My guess is that there is a fundamental difference of opinion. Fred Mitchell wants WTO membership (and CSME) and Miller wants neither.
Miller is a business man. Mitchell is in a profession that he does not have to worry about international compettetion. Miller is probably the one with reservations.
Rightfully so.


BTW -- I'm changing my mind on CSME from against to pro (sorta -- still collecting the facts). CARICOM and CSME are getting big breaks out of the EU and big bucks. And with the US in a war and their economy tanking, Europe is getting a stronger economy and throwing a lot more money around.

Well. I was always ambivalent. They need to show me gains for Bahamian entrepenuers. But, the worse thing we can do is join and have our local boys, not in a position to take advantage of foreign markets. What is good for the goose, is not always good for the gander all the time.
I have been hearing the "big boys", talk about international trade, lower tariffs blah blah blah. I have issue with that. Because they are speaking from a position, where they have an advantage first. I refuse to let them brainwash me.

Good stable democracies, need a strong business class. We have a good business class, but no way near good positioning to battle with animals out of Jamaica and Trinidad. With that, our people are not hungry enough to battle with ferocity. That is not in our nature first and foremost. We may talk tough with each other, but we have no guts when the crunch is in to stand and stick it out in the face of true animals.

In addition, why would you want to take us into the future, where compettetion is the name of the game, where we do not know how to compete in our own market. Every single industry here is monopolized; even down to the supermarkets which is about the only inudstry, which is not under blatant control by one or two players.

I see banking all over again. Where di man dem kill di falking ting, before any real Bahamians took advantage.

I say we can sign another time, if you would like my two cents on it. Let us see how the Bahamas is really postioned, in terms of growth and welfare. give us another 2-5 years, to get our boys on board to at least "place" sometimes.
:hammer:

Signing on to the WTO is not an easy, simple task. It requires much negotiations. There is no one set, blanket agreement that all sign onto. Countries must individually negotiate and set their own terms and conditions for entry.
Either you enter into the category of developing or developed country. Read the articles if you ask me. This should be talked about to Bahamian businessmen in open forum. Because, what happens to their market, will trickle down into impact on Bahamian welfare. We have not wrapped our hands around the welfare issue yet for a bustling new city. We will surely lose sight of the ball, if we allow the market to be distorted further by rigid international comepttition.

As it relates to the Bahamas, a few issues were raised and have yet to be resolved.
Few? LOL.....:)
Many unraised past 1.

Among which would be the status of Freeport (I think this system would be contrary to WTO rules), we would have to change our tax system, and we'd have to probably allow access to certain sectors that are now reserved for Bahamians such as wholesale, retail, and inter-island transport. I'm sure you would agree that none of these is easy to do away with.
You are right. Regulatory intrusionism. Why would any developing country, enter into the GATT at this point and time, seeing how they dropped TRIPS and TRIMS on di man dem!?!?!
:dgi:
To enter into di GATS and GATT, signifies a loss for Bahamians in the short term, with no long term gain for Bahamian entrepenuers. With that I have no confidence in the gains "if there are any", being spent wisely to Bahamian welfare interests, by our money hungry politicians.
:taped2:

Of course each country negotiates according to its needs, so the government would have to be very careful so as to negotiate in the best interest of Bahamians.

I think this is the reason, why things have stalled. Brain drain. There is no one who you can trust, to negotiate seriously with an ounce of confidence and brass. Tell di man falking dem, falk ya low tarrifs and MFN, let us grow we market for we sef, and den we ga tink bout you...ya see!?!
:)

Thanks for the quote. But I knew housing was going to go down in the Bahamas a long time ago. Waiting for it to be reported is too late. The efficient market theory does not hold if one has the tools necessary to forecast movements in asset prices.
YK2Bad:
I'm like a muslim, hi-jacking is my religion.

Housing is always a safe investment, because it gives the buyer leverage to do some other things in a small market. People who do not understand the stocks and bonds concept, use real estate.

With that I have not ever said that housing was up or down, just that with the investment the developments will bring in, will touch the housing market...IN THE BAHAMAS...in the hopefully near future. James Smith has spoke about this, and is about the only sensible thing I have heard on the economy of the Bahamas in a long looonnnggggg while!

