fiscal Situation
- HIV In The Caribbean: Science, Rights And Justice
- ‘Sun’ Sets Up Insurance Business Here
- St. Lucia Woos ‘Butch’ Again
- Status Of Women, Children Report
- Spirits Writers Rate ‘Royal’ Highly
- ‘South’ Kicks Off Calypso Season
- Soufriere Youth Get Financial Tips From First Citi...
- SOS For Schools Calypso; $25,000 Needed To Stage Show
- SOCIAL MEDIA ALERT
- Pan Backing from CIBC FCIB
- NOW, VOTING ROW HITS FIRE SERVICE
- Micoud Adventists Holding Health Fair on Sunday
- Digicel Brings 4G Speed To Vieux Fort
- Bottled Water Companies Re-license With SLBS
- Blood Bank In Need of Deposits
- St. Lucia’s ‘Butterfly Effect’ A Hit At Chelsea Fl...
- Productivity And Production
- ‘Brig Unicorn’ – Loss Of An Icon
- New Park, Police To Decide CCA T20 Title
- Gros Islet Football League Has New Executive
- Eugene Sends G. Islet Into Veterans Finals
- B-ball Finalists Decided
- Citizenship And Investment
- P.M. On Need For ‘Decisive’ Leaders
- New MASL Executive Elected
- La Corbiniere Sees Boost For Construction
- Digicel Payphones For 15 Districts
- C.S.A. GOING TO NEXT TALKS
- Stop Killing our Turtles
- My Mind and My Money
- How to buy property in Saint Lucia
- Home, Sweet Home
- Double Strike For Hotel Supplies Co.
- Cricket, Cash And Country
- Artisans Learn Business Skills
- Adrian Klien’s Poetic Climb
- The Community vs The State
- Debt Trap Or Ponzi Scheme
- Custer’s Last Stand…Stubborn, Senseless, Failed!
- VIEUX FORT SOUTH UNDER-17 CHAMPS
- V-FORT NORTH WIN ‘FANTASY’
- SJC’s T.T Girls Shine in U-15
- 39 for under 19 trials
- When Pranks Get Serious
- Young Saint Lucian Chef in Navy Culinary Team
- UWI Vice Chancellor Harris Leaving
- South Launches Calypso Season Tonight
- Sanders For Guyana Gala
- NO MONEY FOR ’MAS
- Music And Our Youth
- Leatherback Turtles Under Threat
- Environmental Summary Pt.2
- Acquisition of Lands
- Windward Islands Squad For Regional Series
- St. Lucia Takes Bronze In V-ball Thriller
- New Youth, Sports Director Named
- 13 Year Old Stars With Bat And Ball
- Exploit Agriculture
- The Grande Finale!
- The Boy Who Wanted Love
- Model Brittany Joins Major Paris Agency
- Minister Urges Students To Read
- LUCELEC LOSING POWER EDGE
- Coubaril Residents, DCA In Court
- 6 Schools Benefit from CPL’s Reading Promo
- Female V-ballers Off To P.R. Today
- B-BALL ‘SEMIS’ ON
- Wanted: Better Days for local media!
- Be Aware!
- The ARTreach Winners Are…
- Spectrum Reaches Out
- More Gov’t, Union Talks Today
- CIBC - FCIB Celebrates Its Employees
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May
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14 comments:
We do not know how to measure national productivity well enough. Next with economic knowledge so sparse it is little wonder that economic decision making is based largely on hope and NOT hard DATA. Then everybody hopes and prays from top to bottom, Minister and the unfortunately easily-bamboozled population, parrot the unalloyed drivel that all that can be done is to hope. Yet the informed and the initiated know full well that hope is not a strategy. It is religion. Not strategy.
Very Good article. There is so much we do not know. We need changes.
what kind of changes, I think that the government is on the right track we need a positive mindset and attitude as the government find ways to address what we find ourselves in Even the opposition should weigh in cause they also created this mess.
Pollyanna in our midst believe that a positive attitude is all that is needed. I will change my mind when governments put the right mechanisms in place to monitor what is happening continuously in the economy. This is the departure point, not the usual bar stool discussions that some love to provide even in the House. Our airheads don't understand. They are clueless as to the ripple and lasting effects of this or that economic measure. They are at best just reciting terms and concepts in economics and business put in Cabinet papers and speeches. We need BOTH depth and breadth in our thinking and necessary rethinking plus a comprehensive understanding of the redevelopment issues facing our largely untrained and unskilled workforce.
