On June 23rd Britain will opt to stay in or leave the European Union. The arguments for an against have been eloquently put, yet the reality is no-one is certain what will happen if Britain exit and so one can only speculate on the Economic, and, social fall out, if any. One writer has commented…
I had an interesting conversation recently and people were again be-labouring the point that Government has gotten too big, and that in the Caribbean context Government is used as a glorified employment Agency, often being the biggest employer of labour within some of our Caribbean economies. Whilst the size of Government may, or may not…
I have written on several occasions about the fact that the current economic model used across the Caribbean, and the Overseas Territories is failing. Therefore the question that needs to be answered is “what model” could work. Whilst I do not purport to have all the answers I certainly believe that acknowledging the need for…
The past 12 months have been interesting where we have seen elections in the Eastern Caribbean that have brought new Governments to Antigua and Barbuda (June 2014), Montserrat (September 2014), and St Kitts and Nevis (Feb 2015) and I believe more will follow. Was it the political parties themselves or the circumstances? Many would say…
Last week I talked about how indentured servitude and slavery were borne out of an economic imperative. Historical records show slavery is not a ‘modern day phenomena’, we see that about 5% of the population in the Shang Dynasty in China were slaves, the Israelites in Eygpt were enslaved and so on. Why was slavery…
I was talking recently to some friends about the age old debate on the ‘legacy of slavery’ and the fact that many see hotels as the ‘new plantations. This is a sensitive issue for us as Caribbean people and one that evokes much emotion, and obviously so. However, my own view is that this is…
Israel has been described as a ‘tiny but mighty country’ yet it punches above its weight in terms of economic and human development, being ranked 15th on the UNDP Human Development index [1]. Some may say this is because Israel gets financial aid given the US’ Policy on the Middle east. Not withstanding this several…
The news is always full of stories that make us question our Government leaders, size of Government and perhaps democracy itself, see for example a recent Caribbean 360 article: http://www.caribbean360.com/opinion/opinion-bribed-by-russia-with-a-few-beads-and-seashells When this happens we often exclaim, ‘well power corrupts’…but does it? Democracy is not a perfect system, but it’s the one most Caribbean countries have…
In keeping with my last Blog where I mentioned that I would be inviting guest experts to further discuss the subject of Caribbean Growth and development a summit is coming up designed to do just that. You can find out more about the Invest Caribbean now 2014 summit at http://www.slideshare.net/caribworldnews/the-invest-caribbean-now-forum perhaps I’ll see you there, Felicia
As we find ourselves in 2014 and looking back on the challenges of 2013 I note the comments of the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank “It has been another challenging year for the Currency Union”. Indeed it was challenging for the Region as a whole with slow economic growth, increasing public deficits and…
As we find ourselves in the final stages of 2013 for many of us it is a time to reflect. This may have been a turbulent year for many Caribbean countries politically and economically but what remains unchanging are Nations with resilient people and a passion to see their countries develop. Let this passion be…
It seems the effects of the global economic slow down are being felt now more keenly than before in the Caribbean. The question that seems to be on everyone’s lips as I read a smattering of our newspapers is “what are our leaders doing about it”. Barbados announced a Ten-Point Recovery plan for its Tourism…
I’ve been reading the debate started by Trisha Mitchell on her blog “Re-thinking Education – How do we compete in the new global Economy” [1] Trisha and I share a passion for the issues pertaining to the Caribbean and I encourage you to check out her Blog. Some great debate was had, see Linkedin [2] and in…
Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the issues concerning Economic Development in the Caribbean. What is clear is that the Caribbean being made up of Small Island Developing States needs a new approach as the approaches and models of the developed world are not working for us; and why should they…
