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Editorial: Stimulating local debate
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| Published on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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In the midst of a financial crisis, the like of which has never before been seen during the modern times of Cayman’s development from a subsistence economy based on seafaring and minor indigenous industries, to a highly successful one based on tourism and finance, informed public debate on what can be done to bring us out of the economic mire has been noticeably absent.
Yes, there is a degree of official acknowledgement that things are far from well and something needs to be done, but this is usually accompanied by imperious decrees from Premier McKeeva Bush that the country will take a certain course, sometimes without any practical regard for the implications and usually without public input or comment from any of his Cabinet colleagues.
The finance sector seems to be hell-bent on preserving the unpreservable – their historic but now obsolete business model as a tax haven – without any meaningful contribution from the “best and brightest minds” in this field, whether by way of simple advice or more tangible involvement.
Equally, the tourism industry seems to have dropped the ball during the recent sharp decline, while our competitors always seem to be the ones with the innovative measures.
In the meantime, the local economy in general and the small business community in particular is labouring under a severe shortage of liquidity, exacerbated by the government’s own failure to pay its bills on time or at all.
In an effort, therefore, to start the ball rolling in stimulating public discussion and comment on what can be done to rescue our local economy, the publisher and editor in chief of this newspaper will be publishing a series of ten suggestions or talking points relevant to the economic situation and how to address it by way of a short front page editorial each day.
The first such piece appears on page one of today’s issue and deals with the liquidity crisis and how local financial institutions could be asked or required to contribute to a rescue fund.
Other editorials in the series will deal with specific revenue raising measures such as a property tax and a national lottery, as well as steps that can be taken on the other side of the budget equation – cutting government expenditure.
We are somewhat baffled by the absence of any meaningful public debate on these serious issues that ultimately affect all of us living in the Cayman Islands.
Yes, the problems are complex and there may be no obvious solution, but ignoring them in the hope that they will go away is, we suggest, not going to work on this occasion.
Of course, there are more than enough people ready to complain all day and every day – with justification – that they are suffering economically, whether as individuals struggling to meet loan payments and generally to make ends meet, or as business owners whose customer base has dwindled and accounts receivable are difficult to collect on any kind of timely basis.
However, complaining is never going to solve anything. Where is the constructive thought towards finding solutions to the many economic difficulties currently facing us?
Surely, the Cayman Islands, through its myriad of financial institutions that have made and continue to make huge sums of money by operating in or from the jurisdiction, ought to have access to practical assistance that many other countries could only wish for.
Unfortunately, our government has no money and, thus far, it seems unwilling to cut its coat according to its cloth, but surely it has the ability to stimulate the search for solutions, even if it is not able to stimulate the economy directly by means of a cash bailout.
Equally, private sector organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce could surely be doing more to generate debate leading to practical solutions for the economy. The Chamber pointed out recently that it voiced objections to the increased taxation contained in the most recent budget – objections that were apparently disregarded by the government – but that seems to be as far as it went.
As we commented at the time, according to the Chamber, “the government needs to act boldly and decisively to reduce government expenditure, to reduce the national debt and to stimulate economic growth and investment” but by the same token, the Chamber needs to act boldly and decisively to pressure the government into doing exactly what, according to the Chamber, it needs to do.
As noted, complaining and objecting is not going to achieve anything. The public and private sectors must work together to come up with constructive and effective solutions.
Until then, we will continue to sink deeper into the economic swamp that we currently find ourselves in. | | | | Reads : 586 |
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