Submitted by Old Onion Bags
Why don’t the DLP give up on its campaign of blaming everything on Global Economies for its lethargy. Bajan are growing tired of it now. Everything during its 5 year term has been blamed on the Global Economies yet Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan Guyana Canada Sweden and I can go on and on…have been registering GROWTH during 2008-2012.
Why are these places immune from Global Economies.?…No.it is just their Ministers of Finance( unlike ours) has enough sense to know… an over taxed economy will present NO GROWTH…increasing VAT by 2.5 % collected $54 million but hauled in $-120 million in bounced cheques..netting minus $-66Million..They should be so ashamed to have published this…so what was the Controller doing all this long time…it only takes 4 weeks at most to know a cheque has bounced….but $-120 million..
That’s what you call sitting on your arses and twiddling thumbs
Barbados Underground 
There is no stopping the NIS loan now. The IDB approval of 180 mil depends on it plus alot of jobs.
If not to attract investors why are we paying an alleged $4M. to this man ? for Let him go to China..they got money…or India
@hood
You know i will take your godly advice .However that was like thirty years ago and the yardstick use to measure the economy was a little shorter and the deficit was not so high . Now fast forward thirty years later see the difference times have change world markets are broke everybody hoarding everyman and jack got to fend for themselves the red flags are flying high.
@CH
Why don’t you leave ole onions alone he not bothering you. BTW what happen to the picture you once used or was that an impostor.
chill ac…just friendly bantering. I misunderstood hood ..he cool man
@ole onion
i tink you have your wires crossed. look again!
@ac
You mean this @ old onion bags| February 2, 2012 at 1:00 PM ??
I wish those who know better would explain how and why we should be paying a self acclaimed guru…$millions to tell us nonsense…Onions is right read SOX Sabarnes Oxley Act on Off Balance Sheet Financing
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/obsf.asp#axzz1lG8zBLRA
FYI : SOX …Off Balance Sheet Financing
You will read from the above link:(above)…
This term came into popular use during the Enron bankruptcy. Many of the energy traders’ problems stemmed from setting up inappropriate off-balance-sheet entities.
Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/obsf.asp#ixzz1lK4QdMXk
Off-Balance-Sheet Entities: The Theory
Off-balance-sheet entities are assets or debts that do not appear on a company’s balance sheet. For example, oil-drilling companies often establish off-balance-sheet subsidiaries as a way to finance oil exploration projects. In a clean and clear example, a parent company can set up a subsidiary company and spin it off by selling a controlling interest (or the entire company) to investors. Such a sale generates profits for the parent company from the sale, transfers the risk of the new business failing to the investors and lets the parent company remove the subsidiary from its balance sheet.
Off-Balance-Sheet Entities: The Reality
Too often, however, off–balance-sheet entities are used to artificially inflate profits and make firms look more financially secure than they actually are. A complex and confusing array of investment vehicles, including but not limited to collateralized debt obligations, subprime-mortgage securities and credit default swaps are used to remove debts from corporate balance sheets. The parent company lists proceeds from the sale of these items as assets but does not list the financial obligations that come with them as liabilities. For example, consider loans made by a bank. When issued, the loans are typically kept on the bank’s books as an asset. If those loans are securitized and sold off as investments, however, the securitized debt (for which the bank is liable) is not kept on the bank’s books. This accounting maneuver helps the issuing firm’s stock price and artificially inflates profits, enabling CEOs to claim credit for a solid balance sheet and reap huge bonuses as a result. (Sneaky Subsidiary Tricks Can Cloud Financials provides insight into how the process works with subsidiaries, and it’s not the only trick companies use.)
A History of Fraud
The Enron scandal was one of the first developments to bring the use of off-balance-sheet entities to the public’s attention. In Enron’s case, the company would build an asset such as a power plant and immediately claim the projected profit on its books even though it hadn’t made one dime from it. If the revenue from the power plant was less than the projected amount, instead of taking the loss, the company would then transfer these assets to an off-the-books corporation, where the loss would go unreported. (For more insight into this scandal, read Enron’s Collapse: The Fall Of A Wall Street Darling.)
Basically the entire banking industry has participated in the same practice, often through the use of credit default swaps (CDS). The practice was so common that just 10 years after JPMorgan’s 1997 introduction of the CDS, it grew to an estimated $45 trillion business, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. That’s more than twice the size of the U.S. stock market, and only the beginning as the CDS market would later be reported in excess of $60 trillion. (Credit Default Swaps: An Introduction, provides a closer look at these products.)
