When I check my saving account my first reaction is usually to call the bank or the police. I see the balance and I tell myself ‘my God I have been robbed’. However, the truth is that there is no thief to be blamed other than me. I underestimate deductions, forget to budget realistically for regular expenditures and forget about unplanned expenditures. The result of my … [Read more...] about Fiscal Unruliness – Checking the Usual Suspects for Jamaica’s Debt Buildup
Economy & Investment
The Caribbean’s Fiscal Dilemma: To Cut or Not to Cut?
What has been the technical assistance and policy advice from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to select Caribbean countries in the area of fiscal sustainability? The International Financial Institutions (International Monetary Fund in particular, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank) have invested a lot of resources … [Read more...] about The Caribbean’s Fiscal Dilemma: To Cut or Not to Cut?
Will Trinidad & Tobago’s energy services suppliers outlast the country’s energy supply?
Will Trinidad & Tobago’s energy services suppliers outlast the country’s energy supply? This was one of the questions posed to the participants of the Joint Dialogue on the Trinidad & Tobago Private Sector Assessment Report (PSAR) by Dr. Carlos Elias, author of the PSAR, in Port of Spain, February 19. The Joint Dialogue was hosted by the Ministry of Planning … [Read more...] about Will Trinidad & Tobago’s energy services suppliers outlast the country’s energy supply?
The New Legend of El Dorado
No, I’m not talking about the smooth and delicious Guyanese rum – though the taste is legendary. At the time of early Spanish voyages to the West Indies, many adventurers believed in a mythical figure, El Dorado, the golden man, whose kingdom was believed to be so well-endowed with gold as the great Inca and Mayan civilizations in Mexico and Peru. Discovery – or more … [Read more...] about The New Legend of El Dorado
Defining a Clear Tourism Brand
Back in the 1960s, the Honourable Lloyd Best and Professor Kari Levitt first put forth the Theory of the Plantation Economy. As Professor Norman Girvan of the University of the West Indies summarised in retrospective notes on the theory, “[Its purpose was] to identify the structural constraints on the growth and transformation of Caribbean economies that arise from the … [Read more...] about Defining a Clear Tourism Brand