How big is ‘big government’ in Guyana?
To the average Guyanese the image of the government is one of ‘big government.’ In this week’s column I shall start to examine how big this notion of big government held by Guyanese is. As we are aware from our day-to-day practice government activity enters into almost every dimension of our lives. The colonial state [...]
More on the rationale for a statutory independent National Assembly Budget Office
Rationale In last Sunday’s column, I made a call for the establishment of a statutory independent non-partisan and professionally-staffed Budget Office to be located in the National Assembly (NABO). It is my belief that this could well be one of the surest ways to dissolve the grave misgivings and distrust which surround statistics provided by [...]
Wanted: A statutory independent non-partisan and professionally-staffed budget office of the National Assembly
Introduction Two fundamental considerations take pride of place in the substantive evaluation of Guyana’s government budget, 2011 and therefore provide a logical starting point for my forthcoming columns. The first consideration is the integrity of the data, information, calculations and statistics which inform the three principal tasks of the budget, namely: 1) to review the [...]
Bones of Contention: The Emerging Economies and the G7
The budget next time As on previous similar occasions, beginning next week I shall suspend further discussion of the topic under present consideration in my Sunday columns, in order to present an evaluation of the 2011 National Budget. Having taken time for considered reflection, it is my goal to try and add value, from an [...]
The big let-down: The emerging economies in the G20
High expectations As I tried to make clear in last week’s column, the global economic crisis-induced shift in international economic governance and authority away from the G7 club of rich countries, to the
China: The new vanguard of 21st century exploitation of poor countries’ resources
From G7 to G20 The shift in the authority for superintending the international economy from the G7 club of rich nations to the G20 grouping, which includes the emerging economies of China, India, Brazil and Russia, was initiated by United States President Bush in 2008 when both the US and the global economy were engulfed [...]
China and the emerging economies: From Third World vanguard to neo-liberal apologists
‘A truly-global crisis!’ Utilizing the IMF’s terminology for the economic classification of countries worldwide, as a group the “emerging economies” have been clearly out-performing the “advanced economies” during this protracted period of global economic recession, financial crisis and credit squeeze. Because of this and other considerations, I have challenged elsewhere, the accuracy of, and thus [...]
In the eye of the global economic storm
The US economy Because of the leading role the US economy plays in the generation of global output, demand, consumption, trade (imports and exports), technology, cross-border direct investment, and financial flows, the difficulties which it is presently encountering (as highlighted in last week’s column) vividly illustrate the continued fragility of the global economic recovery and [...]
A global crisis that will not go away
Context: G20 summits There have been five G20 leader-summits in the space of two-years. These are signs of 1) how grave the global economic recession, financial crisis and credit squeeze have been, and 2) the high level of international coordination of efforts to bring these to a halt. Regrettably, economic recovery, the world-wide growth in [...]
Crises dominate: Ending the first decade of the 21st century
As we come to the end of the first decade of the 21st century, I shall, in the course of the next few columns reflect on the international economic situation, in the circumstances of two of its most pressing and intractable problems (crises). The first of these is the now three-year-old global economic crisis, which [...]
Uncertainty abounds: Global recovery remains fragile
This week’s column and the first part of next week’s will bring to a close my discussion of the vulnerabilities to be found in the financial regulatory and oversight structures of Guyana and the wider Caricom region. These vulnerabilities have become increasingly manifest as contagion from the global economic recession and financial crisis has continued [...]
Vulnerabilities in the financial regulatory and oversight system
The sheer size and pervasive presence of the underground economy in Guyana and some other Caricom countries symbolize the serious vulnerabilities which plague the financial regulatory and oversight structure of the region. It goes without saying that when such a considerable share of national income goes unreported and is not captured in the official GDP [...]
Why do we research the underground economy?
In this week’s column I shall conclude the discussion of the underground economy in Guyana by highlighting some of its crucial features. These are important for readers to bear in mind whenever
What do the figures show?
Estimating the proceeds of tax evasion, regulatory avoidance and organized crime in Guyana Introduction The underground economy (or whatever else it may be termed) along with its phantom segment as I have defined it in last week’s column, is extremely difficult if not impossible to measure accurately. Every estimate contains a margin of error, some [...]
Researching the underground economy in Guyana
Introduction In my two previous Sunday columns, I had developed the argument to the effect that the steep increases in remittance flows to Guyana (as well as Jamaica) reflect both criminally-inspired transfers along with transfers made by hard-working Guyanese and Jamaican emigrants living in the diaspora. Of course, I am in no position to determine [...]