Thank God!!! This is so needed in the Bahamas. We need a unified bus system. If not nationalize it, then completely privatize the bus system. We don't need any competition in public transport. There are so many countries in the world with effective public transport...goodness, do some research!

VAT is added to all goods and services where as Import Duty is only added to most imported items (there's no duty on educational goods like laptops and books), If we eliminated Import Duties, Bahamians would have zero incentive to "buy Bahamian". VAT also adds much needed transparency (and certainly much needed revenue) in the government because I need to know what I'm paying them when I purchase a can of tuna at Super Value.

In response to the Baha Mar bit: When China invests in any country they ensure two things are met: 1) The majority (if not all) of laborers working on the project must be Chinese and 2) If the materials needed are made in China, they must be imported duty free from China. This is something they do all over the world in particularly in the Global South (or developing nations), including African countries and Central and South American countries. This is what happens when you get in bed with the Chinese...

Well Lady/Mr Russell if you measure intelligence by discussing ideas and not people...I mean no disrespect but you must be far from Intelligent. All you ever discuss is HAI or someone from his former administration.

I don't think people are thinking consumers can get out of this crisis solely by themselves. A plan that says the government will pay your mortgage is only giving me an incentive to discontinue paying my mortgage even if I didn't default on mortgage payments. It's a poor plan and its execution isn't feasible. Government assistance is most definitely necessary, but not in the form of a handout. This is somewhat similar to extending unemployment payouts. The longer you extend it, the more incentive I have to stay home and not look for a job. I hope one of Mr. Christie advisers (hopefully an economist) will have the guts to tell him this plan is absolute garbage for everyone involved and they need to go back to the drawing board!

Let it be known that Moody's wasn't the first to forecast the problems with this type of policy. CFAL wrote 2 particular blogs on this issue...if you care to read:

http://www.cfal.com/index.php/cfal-blog…
I don't understand how ANY sensible person could honestly believe the Government needs to take responsibility for something that in most cases very irresponsible persons got themselves into. Furthermore, how could the government facilitate this kind of thinking by bringing forth such policies. Do we now see understand the root of our "entitlement" problem... It befuddles me that other financial institutions didn't come forth sooner. Perhaps fear of Government backlash was too great! It's a shame!!