Wasn't Julian Francis appointed to Island Luck? A ex-Central Bank governor now in a just-legalised enterprise. If I were a betting man (ha !!!!), his track record doesn't bode well for Island Luck.

It never ceases to amaze me that partisanship trumps truth, integrity, intelligence and patriotism in the Christie & PLP apologists.

Sad.

Foreign Direct Investment doesn't work as a methodology for nation-building, or building an economy. Ultimately all foreign profits get repatriated, and none of the money sticks to the Bahamian economy, except for the mere pittance in wages. And since the people receiving those wages must buy imported goods to survive (foodstuffs, consumer items), again Bahamian businesses get measly middle-man crumbs from a supply chain that they do not own, control or even have a big enough clout in to influence. Foreign Direct Investment is a way to continuously erode Bahamian standard of living and impoverish the nation.

Dr. Rodgers idea of a sovereign wealth fund is impractical, as it would cost more to operate than the yields of it, because the Bahamian dollar is a non-convertible currency, and all FDI projects require convertible currency capital to purchase and transport the raw materials to build out the projects. If I was a Foreign Direct Investor, there is no way that I would even let the government take an equity position, knowing their track record. I would go elsewhere where I would be given a freer hand to operate.

To put it succinctly and bluntly, Bahamians will never control their own economy because they do not have the expertise and the capital to do it. They are hamstrung by the Bahamian currency. They have not had the opportunity to hone their skills in international entrepreneurship. The human capital available has been value-programmed to be crumb-catchers for the real players in the game, and the national skillset involves leeching little bits of blood from every foreigner who shows up with capital or entrepreneurial skill and subject-matter know-how.

There are no answers in the present framework. Everything suggested is band-aid therapy for a chronic, ultimately fatal disease unless fundamental changes are made. Unfortunately, the government doesn't have the brains, the voting Bahamians are browbeaten by parochial world view and lack of literacy, and those who can think, do not have the perspicacity to navigate around the dysfunctional majority in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, the power brokers in the Bahamas who can effect real change have no desire to do so, because they are thriving in this poor, broken-down country.

Note: The "Peace, Dr. Mike" doesn't indicate that Dr. Mike wrote it. I ended my article that way as a way of showing empathy to Dr. Mike and admiration of his personal courage in continuing the series and giving a damn.

I was a bit strident at the beginning of the series, and when I pointed out the economic factors, I may have been a little abrasive and it was uncalled for.

There are no local economic engines to restart the economy. Consumer debt is already at an all-time high, as is Non-Performing Loans. The economy can only be jump-started with job creation. With lower interest rates and more borrowing, we would only be making foreign corporations who sell us stuff, richer. Any bonus to the consumers, for example a Christmas bonus, is always spent at Walmart in Florida. The monolithic economy in the Bahamas is immune to any injection of consumer spending because of the non-productivity and non-Bahamian ownership of the economy.

I think that all prospective MPs should have to write an intelligence test, and the answers are posted on the internet BEFORE the election. Gray thinks that is is his job to spread around the only thing in his brain -- stupidity. If the PLP had any ethics at all, he would either resign or the brain-dead prime minister would fire him.

We have to make do with what we have. The political and governance structure is rotten to the core. As pointed out, the educational system is useless. I am wondering if a grassroots effort would be helpful or beneficial, where young children can be value programmed differently.

People among us do not have the means to dollarise the economy, or to diversify the economy, or to change the governance structure of the Bahamas, but we do have the grassroots ability to affect the youngsters.

Suppose there was an organisation like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, supported by the banks or the profitable institutions as a charity. The club house would be a safe refuge, and the kids could be value-programmed in a very positive way.

The kids would have free access to computers (with the proper filters of course). They would be inculcated with the precepts that a STEM education rules (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). They would be socialized by instruction not to have kids at a young age, or to protect themselves from STDs. They would be kept busy with science fair programs, both domestically and internationally. They would be coached in sports, and literacy. They would be taught to read as a hobby, and given books. There would be a small incubator to teach the kids to code, and put up their work on Amazon or other international marketplaces that allows anyone to participate.

They would see that there is a larger picture, and it is attainable. They would be able to paint and create art, or perhaps put on a play for theater.

In the barren ground of the Bahamas, this could be an oasis of enlightenment for the next generation, and perhaps endeavours like these are the only answer to save a beautiful country governed by kleptocratic, non-patriotic, unenlightened dullards. Our only hope lies in our children.

Peace, Dr. Mike.

Once again, this armchair economist pontificates from a shallow knowledge pool of local conditions, having just a passing knowledge gained from Encyclopedia Internetica and the USA Today version of economics.

The monolithic economy of the Bahamas does not have a variegated strata of a middle class or a business class with a diverse cross section of economically stable individuals with diverse revenue streams. Without a central credit bureau & a credit rating agency for individuals, the only means of assessing creditworthiness is a government pay cheque with guaranteed deductions at the source, and no consumer protection legislation the amount of deductions on a person's take-home pay. There are widespread anecdotal stories of final government pay cheques less than $100 after consumer load deductions at the source.

Again due to the lack of viable credit information, it is almost impossible to access capital to create or expand a business, especially if an entrepreneur has no track record. In any and all economies in the free world, it is the SMB (small and medium size businesses) that drive economic growth. With no access to capital, this economic engine is impotent in the Bahamas. One must seek business growth with private capital, and that is a closed club, as the pontificating presbyopiast should know from his various failed ventures.

As a result, the banks are incredibly efficient (and voracious) in using their excess liquidity to tap the consumer loan market. The high interest rates are akin to those offered by payday loan companies, and it is justified in terms of global business practices of charging a high interest rate for riskier loans. And the fact that a government pay cheque or a BTC or BEC pay cheque is tendered as a loan guarantee, is no indicator of creditworthiness as the local banks are awash with NPL or Non-Performing Loans. Has anyone seen the properties that the bank owns on mortage repossessions? It fills three pages of advertising. So from the banks' point of view, the higher interest rate is in line with standing lending practices.

The fact that banks can make hundreds of millions of dollars of profit is testament to their success at filling a local economic niche that is not found in other countries with a more diversified economy and a stronger middle class.

The socio-economic fabric of the country is dysfunctional and broken. There is only one thing that will fix it, and that is economic diversification. Without it, surely the Bahamian dollar must be devalued to its true level, which with the national debt, small population, and a broken economic engine, is about 15 cents on the American dollar.

It is too late to dollarise the economy. The national debt in domestic currency is a millstone around the economic neck of the country, and the unfunded billion dollars that the government owes to NIB can be the thing that brings down the house of cards. Interest rates are the least of our worries.

Sigh. It's embarrassing to have him for a leader. It's embarrassing to have the PLP in power again. It makes all Bahamians look as retarded as the PLP Kool Aid drinkers. It is sad to see a man who doesn't know what he doesn't know. What is even sadder is that a man like that is leading this poor country.