The Tribune

Politicole

By NICOLE BURROWS

Calm down. There’s no impending doom for Britain. They are self-sufficient. They will rise again if they should fall at all, because they make sure they can do that.

So a ‘Brexit’ from the European Union (EU) will shave off a little from the sweet life, the near-term value of the British pound, some investments held in sterling, maybe even national productivity because of the pause-and-reset, but it doesn’t mean the value of the currency will be in free fall, nor does it mean that everyone considers the British economy so wildly unstable to pull out all their investments, nor does it mean that British citizens will turn into lazy slackers and make nothing, like the nothing made in The Bahamas.

Sometimes I forget why I studied economics, and then a moment like this arises. Economics is not a perfect science; that’s probably our best reason for disliking it. In some ways, it may be more art and fate than scientific. Everything that affects an economy does so over time, obviously with some things being more impactful than others and with the clairvoyant benefit of retrospect.

But when you have a well-established economy like Great Britain’s, living on the skeleton of a super-lubed first world machine, it is not as easy to break it. So you renegotiate trade agreements, so what? That’s not unusual. So things get a little more expensive for England, go take that vacation you’ve been wanting to take there.

Maybe English tourists will visit The Bahamas less often or for shorter periods of time for a while, but that has happened before.

People are ‘hurt’ by the ‘gender equality’ vote in The Bahamas. People are ‘sickened’ by the UK ‘Brexit’ vote. Get over it.

I thought you all said you wanted or welcomed change. Whether it changes for the perceived good or bad, you can’t expect things to always be the way you want them to be. If you do, the results of these referendums will not be your doom, you will be your own doom. Roll with the punches and stop overdramatising because the worst thing you could actually do, particularly with the economic overtones of the ‘Brexit’ vote, is create public or media hysteria about the potential fallout. In reality, if your concern is for The Bahamas, the current politics of The Bahamas has more of an impact on the stability of The Bahamas than the economy of Britain or the United Kingdom.

From the Bahamian perspective, there probably are greater implications simply based on the fact that The Bahamas is independent in name but wholly dependent in function on the economies of such countries as the United Kingdom, or the United States. But that only re-emphasises the fact that The Bahamas has put its own self in a hole after years of depending on offshore banking and finance and tourism. Yes, we’re back to that argument again.

If The Bahamas had a diversified economy, at least to the extent of its own many natural resources (including some innovative people), it wouldn’t have to worry as much about catching economic flu from its developed country business partners. That’s where this discussion needs to point, not to how stupid old English or Bahamian people vote in a referendum, or how uneducated young English or Bahamian people vote in a referendum. More people recognise they have voices and, whether right or wrong, smart or not, they will use them. You want democracy? Well, this is a part of that. You have to be prepared for what follows the events you don’t like.

The only reason people vote the way they do or the way you think they shouldn’t is because they’ve been made to believe certain things about life that are learned from what they see around them. And whose fault is that, really?

What’s up with Hubert?

There’s a lot of whispering going on about Hubert Ingraham’s return to the Free National Movement (FNM) leadership and frontline politics. I hardly think the whispers are worth the air expelled for them, but I do believe something is amiss. The most telling thing about Ingraham’s recent flash appearance is not his mere appearance, or his dancing around the question of returning to politics, or his support of Monique Gomez (really, another Gomez?), or his support of Duane Sands. The most telling thing was his statement about having asked Hubert Minnis to appoint Sands to the Senate for the last four years.

Ingraham blew it off with his wicked chuckle, and as an indication of his weak influence, but I think it says a lot more than that. It says, “I asked you four years ago, Minnis, you took this long, you finally did it, now look I was right all along, and maybe you should be listening to me.” And really, that says more about the dull political acumen of Minnis than it does about the return of Ingraham.

With or without Ingraham, in next month’s FNM convention, the delegates are on track to cost the party the 2017 general election, if they’re the reason why Hubert Minnis is so confident that he’ll enter the general election as FNM leader. But, if he once again emerges leader in the upcoming convention, having had the majority of support from the FNM delegates, Minnis certainly won’t be leading the country after the 2017 election. How can you lead a country of people, when you can’t lead a party of people … when all your confidence lies with the delegates who’ve promised their loyalty, but who are either bought-and-paid-for or wholly dissected from reality with respect to where FNM supporters really stand or how many FNM supporters there really will be come 2017?

