The budget presented by the Honourable Colm Imbert, minister of finance in the current PNM administration, is his seventh such offering. Not for the first time, he has offered the country a deficit budget, to the tune of $TT9.096 billion, resulting from expenditure in the sum of $TT52.429b and revenue …
Read More »MSJ: Let’s stop trying to change the party in power and try changing the political arrangements
On the occasion of the 59th Anniversary of the Independence of Trinidad and Tobago, political leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah is calling on citizens and patriots to embrace the vision of the Second Republic offered by his party. It should be clear to all, says he, …
Read More »‘No reputable economist would suggest privatising WASA!’: Dr Farrell on WASA, VMCOTT, the fuel subsidy and lay-offs
“[…] No, no—WASA should not and cannot be privatised! There are some entities which are what you call in economics, natural monopolies. For an economy like Trinidad and Tobago, the production of water is a natural monopoly and the state should do it. “[…] We are going to give WASA …
Read More »Marlon Morris: Does T&T have ‘pandemic response success criteria’ beyond flattening the curve?
“[…] From the onset, the pandemic response success criteria—how we determine success in our handling of the crisis—must be identified with clear timelines and key performance indicators. “Is the success criteria primarily medical and public health-related or social and economic as well? It appears that the key or only goal …
Read More »Dr Farrell: Covid-19 and falling oil and gas prices made perfect storm; and T&T’s not ready
“[…] Ultimately policy is made by politicians who of course, may have other considerations which influence their decisions. However, just as it would be folly for politicians to ignore the advice of medical professionals in dealing with the coronavirus public health crisis, so too the laws of Economics are inexorable. …
Read More »Noble: The elites and the poor; Aboud rings bell for deeper issue on use of national resources
An Economist article (2011) defined ‘elites’ as people who shape the world without anyone noticing. The rich and powerful leverage their privileged status to exercise decisive control over the way society is organised and developed. I am thankful that Gregory Aboud has opened this discussion. While he did not define …
Read More »AV Room: e-CON-omics 101: Budgeting should be from bottom up, not top down
So the Finance Minister’s budget presentation is over; we all now know the major highlights. I make no apologies for not offering any red or yellow-tinted responses or comments or analyses. I want to break with the sterile ‘This was good’ and ‘That was bad’ tradition and discuss instead what …
Read More »Hijabonomics explained: Baldeosingh responds to column that saw him axed by Guardian
“The entire column makes the point that, rather than being a symbol of repression, Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab do so for cogent and rational reasons. It appears that Mr Umar Abdullah either does not understand this, or is pretending to not understand it.” The following is …
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