You are chanaging the argument from first principles, to fit what you want to talk about. But, it is not what I talked about ever, if my memory serves me correctly.
:)

Hello:

I am Gilbert NMO Morris.

First, let me congratulate the organizes of this forum as being part of the global "digitocracy"; a welcome technological and communications benchmark is a region in want of technological literacy in the general sense.

A staff member passed me a comment from this section of your forum concerning the WTO, principally and Bahamas government policy in general. As I am willing always to engage Bahamians, I reserved this time to offer a response.

In relation to GATTS and WTO: there we speak of the same thing. WTO now manages what may be called GATTS.

There a several basic principles I think we must keep in mind when discussing these issues:

First, small nations must operate (and must be operating) at optimal levels of efficiency to entre and participate advantageously in these trade arrangements.

Second, no large power will allow even a modicum of its policy objectives to be influenced by a smaller, less relevant power.

Now you must ask yourself a question or two:

Are our government's run efficiently ?

And, what evidence is there that we understand leverage in foreign policy?

Already, I have taken more space than I should have. But let me demonstrate, at least, some particulars of my claims; so to save myself from the thickets of mere opinion-making.

Take FTAA and CSME: These are so easy to dismiss, I shouldn't waste the time or your space on them. First, some say that FTAA will mean 12 trillion dollars in trade. But 11 trillion is the US, with whom we already have an organic trade relationship. They say its 500 million people. More than 250 million of them live on less than USD$1 dollar a day, and so cannot purchase our goods or services. Third, the US is simply trying to resurge the Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment which was rightly rejected by all parties nearly 10 years ago.

On CSME: consider that the Bahamas trade with CARICOM is half of one percent. There are four main elements to CSME:

Currency - A recent Ministerial suggested that US currency should be the new CARICOM currency. I cannot explain the degree to which this is strategically foolish. US currency lost 80% of its value in the last 20 years. It gives the very country we must diversify away from, greater control of our economies. No Caribbean nation has the reserve of US dollars to convert to US currency.

Courts - name a Caribbean nation in which the courts are either respected or efficient. Enough said.

Foreign policy - Half of CARICOM accepts the "One China" policy - for money of course. Half defends Taiwan; also for money. There is no strategic policy options developed around that support except handouts of cash. Second, with CARICOM huddled together forming a policy; with the US in attendance, the US hustled Aristide out of Haiti without informing them. How bodes this for a foreign policy co-op?

Movement of Labour - Barbados criticised the Bahamas for rejecting this, yet spent the last 6 months of 06, deporting Guyanese. Second, in a digital age in which people can work from anywhere, and amongst nations already suffering 'brain drain', why encourage people to leave their countries?

Finally, in case of the WTO in particular: I reject it as a credible option for the Bahamas. In order to participate effectively, one must have policy projections 5 years out. One must have transparency of government practices and one must have strategic and tactical initiatives in relation to all interactions with other nations. If you accept that we are not run efficiently, then we are apt to be slaughtered at these negotiations.

Second, all our CARICOM brother nations are members of WTO. We are in better shape than all of them. Third, the resources (nearly $5 million a year, plus) necessary to keep up with WTO negotiations is better spent on our working our existing trade relations, education and training.

Europe will offer us nothing. As long as the dollar trade low, they will have a purchasing advantage but it will be harder to create wealth, given their socialist systems, their aging population and already high taxes. European products will therefore be more expensive and sell less.

In the Bahamas, our housing situation is dreadful. In a good economy, average house prices are 2-3 time annual incomes. Our house prices are 16 times annual incomes. Second, the "low-cost" houses we built are frankly rubbish, and will not hold their value. What is said is that people will have paid for 5-10 years for these houses, and will not be able to use the equity to move their family's standard of living upwards. Another impact is that it is leading to the over building of Nassau. The streets are impassible (with another 2000 per week to be added in Atlantis traffic shortly). This will lead to chronic congestion, crime and the decline in property values.

What should we do?