The use of leverage further complicates the subject of off-balance-sheet entities. Consider a bank that has $1,000 to invest. This amount could be invested in 10 shares of a stock that sells for $100 per share. Or the bank could invest the $1,000 in five options contracts that would give it control over 500 shares instead of just 10. This practice would work out quite favorably if the stock price rises, and quite disastrously if the price falls.
Now, apply this situation to banks during the credit crisis and their use of CDS instruments, keeping in mind that some firms had leverage ratios of 30 to one. When their bets went bad, American taxpayers had to step in to bail the firms out in order to keep them from failing. The financial gurus who orchestrated the failures kept their profits and left the taxpayers holding the bill.
Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/analyst/022002.asp#ixzz1lK5eesbb
Will somebody please cull this Indian man before he gives our hard ass MONEY to these croneys….and runs off to India laughing…ALL YOUR PROOF of his lack of knowledge is there….the method is accountable for many international company and bank failures..Fanny Mae..etc.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ..will we wake up!!!
ing in mind that some firms had leverage ratios of 30 to one. When their bets went bad, American taxpayers had to step in to bail the firms out in order to keep them from failing. The financial gurus who orchestrated the failures kept their profits and left the taxpayers holding the bill.
Taken from Last link(above) …last paragraph.
DO I HAVE TO SAY MORE…?
SO VAT is not being given to the government even though it’s collected at time of purchase? that kinda stops a plan I was hearing that income tax to be abolished and VAT to rise to 25%…. a little drastic I thought but when you think that 50% of the Barbadian workforce (cash business) dodge paying income tax and increase in VAT would be the fairest way to tax everyone fairly…
@GI joe
No buddy..the days of INCREASED TAXATION….direct or indirect are quickly nearing an end….We ARE OVER TAXED OVER HERE AS IS..
@ GI Joe…..On abolishing income tax in pref. 25% vat
That would never happen ..a bird in hand philosophy..check this at present Govt gets on average 20+17.5%=37.5% from each working individual…while they may not get on ALL individuals…the 17.5% on sales items make up difference on all purchases and services ..working or not..I doubt a 25% flat ..abolishing Income tax would be opted instead.
@oob
Any thoughts on how the high level of taxation correlates with government’s obligation to support social services in Barbados?
@ David
Govt has to support a wages debt of close to $900 million monthly, being the largest single expenditure…one would have to check Central Bank statistics to present a laudable guestimate…From what we are seeing though, a continuous deficit, what we collect is far out paced by expenditure…the Ministry of finance would be so privileged to have most accurate figures.Central Bank figs are now available online.
This arrest of Mr.Holder registered gun dealer sound strange….how would they know what he had ….? Sounds fishy.
OOB: “Central Bank figs are now available online.
I’m not saying you’re wrong. But could you please share where exactly?
A URI would do nicely nicely…
Thanks….
@CH Central Bank Link >>>>>
http://www.centralbank.org.bb/WEBCBB.nsf/webpage/7633E393D47B92A1042577ED0058A34F?OpenDocument
@ !
I revamped this Article just for you …..because it seems that you are a newcomer…..have a read and absorb some views.
@ ! ………..a precis’ in the interest of time
@Brudah-Bim
The article sought to express disappointment in our leaders for looking for excuses.For to long now we have been hearing this one fit all call. (Global Economies)
All that was intended was a request to dig deeper and not to accept mediocrity .When the late Errol Walton Barrow moved us towards independence, the road certainly could not have been easy.At that time of high racial tensions and an entrenched plantation mentality,there were times when even he probably doubted it could be done.Only through tenacity and a willingness to look for answers could he have achieve what he did.A real leader..said to be way ahead of his time.
Since the another associated article ; West Minister or West-Sinister, Where have all the Great Men Gone.
Not enough is being done !…people giving up too ez….becoming millionaires too OVERNIGHT..da is why.
Hey ! (exclamation blogger)
Check this link for clarity…countries with growth and rankings.Who ever said tourism based country in the Caribbean can’t record growth during this recession>> check Dominican Republic at #22…with positive growth..
http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=66&t=50
@ OOB “When the late Errol Walton Barrow moved us towards independence, the road certainly could not have been easy.At that time of high racial tensions and an entrenched plantation mentality,there were times when even he probably doubted it could be done.”
