Bowe and others like him suffer from myopia when it comes to basic economics. Unchecked government spending slows the velocity of money in an economy, especially an economy where monetary policy is subject to an exchange control regime and national debt has reached critical levels. Add to that slowing the slowing effect of a VAT regime and you have a recipe for fiscal disaster. The IMF knows all about this but nevertheless has been insisting countries throughout the Caribbean impose this form of taxation on the citizenry after helping their irresponsible governments take on enormous amounts of unsustainable external (foreign) debt! Bowe and the other idiots like him fail to appreciate why the IMF pushes regressive rather than progressive tax regimes on economies like ours that the IMF itself has already made fragile. The IMF does it to create instability as a part of the fulfillment of their greater mandate explained in more detail in my separate posting below. Please wake up Mr. Bowe!

Re-post: The IMF is strongly encouraging our government to increase the VAT rate from 7.50% to the originally proposed 15%. What most Bahamians fail to realize is that the IMF is a U.S. government controlled agency charged with the mandate of effectively bankrupting third world countries so that U.S. corporate interests can acquire their natural resources, utility enterprises and prime real estate, etc., for pennies on the dollar. If the government of the third world country refuses to co-operate with the IMF after being bankrupted (as was the case when the Venezuelan government under Chavez refused to turn over the bulk of the profits from its oil fields to U.S. corporate interests like Exxon Mobile and Chevron), the heavy arm of the U.S. government teaches the third world country a horrible lesson by shutting it down and relegating it to failed statehood. The average Venezuelan has lost 28 pounds over the past 18 months due to serious food shortages and has seen their currency debased to worthlessness. As for tooth paste, washing soap and detergent, electricity, toilet paper, etc.....these are now all luxuries well beyond the reach of the average Venezuelan. As for the Bahamas, our time is drawing near because our governments are much too stupid to realize what the end game is all about when it comes to taking on unsustainable levels of external (foreign) debt and taxing the private sector out of business.

Unfortunately what you say here seems to be true even though the IMF has for years casually dismissed such revelations as unwarranted conspiracy theories raised by quacks. But neither the IMF nor Mr. Bowe can point to a single country that the IMF has actually helped rather than destroyed!

The "appeasement" approach is showing......
Well Mudda take sic is right. We kicked the VAT tax implementation down the road from 2008 to 2015, finally yielding to increasing pressure to implement by the IMF.
But duty rates have until 2015 to be reduced to 8-10%, to WTO standard rates.
I believe real property tax will happen by 2018. income etc by 2020.
Kicking and screaming into the 21st century with stone age management!

"*Kissinger: “Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.” US strategy deliberately destroyed family farming in the US and abroad and led to 95% of all grain reserves in the world being under the control of six multinational agribusiness corporations*

This was a strategy Kissinger implemented from the 1970's to take over the energy and food supplies of nations. In fact he went even further to say when you control a country's food, you also control the health of that nation. Depending on what you put in the food supply and what you take out of it. And here in the Bahamas, like many islands in the Caribbean, the farms have disappeared in favor of imported produce and the country's health issues have escalated. Not surprising marijuana is now being smuggled *from* the United States and obviously its effects are different from the traditional *weed* that came from Jamaica and Mexico. It makes young people angry and violent and many go out of their heads. Marijuana use to mellow a smoker out, give him the munchies, and put him to sleep. But yes, that aside, the Bahamas has joined the list of many countries that have become over leveraged and is now having a difficult time meeting its obligations. Not only that but it is having a difficult time finding out how to effectively put the brakes on borrowing. It is a country confused about this needs and wants and with the VAT 'succesfully' put in place, one stroke of a pen increasing the VAT rate can change the entire country's standard of living instantly. And in the case like the Bahamas is in today, where it has increased both its tax burden on Bahamians *and* increased the amount of tax revenues the government has taken in, *but* still increasing the national debt instead of decreasing it, the country is definitely on dangerous ground. But many people do not realize that the US federal reserve is also privately owned. Just like the many central banks around the world, Cuba and Iran were the last two to be taken over, the US Federal Reserve is owned by a small group of bankers, who at whim can manipulate the entire world economy.

John,

Great points. Do you read Paul Craig Roberts? If not, first read his bio. Then read some of his many articles.

After the general elections, a sensible government should put a self imposed restriction on borrowing: NO BORROWING IN THE FIRST YEAR AND AT LEAST $1 BILLION IS PAID ON THE NATIONAL DEBT. Years 2,3 and 4, Government will only be allowed to borrow half of what it pays on the national debt. So assuming they continue to make $1 billion payments, By the end of year 4, the national debt will be reduced by $2.5 billion (payments less that it re-borrowed) and in year 5, being an election year government will be allowed to borrow an amount equal to what it pays down, say $1 billion, which it really will not need to borrow because of the cash it will have available that it freed up that was servicing the $2.5 billion it knocked of the debt. And if the government continues with this fiscal policy for two consecutive terms, even if parties change, it will have effectively knocked $5 billion off the national debt, rather than adding $10, billion to it in 10 years.. Can you imagine that? But wait, it is better than that. By reducing the debt by $5 billion in two terms, it will also have effectively freed up $270 million a year that was being used to service the debt (based on 5% interest) rather than tying up an additional 1/4 billion to service a debt that would now be in a range beyond $15 BILLION!

Don't worry. The market has already "put a restriction" on the Bahamas. It can't borrow a red cent sub 10%. And it could not borrow another $10bn in a month of Sundays.
PS: current Bahamian debt is about $8bn.

Can you be pushed into recession if you're already in one? Mmmm? Anybody know? Dept of Statistics? Anybody?

Forget recession. When your government irresponsibly allows your country to take on unsustainable levels of external (foreign) debt, external forces can push your country into a severe depression and even failed statehood. Just ask the Venezuelans.

Great comments.
Shows a depth of understanding that is the only thing that will precipitate change, if it is possible.
Please read Michael Hudson if these ideas resonate with you.
He also has some brilliant talks on Youtube.