We should revamp our school system and get on an educational tear as if preparing for war. We should bundle the agricultural Caribbean together and tell them we will buy their produce and veggies if they vote with us in the UN and OAS. We should sell them technology as a threshold into diversifying away from tourism. We should purchase 50% of all cane fields in CARICOM and produce bio-fuels. We should incorporate the City of Nassau, and sell its shares. We should begin "anchor developments" in family islands with agriculture, wind-farms and solar initiatives rather than resorts. We should give 10 acres to Bahamian families willing to move from Nassau to such islands. We should abolish the Ministry of Tourism (nothing personal. My beloved brother has worked there for 15 years). We should convert 20% of our national reserves annually to gold and back our currency with gold. We should give every family 3 acres of crown land, which they cannot sell for 21 years, but that is put into a national REIT in appreciated value of which BISX should use as a Venture BOND Fund. I would sell BTC and BEC to the public after developing a ‘multi-alternative energy” partnership. (Bill Gates created 3000 millionaires at Microsoft and 12 billionaires. I would attempt to facilitate 100 new Bahamian millionaires). We should reduce customs duties to 3%, implement an 8% sales tax, and collect the nearly $400 million in unpaid taxes annually.

This can all be done without FTAA, CSME, WTO. and it could be done in 100 days.

cheers

M.

Hello:

I am Gilbert NMO Morris.

First, let me congratulate the organizes of this forum as being part of the global "digitocracy"; a welcome technological and communications benchmark is a region in want of technological literacy in the general sense.

A staff member passed me a comment from this section of your forum concerning the WTO, principally and Bahamas government policy in general. As I am willing always to engage Bahamians, I reserved this time to offer a response.

In relation to GATTS and WTO: there we speak of the same thing. WTO now manages what may be called GATTS.

There a several basic principles I think we must keep in mind when discussing these issues:

First, small nations must operate (and must be operating) at optimal levels of efficiency to entre and participate advantageously in these trade arrangements.

Second, no large power will allow even a modicum of its policy objectives to be influenced by a smaller, less relevant power.

Now you must ask yourself a question or two:

Are our government's run efficiently ?

And, what evidence is there that we understand leverage in foreign policy?

Already, I have taken more space than I should have. But let me demonstrate, at least, some particulars of my claims; so to save myself from the thickets of mere opinion-making.

Take FTAA and CSME: These are so easy to dismiss, I shouldn't waste the time or your space on them. First, some say that FTAA will mean 12 trillion dollars in trade. But 11 trillion is the US, with whom we already have an organic trade relationship. They say its 500 million people. More than 250 million of them live on less than USD$1 dollar a day, and so cannot purchase our goods or services. Third, the US is simply trying to resurge the Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment which was rightly rejected by all parties nearly 10 years ago.

On CSME: consider that the Bahamas trade with CARICOM is half of one percent. There are four main elements to CSME:

Currency - A recent Ministerial suggested that US currency should be the new CARICOM currency. I cannot explain the degree to which this is strategically foolish. US currency lost 80% of its value in the last 20 years. It gives the very country we must diversify away from, greater control of our economies. No Caribbean nation has the reserve of US dollars to convert to US currency.

Courts - name a Caribbean nation in which the courts are either respected or efficient. Enough said.

Foreign policy - Half of CARICOM accepts the "One China" policy - for money of course. Half defends Taiwan; also for money. There is no strategic policy options developed around that support except handouts of cash. Second, with CARICOM huddled together forming a policy; with the US in attendance, the US hustled Aristide out of Haiti without informing them. How bodes this for a foreign policy co-op?

Movement of Labour - Barbados criticised the Bahamas for rejecting this, yet spent the last 6 months of 06, deporting Guyanese. Second, in a digital age in which people can work from anywhere, and amongst nations already suffering 'brain drain', why encourage people to leave their countries?

Finally, in case of the WTO in particular: I reject it as a credible option for the Bahamas. In order to participate effectively, one must have policy projections 5 years out. One must have transparency of government practices and one must have strategic and tactical initiatives in relation to all interactions with other nations. If you accept that we are not run efficiently, then we are apt to be slaughtered at these negotiations.