Affordable housing

Mortgage relief. Why are we still talking about this? The Chairman of the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation (BMC) himself, Alex Storr, recently told a news reporter that individual mortgage payment arrears exist more because of borrower delinquency and misplaced priorities (ie, irresponsibility), than actual economic hardship. So why are we still entertaining this mortgage relief nonsense? Because it’s pre-election talk the year before a general election. There are lots of desperate people which amounts to lots of votes for whoever can ease their desperation quickest.

In any year, mortgage relief is a foolish idea. Why should the majority of people who go without wants and needs to ensure they can pay their debts pay for those who don’t?

Unless you are elderly, ill, or disabled, mortgage relief, as your friendly neighborhood politician presents it, should not be your right or your benefit.

I’m guilty of repeating myself here, but I’ll say it again. Most people cannot afford to buy houses. That means most people who want to buy houses and borrow money to buy houses are living beyond their means. And when they live beyond their means, and buy houses, and they are unable to pay the bank that still owns the houses until the borrower pays the last cent on the mortgage, said banks will have every right to take those houses which are owned by said banks. You can argue about the ridiculous bank spreads and equity restructuring, but this concept remains the same.

When did Bahamians get so ignorant to believe that a mortgage was equivalent to ownership? Mortgage does not equate to ownership, it equates to indebtedness. It might be your home for 25 plus years, but it is not your house. More people should understand this before they sit in front of a banker to get an ego boost. But they don’t. Moreover, we have been sold a lie that houses always appreciate in value. The Great Recession of 2008 should have made us wiser. In reality, when you purchase a mortgage debt, which is really what you’re buying, not a house, the sale value of that house in any given year should be reduced by the cost of any upkeep required for that house until the time that upkeep is complete enough to increase the value of the house. And if you have to buy another loan to pay for upkeep, well that should definitely reduce the value of any improvements made.

Save what you can, and rent or lease ... at least until you can outright afford to own the debt they have you craving, or until you are ready, able and willing to pay to borrow a bank’s house for several decades. How anyone wants to be obligated to pay a bank a chunk of their life earnings every month for 30 years is beyond me, especially when there is no absolute guarantee that a house will only ever increase in value over that time span.

In short, PM Christie needs to come up with another plan to shelter his people. But I guess that is expecting too much from a man whose only conviction is to remain where he is.

The Cameron rationale: where I tried to take you was not where you wanted to go, because I believe strongly in something else. And since I can’t take you where you want to go, I must go.

The Christie rationale: where I keep trying to take you is not where you want to go, but I believe I am the best person to take you anywhere, so therefore you must go where I go.

Send email to nburrows@tribunemedia.net

AS REGARDS BEC’s debt forgiveness of 3,000 customers - I’m sorry, this is going to be like Harold Road and the Nassau International airport, I can’t call it BPL yet - we the public require that BEC publish the names of the account holders whose debts are written off, the constituencies in which they reside or where the accounts are held, and the total amounts forgiven. We the Bahamian public want this information published in detail in all newspapers. You have a real commitment to accountability and transparency? That is accountable and transparent. Though I know it is likely lost on the existing powers, I would be remiss if I didn’t say again that it is a very good place to begin shoring up trust that has been lost in any form of government

in The Bahamas.

WHO DO you think should get the award for the cheesiest posters in Parliament? Bernard Nottage and his rudimentary crime math and line graphs, or Hubert Minnis with his self-serving ‘Roc Wit Doc’ slogan?

PRIME Minister Christie says stop being prejudiced against the Chinese because they are giving us things. I’m sure those were famous last words said also by Chief Hatawala when Columbus and his men landed in The Bahamas. And we all know how that turned out. An entire people annihilated. How history repeats itself …

Why can’t we learn from our - or any - history? These accounts are not folklore. They’re not for entertainment. They should teach us some important things, like how not to be swept up by a jeering crowd screaming about your prejudice when you have foresight more than they to see what follows your ‘tolerance’ of ultimatums and your ‘acceptance’ of gifts by external entities whose first priority is to make money, not uphold your ownership rights in your land.

Send email to nburrows@tribunemedia.net