Renzos Realist Corner - Issue # 1 (January 2015) When all is said and done, I want to ensure that I have done more than i have said and said far less than I have done ... but tonight I will say a bit I suspect well over 80% of persons associated to politics are simply reinforcing that association on the basis of monetary and other personal gains rather than a commitment to help people; and unlike my usual slant on these issues, my experience has lead me to apply this statistic on both sides of the fence. On a good note though, I am seeing some trickles of more aggressive persons coming into the fold that have huge potential. As I always maintain, the generations keep getting wiser and smarter. Its not all bad. For some of the older persons it is far less about money and more about broad acknowledgements and hopefully political beatification. Much of this sought after glory is justified but much from my observation is highly over-rated. There is always high degree of admiration I carry for stalwarts of our political process, whether it be the Barrow, the Adams 2, Arthur and Thompson to some extent, but scoil me for saying that as far as politics goes I draw more inspiration from the likes of Angela Merkel than from our own within the region and I have made that known in private and public forums alike, without prejudicing the internal dynamics of German politics. For some of the younger ones I encounter, I get a noticeable sense of emptiness. I am one of the young old minded ones who does not get motivated by being in the presence of a Minister, MP or anything of equal status in the system. First and foremost, I see them all as people, like me, that 1) EAT 2) SLEEP 3) SHIT and I lay no apology for that rough analogy above. I think many of the young people are too occupied trying to catch the eye an favor of the current pillars of politics, rather than risk taking their own path to building even stronger pillars. As such, I have a number of pillars which may very well underscore my participation in politics. Care to know? Might as well read them, you read this far already. 1) LOCK UP POLITICIANS - Now let us be real here. This isnt intended to mean marginalize the members in the political process to an extent that we have special courts for them. Rather it is a stipulation to strengthen our existing institutions by allowing them a greater sense of autonomy. Without fear of any action I can lay the perception of most persons I come across that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions sometimes appears to be snow cone cart lacking coconut and milk, a must have and fundamental ingredient in demand. It sometimes appears a s a poppet institution in the same respects as the Office of the Auditor General which in its own right reinforces the perception that corruption in Barbados can resemble a Steven Seagal movie where there is a lot of action (financial violations) but the star boy never gets touched, not a scratch. The same applies to the Office of Commissioner of Police which in recent times has been allegedly more concerned with ensuring the spouses of Ministers can verbalize filth at officers without fear of any backlash. Greater autonomy to the key institutions and offices. 2) A REAL CENTRAL BANK - NO, A REAL REAL ONE A large part of the Central Banks role comes in maintaining or building confidence of market agents so as to inspire and to some extent regulate economic activity via monetary policy. A substantial abnormality exists, as evidenced by the significant variances of the Central Banks statistics and that of the Governments own statistics department, so much so that you can compare both publications as far apart as Dr Jeckly and Mr Hyde; which is which is up to you to choose. The Central Bank should have greater autonomy to regulate the market with a strengthened Financial Institutions act for example which allows it to bypass, after acknowledgement to the Government, fiscal considerations and do what is needed in the interest of the countrys market sustainability. Plus, if we are being honest with ourselves, there is a large perception that the current state of leadership in the institution does not have the testicular fortitude to make meaningful gains against policies of the Ministry of Finance. This was evidenced since the entire Clico fiasco in which a central banker was assuring a country of about 300,000 that the institution was financially sound, echoed by former PM David Thompson on television (less we forget). I also take note of the apparent obsession of the hierarchy to encroach on advising on economic policy while trying to put this across as a useful synergy. I advise contrary to that and would recommend a more fruitful divorce of both monetary and economic policy planning simply because in that manner checks and balances are far more easy to monitor than during joint implementation. In fact, joint implementation might propel and economic crisis and make reassembling the economy more difficult. Will end there for now, possibly continue next week and expand on a few more pillars but for now, the gap, few drinks then probably wuckup on a tourist or 2 and do my part to help keep the Bajan dollar stable... just keeping it real ;)
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:37:28 +0000
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