That is simply a cop-out strategy. The government could have simply ensured legal provisions that would have otherwise enabled the Black Majority to be on a similar economic footing as the plutocratic White minority. What you speak of is the government’s AVOIDANCE to establish DOMESTIC INDUSTRY (ie. through AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, and TECH MANUFACTURING, RENEWABLE ENERGY, PHARMACEUTICALS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, and DOMESTIC BRAND/OWNED TOURISM as well as building DOMESTIC OWNED FINANCE). Had we a government that were much more stern and keen on developing the nation along the DOMESTIC platform, BARBADOS COULD HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED A STANDARD OF LIVING RELATIVE TO THAT ICELAND, NEW ZEALAND, & LUXEMBOURG!
Instead, we’ve been “blessed” with idiot politicians who market MEDIOCRITY as the nation’s brand by allowing FOREIGN CORPORATIONS to compete within Bim’s local economy UNREGULATED! Without having any kind of government facilitation/presence within the economy, the nation has become over flooded with FOREIGN OWNED BRANDS and CORPORATIONS that STAMP OUT VIRTUALLY ALL DOMESTIC brands by out competing them or through acquisition. Bim has no real DOMESTIC BRAND to be speak of. We are not productive, thus we cannot have any “Real” GDP growth unless we become a PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY and have more BAJAN owned businesses competing.
THAT is how Malta, Luxembourg, and Iceland are doing it. And they started small. They were ALL poor but made the appropriate sacrifices in order to be as competitive as they are today! But Bajans are TOO DAMNED LAZY, STUBBORN, AND SELFISH IN ORDER TO MAKE MOVES AND MAKE THE RIGHT SACRIFICES FOR OUR COUNTRY’S COLLECTIVE FUTURE! SO instead of having our citizens aspire to work for FOREIGN ENTITIES and in FOREIGN COUNTRIES, Bim’s so called “government” has COMPLETELY NEGLECTED her growth and development by SELLING OUT TO THE FOREIGN DOLLAR.
Bajans have developed a cultural mindset of selling themselves short by always valuing the FOREIGN BRAND OVER THE DOMESTIC BRAND! We have learned to SELL OURSELVES SHORT, and would rather BLIND ourselves with FRIVOLOUS “DEVELOPMENT” PROJECTS and come up with FANCIFUL ways to EXPLAIN AWAY the need for there to be a NATIONAL EFFORT in order to ensure that BAJANS WORK TOWARDS ESTABLISHING THE NATION’S INDUSTRY! Rather, we’ve been following a model in which we have SOLD OUT to foreign industries. We boast a sizable level of “Scholars” of high degree, yet WHAT HAVE THOSE SCHOLARS DONE TO HELP ESTABLISH BARBADOS AS A COMPETITVE ECONOMY THAT IS A SANCTUARY FOR BAJANS???!!! NOW ASK THE SAME QUESTION OF OUR GOVERNMENT; AND ALL YOU GET IS ZILCH! WHY??!! BECAUSE THE EMPHASIS HAS BEEN CENTERED ON “CATERING” TO THE FOREIGNER AND NOT THE NATION!!!
Explain that OOB!
Brudda Bim ..I hear you Breds.
We in a possum fa real……don’t know if EWB words can help us now either.
Sold to the highest bidder…..and yes you are right….we let the horse out the stable…the question is how to lead it back in .?
^^ A OOB
This where My petition comes in but people won’t sign on to it.
What you petitioning Brudda Bim…….people in high place stop wanna thiefin nah ? Or Trinidad n TaBADOES give we back we assets nah ? Either wat de BUGGAS go say NO….
For those overseas the BST conglomerate used to\own the largest chump of small companies in Barbados….. is now owned by a Trinidadian concern. I don’t know about you Brudda Bim but that is reason for concern.
Why don’t the DLP give up on its campaign of blaming everything on Global Economies for its lethargy. Bajan are growing tired of it now. Everything during its 5 year term has been blamed on the Global
Economies …
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THAT WAS BACK IN JANUARY……DEM took no notice of the pleas to curtail wastage and spend but continued to blame and blame .. and whine and whine…Not doing a pang to change directions nor look for solutions….AND SO….today.. we are down graded to JUNK BONDS status…….But you know what we hear a similar cry..”NO BIG THING”….”DON”T PAY S & P NOR MOODY ANY MIND”……Sounds of ignorance again right?…..They can’t blame this one on Global Economies so they blame it on the BLP…..BTW WE HEAR THEY WANT ANOTHER TERM TOO……THEM MADDIE? …..TO DO WHAT MAY I ASK ?…. to blame who next time ???