Second, all our CARICOM brother nations are members of WTO. We are in better shape than all of them. Third, the resources (nearly $5 million a year, plus) necessary to keep up with WTO negotiations is better spent on our working our existing trade relations, education and training.

Europe will offer us nothing. As long as the dollar trade low, they will have a purchasing advantage but it will be harder to create wealth, given their socialist systems, their aging population and already high taxes. European products will therefore be more expensive and sell less.

In the Bahamas, our housing situation is dreadful. In a good economy, average house prices are 2-3 time annual incomes. Our house prices are 16 times annual incomes. Second, the "low-cost" houses we built are frankly rubbish, and will not hold their value. What is said is that people will have paid for 5-10 years for these houses, and will not be able to use the equity to move their family's standard of living upwards. Another impact is that it is leading to the over building of Nassau. The streets are impassible (with another 2000 per week to be added in Atlantis traffic shortly). This will lead to chronic congestion, crime and the decline in property values.

What should we do?

We should revamp our school system and get on an educational tear as if preparing for war. We should bundle the agricultural Caribbean together and tell them we will buy their produce and veggies if they vote with us in the UN and OAS. We should sell them technology as a threshold into diversifying away from tourism. We should purchase 50% of all cane fields in CARICOM and produce bio-fuels. We should incorporate the City of Nassau, and sell its shares. We should begin "anchor developments" in family islands with agriculture, wind-farms and solar initiatives rather than resorts. We should give 10 acres to Bahamian families willing to move from Nassau to such islands. We should abolish the Ministry of Tourism (nothing personal. My beloved brother has worked there for 15 years). We should convert 20% of our national reserves annually to gold and back our currency with gold. We should give every family 3 acres of crown land, which they cannot sell for 21 years, but that is put into a national REIT in appreciated value of which BISX should use as a Venture BOND Fund. I would sell BTC and BEC to the public after developing a ‘multi-alternative energy” partnership. (Bill Gates created 3000 millionaires at Microsoft and 12 billionaires. I would attempt to facilitate 100 new Bahamian millionaires). We should reduce customs duties to 3%, implement an 8% sales tax, and collect the nearly $400 million in unpaid taxes annually.

This can all be done without FTAA, CSME, WTO. and it could be done in 100 days.

cheers

M.

What should we do?
We should revamp our school system and get on an educational tear as if preparing for war. We should bundle the agricultural Caribbean together and tell them we will buy their produce and veggies if they vote with us in the UN and OAS. We should sell them technology as a threshold into diversifying away from tourism. We should purchase 50% of all cane fields in CARICOM and produce bio-fuels. We should incorporate the City of Nassau, and sell its shares. We should begin "anchor developments" in family islands with agriculture, wind-farms and solar initiatives rather than resorts. We should give 10 acres to Bahamian families willing to move from Nassau to such islands. We should abolish the Ministry of Tourism (nothing personal. My beloved brother has worked there for 15 years). We should convert 20% of our national reserves annually to gold and back our currency with gold. We should give every family 3 acres of crown land, which they cannot sell for 21 years, but that is put into a national REIT in appreciated value of which BISX should use as a Venture BOND Fund. I would sell BTC and BEC to the public after developing a ‘multi-alternative energy” partnership. (Bill Gates created 3000 millionaires at Microsoft and 12 billionaires. I would attempt to facilitate 100 new Bahamian millionaires). We should reduce customs duties to 3%, implement an 8% sales tax, and collect the nearly $400 million in unpaid taxes annually.
This can all be done without FTAA, CSME, WTO. and it could be done in 100 days.
cheers
M.



Are you campaigning??

Some of it I agree with because I've said it already, some of it I don't agree with. I definitely agree with Bahamians becoming more vehement about education. I'm leaning more towards business education considering banking is the second largest industry and the banking laws gives the Bahamas an advantage over hundreds of other nations.

If the Bahamas is better than other Caricom members, where is the benefit in bundling agriculture or creating a single caricom currency?? While the US dollar is losing value, the Bahamian dollar, Jamaican dollar, Haitian currency, and Trinidadian currency show much more volatility. There's no escaping the influence of US currency - almost all cross-country transactions are denominated in dollars. In fact, all currencies traded are valued by the dollar. When you say that the US dollar has lost 80 percent of its value in the last 20 years - is that based on inflation?

