The Coming Calamity of the DLP

Submitted by Pachamama

Pachamama posits that OSA was more likely to accept an offer of national unity

The absence of political maturity in Barbados is unhelpful in circumstances where the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) barely ‘won’ the last general elections. The general acceptance by both the DLP and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) that the winner should take all fails to leave space for more normative interpretations of the perceptions of the electorate as expressed by their votes. Indeed, we currently live at a time when the country that Barbados mimics and looks to for an understanding about ourselves has had a coalition government for a number of years. In fact, the British parliament is comprised of multiple parties that, in name at least, have a wide range of political ideologies and yet there is space in the political culture for bi-partisan government at several levels. Not so in Barbados. For some reason we would rather pretend that there are such fundamental differences between the two major parties that there can never be an overriding national consensus that goes beyond party loyalty. We consider the political tendencies of Bajans are much more sophisticated than this simplistic polarizing construct.

Stop Blaming All On Global Economies

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

Economics Helping Caucasians To Politically Oppression And Exploit Millions, What Are Local Economists Saying?

Submitted by Peoples Democratic Congress (PDC)

In many economic textbooks, the definition of economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy human wants. For Adam Smith – one of the founders of economics – economics is “an inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations”. In some modern English dictionaries (the Oxford School Dictionary, the 5 edition) economics is described as the science of the production and distribution of wealth. In the Collins Students Dictionary for the Caribbean, economics is “the study of the production and consumption of goods and services ……..in a society.”

As for the PDC, economics is defined as the inverted political ideology, philosophy and psychology of the Caucasian man (the patriarchal Euro-centric man), and of which – because they are exclusively non-racial, non-class, non-sexual, non-religious, non-historical in their essential characters – have clearly been giving rise to specific sets of repeated changes in the forms of material beforehand, in whatever commercial, industrial, non-government settings; wherefore those reproductions are such that millions upon millions of people across the world must – through their own means – come by them, or have access to them, in order to live in this entire social world, and, as such, this compulsion comes through nothing but the said ideology, philosophy and psychology of the Caucasian man and by extension the political actions of this man consistent with them.

Now, what is the fundamental purpose of economics?

The Great Misdiagnosis

Reproduced from Financial Sense – Credit: Moneybrain

By Jim Willie - click image to read author's bio

Imagine a doctor who administers an elaborate treatment for a man suffering from multiple broken bones, joint arthritis, and fallen foot arches. The quack doctor orders massive amounts of liquids as though he has a horrible case of dehydration. The inept doctor also permits unlimited freedom of movement around the hospital and its grounds to the patient, as part of the blunt treatment. The man still cannot walk right or breathe normally, has trouble lifting any significant weight with the arms, and stumbles around from shaky legs. But he has plenty of fluids and freedom to roam, urinating like a race horse. With the heavy mistreatment that is badly off the mark, he has a new problem, diarrhea and bloat together. His doctor is an idiot, incompetent, but still given respect.

The doctor is the US Federal Reserve, led by the lousy economist who never ran a business, the mad professor from Princeton University. His claim to fame was revisionist history of the Great Depression. He was chosen to be the bagholder, to print money until no tomorrow. The USFed balance sheet is almost totally ruined, without hope of repair. The clumsy oaf professor posing as USFed Chairman actually admitted in public that he is confused why the USEconomy remains moribund, unresponsive to all the special treatment administered so thoroughly. Bernanke admits his incompetence. The national economy desperately requires a housing market revival that cannot come since banks are constipated with foreclosed homes in still rising inventory. The misguided licensed doctor continues to ply his trade, directing the wreckage, confused at the helm. Now the hospital is overrun by victims of the USEconomy, sinking under the weight of debt.

At least the health care sector is expanding as a business, the government sector too. Neither is productive. Meanwhile, the nation sinks into a depression, the debt approaches a default, and the USDollar faces extinction through revolt, rejection, and evasion. The nation suffers from lost direction, absent leadership, and unspeakable corruption from the climax of the Fascist Business Model introduced by the last administration with large doses of fear. The dominant themes in the USCongress and Executive branch are clearly paralyze, polarize, and partisan. Tainted money has been followed by tainted morality, policy, justice, and representation, enough to invite a public response. Let’s take a quick look at numerous pressure points, broken parts, and centers of ailment. The doctor is extremely busy in confusing both the patient and anxious family. They are repeatedly told the patient is on the mend, but he keeps falling down when attempting to move on his own power. The family has lost faith in the doctor, but no other medical professionals seem any more enlightened.

