"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
Despite predictions that independent candidates and new parties would drive a new political culture in the Virgin Islands, the two main political parties remain dominant. In politics, a strong brand …
Continue reading “Commentary — Party system seen to prevail”
One matter the new government will have to keep front and centre is the fact that elements in the United Kingdom establishment are calling for major changes in the overseas …
Continue reading “Commentary — UK report sparks indignation”
As Election Day approaches, this Virgin Islands resident pleads with the voting and nonvoting public to exercise patience, civility and cordiality throughout the whole electoral process through the voting on …
A young Virgin Islander went on a rant on Facebook recently and screamed at the voters who demand cash for votes. But cash for votes is nothing new. It is …
Continue reading “Commentary — ‘White-envelope politics’ rejected”
The Virgin Islands’ demographic and migration patterns, and how these are used in the election campaigns, is the great unmentionable in the room. VI election seasons are a volatile, tumultuous …
Continue reading “Commentary — Voters urged to consider policy, not ‘tribe’”
The horserace for power in the Virgin Islands has entered the final lap. Political poster boards are going up the length and breadth of the land. The political news in …
Continue reading “Commentary — ‘White envelopes’ and sceptical voters”
In 20 years, the state of Virgin Islands politics has never seen the flux and flow it sees today. In the past 20 years, the two-party system has governed the …
Jack the Billionaire Investor never really loses. When the global economy comes crashing down as a result of unsustainable mortgage and housing debt, Jack buys bonds from Uncle Sam — …
Continue reading “Commentary — Wealthy investors seen always to win”
Anyone who understates the climate change threat is living in Wonderland. Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the September 2017 floods brought the climate change reality to the Virgin Islands in …
Continue reading “Commentary — Climate change seen as dire threat to VI”
Street soundings are pointing towards a coalition government for the Virgin Islands after the upcoming general election. Is the belief that there will be no clear majority for either of …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Chances of coalition gov’t mulled”
Twelve months after the worst natural disaster in Virgin Islands modern history, the territory is still reeling and roaming about in the wilderness! That Hurricane Irma set the development of …
Accurate statistics and sound economic metrics are critical to engineering economic recovery for the Virgin Islands. A July article in a national online newspaper stated that the territory’s public debt …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Stats seen as essential for recovery”
Locally owned small businesses are critical for getting the Virgin Islands out of recession. Small business is at the core of the VI economic engine. Building strong small businesses is …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Businesses seen as key to recovery”
The United States economy is booming, and it is expected to grow 4.5 percent this year. This is a very strong growth rate, and it is unusual for the current …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Recession potential causes concerns”
The territory’s next general election is to take place before the end of next summer. It will be an epic affair. The election will be a hard fought battle. In …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Next election described as critical”
The world is facing huge environmental threats and a climate change narrative that is changing the culture and way of life of geographically and ecologically vulnerable communities and societies. Communities …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Call made to build back green”
Economies that depend upon a single product and a single market for their existence put all their eggs into a single basket. When that basket takes a hit, all hell …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Territory warned to diversify economy”
Simple location and geography suggest that Prospect Reef, a marina and resort devastated by Hurricane Irma, is one of the best locations in the Caribbean to build a nautical and …
Continue reading “Commentary — Maritime college envisioned at Prospect”
The economy is front, centre and rear of any disaster recovery effort after hurricanes Irma and Maria. So the next government, after a 2019 general election, must adopt a specific …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Options weighed for next election”
Vision is critical to economics. The math, statistics, psychology, history and sociology that create the concepts and narratives of economic thought are mere tools of the visionary. Vision is what …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Call made for a recovery ‘vision’”
The recent ten-to-two vote in the Virgin Islands legislature allowing for the establishment of the Disaster Recover Agency is a vote for transparent, accountable, equitable, measured and well audited governance. …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Writer supports recovery agency”
Governments, even micro-administrations of tiny jurisdictions, have the ability to raise finance to an exponentially greater degree than individuals and small businesses. In the aftermath of the September 2017 natural …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Ideas aired on gov’t borrowing”
The Virgin Islands economy — composed primarily of the financial services industry, tourism and the domestic market economy — is the core tool for the empowerment of Virgin Islanders and …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Writer defends Virgin Islander workers”
The western world is overflowing with cash. This is a consequence of quantitative easing and monetary stimulus combined with fearful and debt-laden consumers. The Virgin Islands inhabits a paradoxical place. …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — More ideas offered for recovery funding”
Physical and economic recovery after the natural disasters of September 2017 requires fitting the territory’s economic restorative models into the moulds of the twin western economic cultures of stimulus and …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Writer analyses post-Irma economics”