Development Watch

One of the themes of Development Watch has been the constant call for building up the capacity of the State to implement economic development plans since private markets alone cannot achieve this transformation in an economy such as Guyana.

Unfortunately Guyana has the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of suicide in the world.

Part 2   The previous column argues that old-fashioned textbook Keynesian macroeconomics, in terms of budget stimulus, will not be very effective in a country like Guyana that exports most of what it produces and imports a large percentage of what it consumes.

Before budget day 2016 there had been several calls for boosting government spending to stimulate the economy for the purpose of job creation.

There has been a series of opinions for and against the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate.

The PPP once declared the forests are Guyana’s most important resource.

As I read the history of Guyana, one of the points emanating from scholars of previous generations is the uncompetitive nature of sugar production in British Guiana.

Previous Development Watch columns made the point that the heavy handed and non-transparent manner in which the PPP went about governance often magnified the perceptions of corruption.

The previous column makes the point that perceived or actual marginalization results from the political process which is bedevilled by ethnically skewed voting patterns.

Recently the PPP accused the APNU+AFC government of ethnic cleansing. The term ethnic cleansing was made popular by the PNC in the mid-1990s and former president Desmond Hoyte actually used the term in a letter to Stabroek News in 1996.

In 2008 I wrote a letter to the press that was facetiously titled `The new science of jumbienomics.’

This is the season of funny debates. There is talk among observers and politicians that Guyana is either in recession or about to enter into one.

There appears to be a dispute over the size of the deposit the coalition government plans to withdraw from the commercial banks to be quarantined into the Consolidated Funds.

I have discovered something stunning while interacting with several PPP supporters and activists.

A few days ago I bumped into Mr. Robert Badal who is a well-known Guyanese investor and capitalist.

The new government will face numerous challenges. The cash flow insolvency of GuySuCo and the looming crisis in the rice belt will keep the President and the Minister of Agriculture up at nights.

Given the betrayal of 1992, I would like to think that the May 11 General Election is the most momentous election since 1953.

On the one hand, the PPP attracted several folks with good multi-ethnic credentials.

The PPP has just unveiled its manifesto, days before the election, while the main opposition alliance is yet to do same.

A recent letter by Ms. Ryhaan Shah sparked a series of responses in the letter columns, causing it to be juxtaposed with another letter by the bright young economics student, Saieed Khalil.