Hello:
I am Gilbert NMO Morris.
First, let me congratulate the organizes of this forum as being part of the global "digitocracy"; a welcome technological and communications benchmark is a region in want of technological literacy in the general sense.
A staff member passed me a comment from this section of your forum concerning the WTO, principally and Bahamas government policy in general. As I am willing always to engage Bahamians, I reserved this time to offer a response.
In relation to GATTS and WTO: there we speak of the same thing. WTO now manages what may be called GATTS.
There a several basic principles I think we must keep in mind when discussing these issues:
First, small nations must operate (and must be operating) at optimal levels of efficiency to entre and participate advantageously in these trade arrangements.
Second, no large power will allow even a modicum of its policy objectives to be influenced by a smaller, less relevant power.
Now you must ask yourself a question or two:
Are our government's run efficiently ?
And, what evidence is there that we understand leverage in foreign policy?
Already, I have taken more space than I should have. But let me demonstrate, at least, some particulars of my claims; so to save myself from the thickets of mere opinion-making.
Take FTAA and CSME: These are so easy to dismiss, I shouldn't waste the time or your space on them. First, some say that FTAA will mean 12 trillion dollars in trade. But 11 trillion is the US, with whom we already have an organic trade relationship. They say its 500 million people. More than 250 million of them live on less than USD$1 dollar a day, and so cannot purchase our goods or services. Third, the US is simply trying to resurge the Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment which was rightly rejected by all parties nearly 10 years ago.
On CSME: consider that the Bahamas trade with CARICOM is half of one percent. There are four main elements to CSME:
Currency - A recent Ministerial suggested that US currency should be the new CARICOM currency. I cannot explain the degree to which this is strategically foolish. US currency lost 80% of its value in the last 20 years. It gives the very country we must diversify away from, greater control of our economies. No Caribbean nation has the reserve of US dollars to convert to US currency.
Courts - name a Caribbean nation in which the courts are either respected or efficient. Enough said.
Foreign policy - Half of CARICOM accepts the "One China" policy - for money of course. Half defends Taiwan; also for money. There is no strategic policy options developed around that support except handouts of cash. Second, with CARICOM huddled together forming a policy; with the US in attendance, the US hustled Aristide out of Haiti without informing them. How bodes this for a foreign policy co-op?
Movement of Labour - Barbados criticised the Bahamas for rejecting this, yet spent the last 6 months of 06, deporting Guyanese. Second, in a digital age in which people can work from anywhere, and amongst nations already suffering 'brain drain', why encourage people to leave their countries?
Finally, in case of the WTO in particular: I reject it as a credible option for the Bahamas. In order to participate effectively, one must have policy projections 5 years out. One must have transparency of government practices and one must have strategic and tactical initiatives in relation to all interactions with other nations. If you accept that we are not run efficiently, then we are apt to be slaughtered at these negotiations.
Second, all our CARICOM brother nations are members of WTO. We are in better shape than all of them. Third, the resources (nearly $5 million a year, plus) necessary to keep up with WTO negotiations is better spent on our working our existing trade relations, education and training.
Europe will offer us nothing. As long as the dollar trade low, they will have a purchasing advantage but it will be harder to create wealth, given their socialist systems, their aging population and already high taxes. European products will therefore be more expensive and sell less.
In the Bahamas, our housing situation is dreadful. In a good economy, average house prices are 2-3 time annual incomes. Our house prices are 16 times annual incomes. Second, the "low-cost" houses we built are frankly rubbish, and will not hold their value. What is said is that people will have paid for 5-10 years for these houses, and will not be able to use the equity to move their family's standard of living upwards. Another impact is that it is leading to the over building of Nassau. The streets are impassible (with another 2000 per week to be added in Atlantis traffic shortly). This will lead to chronic congestion, crime and the decline in property values.
What should we do?
We should revamp our school system and get on an educational tear as if preparing for war. We should bundle the agricultural Caribbean together and tell them we will buy their produce and veggies if they vote with us in the UN and OAS. We should sell them technology as a threshold into diversifying away from tourism. We should purchase 50% of all cane fields in CARICOM and produce bio-fuels. We should incorporate the City of Nassau, and sell its shares. We should begin "anchor developments" in family islands with agriculture, wind-farms and solar initiatives rather than resorts. We should give 10 acres to Bahamian families willing to move from Nassau to such islands. We should abolish the Ministry of Tourism (nothing personal. My beloved brother has worked there for 15 years). We should convert 20% of our national reserves annually to gold and back our currency with gold. We should give every family 3 acres of crown land, which they cannot sell for 21 years, but that is put into a national REIT in appreciated value of which BISX should use as a Venture BOND Fund. I would sell BTC and BEC to the public after developing a ‘multi-alternative energy” partnership. (Bill Gates created 3000 millionaires at Microsoft and 12 billionaires. I would attempt to facilitate 100 new Bahamian millionaires). We should reduce customs duties to 3%, implement an 8% sales tax, and collect the nearly $400 million in unpaid taxes annually.
This can all be done without FTAA, CSME, WTO. and it could be done in 100 days.
cheers
M.

