Tag Archives: oil revenue

What do the 1937 riots, the 1970 Black Power revolution, the 1990 attempted coup, and the current crime wave have in common? They are all eruptions of dissatisfaction over the distribution of the national income earned from our energy sector. We will continue to have these episodes until we reset …

After listening to Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s 2023 budget presentation last September, I felt a certain disquiet that I have not been able to deal with satisfactorily. Something did not feel right about what he was telling the country but precisely what it was kept eluding me. Contemplating the performance …

“For any developing economy dependent on a single export commodity, powerful economic and political forces, both domestic and external, qualify the choices open to governments and structure their incentives. “[…] It is tempting to put the blame on poor leadership and examples of questionable public policy. In the end, governments …

“[…] When the incumbent David Granger administration tried to stop the party of Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali from taking office after an election they’d won in March 2020, some in that party felt that Dr Keith Rowley was soft on Granger, in contrast to his Barbadian and Vincentian colleagues …

Negative characterisations are not liked by our rulers and their satellites when they are on the receiving end although they frequently abuse us. ‘Do so eh like so’ has resulted in a flurry of attacks on the vice-president of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, for saying last week that ‘things in Trinidad …

All Caribbean children (from Jamaica to Guyana) learned about Brer Anansi. Brer Anansi is one of the most significant characters in Caribbean folklore.  ‘He is admirably clever as he is greedy, selfish and reckless. In a place where there are no standards and anything goes, Anansi holds a cherished place …

“[…] We have been bringing health personnel from Cuba for almost two decades. Would that money have not been better invested in training and remunerating our own?  “One imagines the human body in Cuba is essentially the same as ours. They have built an exemplary health system under an economic …

“[…] 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. …

“This notion that ‘we have oil’ is a gross misrepresentation of what it cost to get a bbl of oil out of the ground to the point of sale—not to mention that the price you see quoted via international media is not what our oil sells for…” The following Letter …

“I ask you to recall that in January 2017, in an address to the nation, I invited you to turn your attention to the troubling state of affairs at Petrotrin… “It is with mixed feelings, one of sadness and of resolve that I return to this issue today… Inevitably we …

With the election of Donald Trump, the USA is set to leverage vast shale resources to further their energy independence agenda. That means that any reduction in OPEC production will most likely be offset by increased production from the shales. Finance Minister Colm Imbert must be racking his brain and …

The proceeds of our oil and gas production are no longer sustaining the high life.  As they say in Grenada, “the money can’t reach.” For decades there has much talk about diversification of the economy, but no action. This is a pity because we have other oil. I refer to the …