SOME people’s mentality is “anything for money”, a lot like the demagogy of politicians who would say anything to win an election. “Let’s make Saint Lucia great again.” “We will within the first hundred days in office, effect a reduction in VAT toward its eventual elimination.”
THERE always comes a time when, forced by circumstances, you must do what you would have preferred not to. Mourning Fidel Castro’s death in words is my challenge today. But it is one which also allows the opportunity to reflect on the 40 years since his words inspired those of us here to establish the first Saint Lucia-Cuba Friendship Association in the wake of the 1976 terrorist bombing of the Cubana Airline in Barbados.
As Barack Obama’s Presidency of the United States of America enters its final weeks, there are tens of millions of people in America and across the world who already feel a great sense of loss. That sense will be heightened even more on January 20 when he walks out the doors of the White House for the last time as President.
Dear John: In your column of November 19 you accuse me of journalistic mischief, indicating that I had suggested that you possessed insider information on the recent CDB Report. That implication however came from your article of October 1 in which you state “In fact my understanding is that the report went even further to advise that the analysis is showing that a reduction in VAT has a minimal multiplier effect, and thus will not improve the revenue of Government.”
PRINCE Harry’s visit to the Island this week is significant because it reminds us that this is the first ever official visit of a member of the Royal family of his generation to Saint Lucia. Given that the country is just one of the 16 Commonwealth Realms outside the United Kingdom where the Queen remains Head of State, it is welcome if a little overdue.
WHY does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? Perhaps, it’s because the global economy spins towards the east. Already we know that the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars all rise in the east and set in the west. As major economies have long tied their economic fortunes to the east, many more – especially emerging markets – are increasingly turning east where the sun rises, giving their backs to the west.
IN the 1950’s when St Lucia took the decision to move away from sugar and go into bananas, it was a strategic move that brought great fortune to our country. We became leaders in the OECS in the banana trade, and at one point we were producing over 127,000 tons for export. However in the early 1990’s the banana train derailed and we have been in economic turmoil since.
IN our discussion last week, we explored the impact of investment in the agriculture and construction sectors, concluding that while investment in both sectors was desirable, the data provided by the IBRD arm of the World Bank on Jamaica also suggested that the impact on economic growth was identical for the two sectors.
“SERVE now your Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them.” I have given over a decade of my life to politics and the one thing I knew from the start was that it was not a sprint, more like the longest marathon ever run in the world.
IN recent discussions, we have referred to the review of our economy by the CDB and the Bank’s conclusion that, …
I have been enjoying a sabbatical from writing, and just spending some time observing our society over the last few …
THE world has never been more connected – and yet globalization is under strain as never before. Beggar-thy-neighbour economic policies …
DONALD Trump has won the US elections! Donald Trump has won the US elections! Donald Trump…yes, he has won the …
IT’S still too early to say what effect the election of Donald Trump as the next US President will have …
(THE writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organisation of American States. He …
SINCE I wrote in this newspaper last month that Donald Trump wouldn’t make it to the White House a lot …
OVER the last few weeks following the CDB review, we’ve had breaks in our discussions of the economy, and so …
THE journalist in me played with several catchy headline phrases ahead of Tuesday’s US Presidential Election. But the one I …
On January 20 next year, to a performance of the president’s anthem, “Hail to the Chief”, and the vice-president’s anthem, …
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they …