Dr. Morris exactly do you have an idea of how many Bahamian economists out there?

I can't believe it. I called Dr Morris and he came. Ghad damnned..
LOL....

Thank you for you input. I will read and see what I can understand, what I don't like from what I like.

I hope you stay around and argue. We can keep it clean, when the guest's are distinguished.

One.

I can't believe it. I called Dr Morris and he came. Ghad damnned..
LOL....
Thank you for you input. I will read and see what I can understand, what I don't like from what I like.
I hope you stay around and argue. We can keep it clean, if the guest's are distinguished.
One.

stop lying...we dont discrimnate! he can loose himself in wonderful economic theory all he wants...but it has to be interpreted so the general public can inderstand it and relate it to their (our) realitie.something like what Dr. Yunus did with his micro-lending initiative...just help the people out a scrape...that inturned changed their lives and he inturn is a nobel laureate because of his contribution to his society, and to his people that needed it the most. ;)

Hello:
I am Gilbert NMO Morris.
First, let me congratulate the organizes of this forum as being part of the global "digitocracy"; a welcome technological and communications benchmark is a region in want of technological literacy in the general sense.
A staff member passed me a comment from this section of your forum concerning the WTO, principally and Bahamas government policy in general. As I am willing always to engage Bahamians, I reserved this time to offer a response.
In relation to GATTS and WTO: there we speak of the same thing. WTO now manages what may be called GATTS.
There a several basic principles I think we must keep in mind when discussing these issues:
First, small nations must operate (and must be operating) at optimal levels of efficiency to entre and participate advantageously in these trade arrangements.
Second, no large power will allow even a modicum of its policy objectives to be influenced by a smaller, less relevant power.
Now you must ask yourself a question or two:
Are our government's run efficiently ?
And, what evidence is there that we understand leverage in foreign policy?
Already, I have taken more space than I should have. But let me demonstrate, at least, some particulars of my claims; so to save myself from the thickets of mere opinion-making.
Take FTAA and CSME: These are so easy to dismiss, I shouldn't waste the time or your space on them. First, some say that FTAA will mean 12 trillion dollars in trade. But 11 trillion is the US, with whom we already have an organic trade relationship. They say its 500 million people. More than 250 million of them live on less than USD$1 dollar a day, and so cannot purchase our goods or services. Third, the US is simply trying to resurge the Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment which was rightly rejected by all parties nearly 10 years ago.
On CSME: consider that the Bahamas trade with CARICOM is half of one percent. There are four main elements to CSME:
Currency - A recent Ministerial suggested that US currency should be the new CARICOM currency. I cannot explain the degree to which this is strategically foolish. US currency lost 80% of its value in the last 20 years. It gives the very country we must diversify away from, greater control of our economies. No Caribbean nation has the reserve of US dollars to convert to US currency.
Courts - name a Caribbean nation in which the courts are either respected or efficient. Enough said.
Foreign policy - Half of CARICOM accepts the "One China" policy - for money of course. Half defends Taiwan; also for money. There is no strategic policy options developed around that support except handouts of cash. Second, with CARICOM huddled together forming a policy; with the US in attendance, the US hustled Aristide out of Haiti without informing them. How bodes this for a foreign policy co-op?
Movement of Labour - Barbados criticised the Bahamas for rejecting this, yet spent the last 6 months of 06, deporting Guyanese. Second, in a digital age in which people can work from anywhere, and amongst nations already suffering 'brain drain', why encourage people to leave their countries?