Dollars And Cents Supported By Commonsense

Chris Sinckler, Minister of Finance

For as long as the global economic situation remains depressed, small open economies like Barbados will continue to struggle  implementing economic and social policies. Contrary to what Clyde Mascoll, Avinash Persaud, Michael Howard et al have to say, there is no rule book which adequately prepares governments in the region who are unfortunate to be elected at this time.

The foregoing is not meant to disrespect academia, after all, partly responsible for the ‘success’ of Barbados has been the commitment to educating its people as evidenced by large budget allocations even at the worse of economic times. It is a social policy supported by successive governments for greater than four decades which separates Barbados from the rest. Exacerbating the economic problems we are facing in Barbados is the extent to which those in academia have allowed a political lens to cloud the sobering and dispassionate analysis which is required to facilitate a constructive debate on the issues.

BU most times has distanced itself from lacing our postings with jargon when distilling our points of view; even at the risk of being accused of being simplistic. In the ongoing debate about whether the government has been making the correct decisions, the average Barbadian must now be giddy at the myriad of perspectives being offered. The understandable reality that Barbadians have been living a very expansive lifestyle for the last 15 years on the back of a global economic boom makes the situation we find ourselves unpalatable for most Bajans. When we insert adversarial politics to the mix, rhyme and reason goes through the window.

Turning Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping Stones

Submitted by AOD

 

The economy of the USA will slide into depression, greater than 1931 (it did not truly begin in 1929). Paralyzed by excessive debt, the futile attempts by their federal reserve to monetize this debt will fail. The US economy will begin to “circle the bowl” each round of quantitative easing (adding money to the system and making it available to banks to make loans…but the banks then don’t lend it, but instead use it to cover the mountain of debt from the housing/securities ponzi scheme).  Each round is less successful than the previous and is place solely on the tax payers backs. This is mathematically impossible to escape and requires double digit GDP growth for 14 years consecutively to clear the current debt out of the system.

Therefore the dollar will be destroyed, all currencies pegged to it will be the means by which those countries import massive amounts of inflation as the dollar continues to lose value against world currencies then commodities. It is in the best interest of the US that the E.U detonates first (the seed of the greatest war) , for that scenario buys the US sometime, but unless the fundamental problems of lost real jobs (where an actual product is produced), and dying industry are addressed there will be no recovery.

Devaluation only works when you are a producer.

So for Barbados, remaining pegged to the US dollar, just as we rose with them we will fall, and suffer the exact fate…. or far worse, unless we make drastic changes soon.

INFLATION NATION, a layman’s guide to America’s coming monetary destruction – and how to survive it

Reproduced from Whistle Blower on request from Zoe

 

The signs are everywhere: In the midst of a brutal recession, with Americans already burdened by sky-high unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcies, shoppers are noticing disturbingly higher food prices. Indeed, a survey of Wal-Mart stores analyzing price movements in 86 products widely used by Americans reveals price inflation to be twice the government’s “official” rate.

But that’s just for starters. Indeed, much of the current price inflation in commodities, including food – like wheat up 50 percent and cotton up a staggering 100 percent over last year, not to mention oil, beef, soybeans, coffee, cocoa and more, all way up – is due largely to international factors out of our control: flooding in Pakistan decimating cotton crops, the diversion of corn for ethanol driving up corn prices, China’s exponentially growing consumption rates, and so on.

But when it comes to explaining precious metals prices – gold and silver are up five-fold over the last decade – all eyes turn to government and its maniacal, indeed incomprehensible level of deficit spending, borrowing, money creation and regulation, all leading inexorably to the debasement of the U.S. dollar. This has led many, not just in the U.S. but worldwide, to seek refuge and stability in the time-honored monetary metals.