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IS THE IMF SATAN?

By in Print

The politicians of the Caribbean have created a fascinating imagery of the International Monetary Fund as the organizational embodiment of Satan, the great serpent hiding in the dark to bite small island states. The reason in part for this portrayal is wrapped into whether the IMF is seen as a lending institution or an adjustment institution. When weak leadership and governance produces results that require the IMF to function as an adjustment institution then the blame sharing, the characterization becomes more pronounced. The IMF has a membership of 188 members of which all the OECS states are part of. The core activities of the IMF are as follows: The IMF supports its membership by providing policy advice to governments and central banks based on analysis of economic trends and cross-country experiences; research, statistics, forecasts, and analysis based on tracking of global,...

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO’S POLITICAL TIMEBOMB

By in Print

In January 1757 on the island of Nevis, a baby boy was born out of a adulterous affair of a French woman and a Scottish man, that little boy spent his first 11 yrs of life in the Caribbean in an impoverished state. However, the Caribbean experience would shape his thinking forever. The baby boy was Alexander Hamilton credited as one of the fathers of the Constitution of the United States with James Madison. The association with Hamilton shaped the thinking of James Madison who later told the US Congress: “First. That there be prefixed to the Constitution a declaration, that all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.   That Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining...

CAN AGRICULTURE SAVE OUR ECONOMY?

By in Print

A few weeks ago I read an article by Dr. Clyde Mascoll, a Barbadian economist, which really startled me. The following is the quote from the article in which he spoke about the agricultural sector of Barbados: ‘’On the other hand, the fact that the tourism sector accounts for about 60 per cent of imported vegetables suggests that there may be some opportunity to forge greater linkages between the sector and non-sugar agriculture. This observation is naïve if it does not take into consideration the non-price factors that influence the demand for vegetables in the tourism sector. These factors appear more important, which may very well explain the reliance on imports in spite of the high tariffs that are applied to vegetables being sourced from non-CARICOM countries during the local growing season. The common external tariff and other duty charges, which amount to 110 per cent duty, do...

ON DESTINY (3)

By in Quotes

When you purchase a bottle of milk, you look at the expiry date and ensure that you use all of it before the expiry date. You want to ensure that you make good use of the money that you spent. When you were born you had an expiry date stamped on you by God, and thus we must believe that He wants to use us fully before our expiry date, and like milk we must stay in places he wants us to be so that we don’t spoil before our expiry date.

John Peters