The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

My word of advice to the present government (which, unlike its predecessor, is clearly progressive in its intentions) is to accede as much as possible to the demands of organized labour, which will be coming in fast and furious as the western proxy-war on Russia pays dividends in price-inflation around the world.

The inevitable effects on The Bahamas’ already high cost of living risk eroding any benefits delivered by our present economic model.

It is nonsense to pretend that we cannot afford to increase public sector wages while we retain the luxury of not taxing the wealthier income brackets or even local corporations on their income and a tax cap on the most expensive foreign-owned properties.

These are almost uniquely Bahamian policies (inherited from an openly regressive pre-1967 regime). They confer absolutely no economic benefit and rightly attract the criticism of international observers and agencies. Moreover, they are paid for by crippling taxes on the poor and on consumption itself – the fuel of our domestic economy.

All of our major problems in The Bahamas are ultimately the result of the inequalities produced by this structural setup. Economic and employment growth in the domestic economy are hampered by wages that are low relative to prices; crime is fed by slum conditions and low social spending and disparities in health, education and housing are exacerbated by bottom-heavy taxes and minimal public sector investment relative to our national wealth (a mere 17% of GDP is spent on our population, against an international norm of 35% to 45%).

Good management does not correct the defects of an erroneous system. That’s because the defects are both the historical aim and the natural consequence of the system itself. Good management merely makes it more marginally tolerable, prolonging its longevity.

If we are serious about real change for the better (across a broad spectrum of fronts) then we need a government that restructures rather than just manages the system we have inherited.

A good place to start would be to work with organised labour as it quite naturally reacts to the rising cost of living. In a country that has yet to join the rest of the world in levying progressive taxation, paying for it is literally the easy part.

ANDREW ALLEN

Nassau,

July 24, 2022