Who is the dude beside the Commish? The last time that I saw a face like that, I fed it a banana.

>while maintaining the integrity and profile of the Bahamas as a premier financial centre.

Hope is dreaming if she thinks this is true. The last billionaire that left our shores from our book of business (sold both huge houses in Ocean Club Estates), said that our "financial services" were overrated and overpriced and underwhelming. He was unable to do basic active portfolio management without a lot of time and a lot of fees. His money went to Switzerland even though he is not a Swiss national.

We have a very poor reputation worldwide, and it has degenerated considerable with this PLP government, especially in view of how Sarkis was treated.

Hope is out of her league and hopeless. She hasn't a clue as to what financial services are needed. The most effective strategy is to throw away any restrictions and investment thresholds to anyone of a business or technology background and let them come here and operate much like Cayman Enterprise City has done in the Cayman Islands. They consider intellectual capital on a higher plane than money, but in the Bahamas, our boongies are jealous of the crap in heads, so we stumble in the dark on a downward spiral. And as for Hope Strachan, I wish that she would shock me to death and say something intelligent and relevant to the position that she holds. It's the stupid leading the blind here.

You fergot the lye soap in da mout!

Once again, what you say is true, but it demonstrates the unbalanced, skewed elements of the monolithic economy. The banks have hundreds of distressed properties with non-performing mortgages for sale. Bahamians have no access to re-finance capital. Right now housing prices are lower due to over-supply of repossessed homes. There is a housing shortage, but Bahamians cannot afford new houses with the shrinking economy. Oftentimes the mortgages are so leveraged that they do not reflect the current price of the house ie. the bank has more money into them than what they are worth. The sad fact is that most average Bahamians cannot even afford houses that are reasonably priced.

Along comes Mr. Foreigner who has access to capital in his home country. He can go down to the bank and have a bank loan from his home bank, using his foreign property as collateral to buy a house as a rental property here.

However, banning such activity here will only make it worse for Bahamians. I am a firm believer in a free economy and an open business environment.

When traveling in the US and Canada, one sees numerous wild animals killed on the highways. In the south they are possums and squirrels and in the north they are groundhogs and raccoons. The crows and ravens come to clean up the dead bodies. It is those foreigners who buy affordable Bahamian houses that are the crows and ravens of our economy. I think that they are doing a service by cleaning up the financial messes of re-possessed houses in New Providence.

The fact that the banks hold the huge number of non-performing mortgages shows that there are systemic problems in the economy. It is those systemic problems that are shrinking the middle class and depressing the populace that need addressing.

The phrase *"PLP Supporters"* says it all. I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain this to you. I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.

Hope Strachan is way out of her league. I work in this industry, and she doesn't understand it. She is making the same mistake that unions make. She sees the top positions as placeholders just like unions see one worker as a unit replaceable with another.

First and foremost, it takes capital to provide financial services. It takes leadership and know-how. And the business owners, making the investment of their capital, want whoever they are most comfortable to run their field operations on foreign (Bahamian) soil.

I'm not saying that Bahamians can't do the top jobs. I am not saying that Bahamians are not qualified to do the top jobs. It is just that we aren't entitled to them as a matter of course. They can't be closed to us, and they aren't (hello Nat Beneby, Barry Malcolm et al). However if Hopeless Strachan goes ahead with "Bahamianization", it will be the death knell. The books of business have shrunk rapidly already. We are ill-suited with infrastructure to provide for the complete needs of high net worth individuals. Our financial services products are outdated. If we mandate who and who can't run their businesses, we will simply drive them out of town.

Bahamianisation doesn't work. I am reminded of Prime Minister Crisco Butt's first term when he created all of these committees and commissions to examine the state of the nation and Brian Moree suggested opening up financial services to foreigners en masse to re-vitalise our industry. He was excoriated, criticized and his recommendations went nowhere. It was the right course of action, but the PLPtards were more interested in lining their own pockets.

I would like to see our financial services world through Hope's eyes, but unfortunately I can't get my head that far up my rear end. She really does have a death wish for our industry.

Posting next to you does amazing things for my self esteem.

Moncur will never be the man that his mother was.

Price is saying things to justify what he is charging the government. He definitely is not an independent expert. Look at the mess of the Canadian healthcare system.

People always look at Nottage and the first thing that pops into their head is a question mark. It will be sad to watch him on the election trail.