“[…] Ownership of our economy was still dominated primarily by foreigners, supported by, a local predominantly white elite. Under NJAC’s leadership, however, people were moving for true independence, which could only be achieved through ownership and control of the economy. “The new slogan was: ‘We do not want crumbs, We …
Read More »Noble: Is Peter George Jr ‘gaslighting’ us? Thank God T&T’s fate is not in his hands
Words matter. By choosing how we frame and talk about something, we induce others to think about an issue in a specific way. This framing can drastically change someone’s perspective about the issue. To present a public position the speaker carefully chooses the words and concepts to achieve the specific …
Read More »Is it me that has ‘faux concerns’? George Jr fires back, insists govt letting businesses down
“[…] We simply cannot continue like this without a massive fiscal intervention. My interviews last week were designed to get this message over to the policy makers and to the public. “Unfortunately the message seems to have been either misinterpreted or misunderstood as being hostile… And [Noble Philip] says it …
Read More »Dear Editor: Hospitality students left in the lurch by TTHTI closure
“[…] school authorities have not been processing refunds for lab and other fees duly paid by students this year. They also failed to deal with the urgent and legitimate questions about obtaining accurate transcripts, timely refunds or assisting students to graduate…” The following letter to the editor about the close …
Read More »Can the Rowley/Imbert partnership turn looming defeat into victory?
“[…] we must get the new digital economy going. Although liquidity is overflowing at the Central Bank, private sector credit is sluggish; unemployment and underemployment are growing and results thus far from the government-sponsored stimulus loans packages to banks and credit unions have been disappointing. […]” The following is the …
Read More »Budget observations; we may be on track, but we’re not there yet
“[…] While they are yet to put it squarely to the population, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that, quietly but consistently, the finance minister has been weaning the population off the comfortable, subsidised standard of living we have steadily come to …
Read More »Noble: A week of misinformation; how Chamber, UK MP and anonymous tweets added to ‘noise’
There appears to be broad agreement that the economic challenges, in the wake of Covid-19, are enormous. Facing a precipitous export earnings decline of 41% (roughly $10B in the last year), we should all be thinking about how to navigate the future: how to make the most of what we …
Read More »Daly Bread: Nothing will just ‘turn up’; T&T Budget must shun ‘Micawber principle’
Confronted with social unrest shortly before the recent August General Election, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was forced to acknowledge that there were socio economic problems that need to be relieved. I remind readers that the promise to be kept now is that the government’s community recovery committee, chaired by …
Read More »Budget 2021 preview: Devaluation on top of Covid-19 is recipe for disaster; but agriculture can be key
“[…] To make these already bad matters worse, there was Covid-19. The unplanned relief measures put in place for this epidemic have exacerbated an already difficult budgetary position. “[…] From all appearances, having already overstayed its welcome, Covid-19 has no plans to take its leave soon… The survival strategies are …
Read More »Gov’t stops SEA classes! Rowley on school restart, TTUTA, bars, grant for stranded Trinbagonians and ‘the pandemic election’
Students preparing for the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examinations have been ordered to stay at home until their exam date on 20 August, as a result of the spike of Covid-19 infections within the population. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley made the announcement at a press conference this afternoon, as …
Read More »Noble: Shooting ourselves in the foot—the dangers of ‘us versus them’
This week had two apparently disconnected stories whose link we may not have discerned, but which profoundly affects our future. The first was the Express’ report on the alleged TT$549M EMBD bid rigging case which noted: ‘…some of the same contractors donated financially toward the current government…’ The second is …
Read More »MFO study: Gov’t lauded for re-opening economy; but Covid initiatives not benefitting businesses
The Trinidad and Tobago government came in for high praise for its phased re-opening of the economy while a large percentage of businesses were aware of initiatives meant to cushion the blow of Covid-19, according to a study by Market Facts and Opinion (MFO) published on 17 July 2020. However, …
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