Like most corrupt elected officials in our country, Keith Bell has absolutely no business or economic sense. The very last thing even the most foolish government administration would consider doing in a high inflation environment accompanied by high unemployment is increase the minimum wage. Doing so would only serve to create additional severe inflationary pressure in the near term.

Higher minimum wages would make existing higher prices much more permanent, with significantly less ability for decline in the longer term when the transitory factors behind the current inflationary environment begin to abate. These transitory factors include:

1) The supply chain issues associated with Red China's heightened level of hostility towards the U.S. and Europe, which hostilities the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is disingenuously using a zero COVID-19 policy to help disguise as they shutdown factories producing key strategic goods that have traditionally been destined for export to the U.S. and Europe;

2) Red China's refusal to condemn Putin's invasion of the Ukraine because of the CCP's interest in weakening the U.S. economy and creating an easier scenario for the eventual invasion of Taiwan;

3) The impact of sanctions imposed by the Western world against Russia, and the resulting shut down of the Russian and Ukrainian economies;

4) The U.S. Federal Reserve's persistence refusal to stop the excessively easy monetary policy it has been engaged in for over a decade now, notwithstanding its price stability mandate; and

5) The Biden's administration's horribly failed social and economic policies that have been exacerbated by a most ridiculous penchant for continued wasteful spending that feeds loads of pork to 'special interests'.

These key driving forces behind the current inflationary environment are not permanent and will eventually abate, especially with the anticipated changes in the composition of the U.S. Congress coming this November. But the effects on inflation of a hike in minimum wage are permanent because there's no such thing as a temporary increase in minimum wages. That's a permanent thing, the positive effect of which is all too easily eroded for wage earners if it helps to entrench the permanence of even higher prices down the road.

This cruel and harsh Davis and Cooper led PLP administration can do a lot to help ease the severe pain being inflicted on most Bahamians by the soaring rate of inflation without adding to the problem by increasing the minimum wage and thereby pushing many businesses out of business with resulting higher unemployment.

There are two immediate things the Davis and Cooper led administration can do to provide relief for struggling Bahamians: (1) Declare a government gasoline tax holiday for at least the next six months; and (2) declare a VAT holiday on all price controlled food items for the remainder of this year.

boy they sound like great ideas but when you allow such then you double the time to recover the said holidays. It is awesome to have a break but the reality is the gov. is in debt and simply cannot avoid paying what it owes. I think they can try to drop the tax on fuel by some change but gov. income is very important and sadly 65% of Bahamians rely on the gov. for the salary.

First thing Keith Belly must do is sit down and learn the difference between a living/livable wage and minimum wage. A living wage is the amount it a person requires to pay all his/her ordinary living expenses food, shelter clothing transportation ( could be bus fare) and communication. Minimum wage is the lowest wage allowed by law that a person may earn when they enter the workforce. This is generally for an unskilled worker with minimum education, which may not necessarily include a complete high school education or any type of specialized training. Most workers in this category are expected to be teens who still live at home. And their salaries are expected to increase as their skills and education and experience improve. Keith Bell, in his ignorance or misunderstanding of the purpose of minimum wage and definition on living wage says he will eliminate the minimum wage and replace it with a living wage. Is this man sane or insane. In other words he is saying he will pass a law where persons coming out of school and with the lowest category of skills and experience will be required by law to be paid over $300 a week! It takes an average without skills and proper education several years before they can earn a livable wage. These persons will have to work extra hours or more than one job to supplement their income until they increase their earnings potential. By virtue of the stroke of a pen, this man , through his ignorance of economics and labor, will shut down half the businesses in the country and drive up unemployment to over eighty percent. The law of labor says when you increase the earnings of persons on the lower tier an expected increase of most all the workers above those workers is automatic. And also when the minimum wage is set too high, it opens the door for illegal immigrants.

Do you know in some parts of the US, $700 a week is not a livable wage? As well as other parts of the world. But in places like Haiti, India and other parts of the world most people earn less that $50 a week and it is livable.

Based on our cost of living, is $500.00 a livable wage in The Bahamas today?