Finally, in case of the WTO in particular: I reject it as a credible option for the Bahamas. In order to participate effectively, one must have policy projections 5 years out. One must have transparency of government practices and one must have strategic and tactical initiatives in relation to all interactions with other nations. If you accept that we are not run efficiently, then we are apt to be slaughtered at these negotiations.
Second, all our CARICOM brother nations are members of WTO. We are in better shape than all of them. Third, the resources (nearly $5 million a year, plus) necessary to keep up with WTO negotiations is better spent on our working our existing trade relations, education and training.
Europe will offer us nothing. As long as the dollar trade low, they will have a purchasing advantage but it will be harder to create wealth, given their socialist systems, their aging population and already high taxes. European products will therefore be more expensive and sell less.
In the Bahamas, our housing situation is dreadful. In a good economy, average house prices are 2-3 time annual incomes. Our house prices are 16 times annual incomes. Second, the "low-cost" houses we built are frankly rubbish, and will not hold their value. What is said is that people will have paid for 5-10 years for these houses, and will not be able to use the equity to move their family's standard of living upwards. Another impact is that it is leading to the over building of Nassau. The streets are impassible (with another 2000 per week to be added in Atlantis traffic shortly). This will lead to chronic congestion, crime and the decline in property values.
What should we do?
We should revamp our school system and get on an educational tear as if preparing for war. We should bundle the agricultural Caribbean together and tell them we will buy their produce and veggies if they vote with us in the UN and OAS. We should sell them technology as a threshold into diversifying away from tourism. We should purchase 50% of all cane fields in CARICOM and produce bio-fuels. We should incorporate the City of Nassau, and sell its shares. We should begin "anchor developments" in family islands with agriculture, wind-farms and solar initiatives rather than resorts. We should give 10 acres to Bahamian families willing to move from Nassau to such islands. We should abolish the Ministry of Tourism (nothing personal. My beloved brother has worked there for 15 years). We should convert 20% of our national reserves annually to gold and back our currency with gold. We should give every family 3 acres of crown land, which they cannot sell for 21 years, but that is put into a national REIT in appreciated value of which BISX should use as a Venture BOND Fund. I would sell BTC and BEC to the public after developing a ‘multi-alternative energy” partnership. (Bill Gates created 3000 millionaires at Microsoft and 12 billionaires. I would attempt to facilitate 100 new Bahamian millionaires). We should reduce customs duties to 3%, implement an 8% sales tax, and collect the nearly $400 million in unpaid taxes annually.
This can all be done without FTAA, CSME, WTO. and it could be done in 100 days.
cheers
M.


Thank you for not making me sound crazy Morris. I agree with every single word. However, I want to make one additional point.
We shoould make the Bahamas, Caribbean Capital Capitol One.

We should open the markets up even MORE THAN WE ALLREADY HAVE in terms of movement of capital and other fluid instruments. This place should be teaming with money from South America, Africa and Europe. As a stop gap for when the dollar fluctuates below acceptable levels, and for an easy transfer point from anywhere to the US. This is one good thing about our economy, we are on par with the American dollar but we can remain stable. In fact, we can do some very special things with our dollar, if we have the will and the guts to get it done.

We have not done well with monetary policy, and since 2000 we have not gotten our step back to where we once was. We need to converge on this, and maximize Latin American wealth and African wealth. For what it's worth.
:)

The Bahamian dollar is not on par with the US dollar.

The Bahamian dollar is not on par with the US dollar.


For all intents and purposes. For now it is.
A few cents wont kill anyone.

The Bahamian dollar is not on par with the US dollar.

this is true...was shocked to find this out myself .98 B$:1U$ I think our value is a bit inflated though...wouldnt you agree?