Micah said "Reducing the salaries of workers is also something the government should avoid. Let’s examine this a bit. A smaller salary would mean a reduction in the consumption of that household in which that smaller salary goes into. In other words, if salaries are lowered consumption would either remain stagnant or reduce. That will not improve the current economic situation."
Michah, you made some good points, but this isn't one of them. Please will you understand that these salaries aren't paid for out of locally generated revenues. IT IS BORROWED MONEY.
The economic activity generated as a result is not greater than the costs of financing in the first place. The debt interest is compounding as a result and this is why you have such problems. The big ticket things need reducing and the workers should be last in line for the cuts, but you can't keep borrowing money to pay salaries. Please understand this.
We need a proper accounting and analysis of our debt obligations. I don't know that anyone in the Ministry of Fiance INCLUDING THE MINISTER OF FINANCE knows how to go about this. That's the problem and an unhappy situation to be in at the moment. Everyone is groping with the issues, sadly with no clarity of vision, just like the proverbial blind Indians going to see the elephant, mainly because the appropriate data are just NOT collected NOR analyzed.
We hear a lot of confusing and idle chatter leading to some very sterile discussions. The Chamber o Commerce saw the last budget only as "interesting". But some key questions for critical decision making are:
a) Who are we borrowing from to pay just what?
b) What is the size of EC-dollar dominated debt? That's easier to handle or manage.
c) What is the size of the US-dollar dominated debt?
d) What have we done to REDUCE the bunching of payments, and
e) What are the foreign US-dollar denominated debt payments and amounts that are due this fiscal year? These are the mission critical issues that are to be managed.
All of these issues are related to FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, which leads us to ask this question: Who then is really minding the shop, so to speak? That to me also, is not at all clear. Thanks Micah for raising some appropriate issues.
I do believe that its lots of oversight in many agencies in the government and many business have gotten away such as even the hotels and real estate, even property estate its something that all parties must come to grip with and the government will have to work it out so that all and everyone be accountable, The roosters are coming home to roost because past leaders failed to do what was right and believe that everyday is the same, Times have change and times are chanding sSt lucians better believe itm and face the music cause we all in this together
Change we need.
$6,000,000.00 for a road in VF. Government cant borrow the money so Jo Blow does. Government cant pay its bills now what make them think they can pay this new bill. Roll over some more debt. Not the way to go.
EXCELLENT ARTICLE. THESE ARE THE BARE FACTS.
The situation we are in currently did not happen overnight and was not solely the construct of the last UWP administration but of prior administrations before. It came about successive governments going about a lending and spending spree in much the same way that was possible when we enjoyed export-led growth by virtue of a booming banana industry, and a relatively vibrant tourism industry. Once the fate of the banana industry was sealed we should have begun to scale back spending and look for a sustainable crop (cocoa) to fill in that gap in foreign exchange revenue. John Compton died still thinking that the UK would fight for us, while Kenny Anthony blithely went along trying to even scores lining all his sycophants around the trough. No thought out economic strategies were implimented to shore up the economy and our reserves for economic "wet days". Of course the King-led UWP was really out in the woods primarily going about in much the same way with everybody seeking for ways to line their pockets with Taiwanese and other government largesse. Economy? What economy? seem to have been their modus operandi. Then this new SLP administration knew all along that coming in we needed a paradigm shift but a leader lacking moral courage went about picking up from where he left off and made a bad situation worse by going on a tax, borrow, and spend binge much to finance profligate jobs-for-the-boys schemes, and other non productive programs. That is how we got here. What is required to get us out of that morass is true grit, leadership grounded in moral courage and not political expedience and vote-securing pandering. Leadership with the courage and credibility to clearly articulate the hard choices we have to make and to summon ALL to put some skin in the game to shore up our precarious economic and fiscal situation for the benefit of all in the long run.
What Micah has not said is that Kenny Anthony when in opposition supported the Union's claims for a 14.5% increase.
When people who should know better play cheap party politics with our economy, in the case of Dr. Anthony marching with the the unions against the King administration just about four years ago to press for huge increases. he SHOULD have known it was not right. Now the same "chickens" have come home to roost. En rouge!
Jeff if Dr Kenny Anthony marched with the workers, he was dam right because the country could not afforded anymore time with your UWP government. At the rate they were going, there would not have any St Lucia left.
6:38 (Pollyanna satire) you are the real deal- keep it coming on.
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