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Microsoft Pledges $75 million for Kids in Computer Science

Posted on September 18, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Microsoft pledges support to young children learning the science of computers … $75 million worth.

… on behalf of a grateful region, we accept.

While $75 million is not a lot for a global program, consider the source of the benefactor – Microsoft – and it is the spirit that counts. We will take it Microsoft; we want your time, talents and treasuries.

These three resources, are what the book Go Lean…Caribbean asks for from the philanthropic community in terms of gifts to the Caribbean. This is so important, that the book prepares a comprehensive plan for organizing the interactions with charitable foundations and gift-giving organizations. We need and want all the help we can garner!

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate Caribbean society. This movement asserts that to effect change in the region, all Caribbean stakeholders (residents, institutions, students, Diaspora) have to devote a measure of time, talents and treasuries.

The Go Lean book strategizes a roadmap to elevate the economic, security, and governing engines. It clearly relates that these prime directives do not cover every social aspect of Caribbean life. We need the resultant void to be filled by Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s). The following news article/Press Release relates the community empowering and philanthropic efforts from one such entity, computer software giant Microsoft:

Title: Microsoft expands global YouthSpark initiative to focus on computer science
Sub-Title: Microsoft invests $75 million in community programs to increase access to computer science education for all youth and build greater diversity into the tech talent pipeline.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Microsoft Corp. announced on Wednesday a new commitment of $75 million in community investments over the next three years to increase access to computer science education for all youth, and especially for those from under-represented backgrounds. Through the company’s global YouthSpark initiative, scores of nonprofit organizations around the world will receive cash donations and other resources to provide computer science education to diverse populations of young people in their communities and prepare them with the computational-thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for success in an increasingly digital world.

“If we are going to solve tomorrow’s global challenges, we must come together today to inspire young people everywhere with the promise of technology,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We can’t leave anyone out. We’re proud to make this $75 million investment in computer science education to create new opportunities for students across the spectrum of diverse youth and help build a tech talent pipeline that will spark new innovations for the future.”

Over the next three years, Microsoft will deliver on this commitment through cash grants and nonprofit partnerships as well as unique program and content offerings to increase access to computer science education and build computational thinking skills for diverse populations of youth. One of the flagship programs is Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS), which pairs tech professionals from across the industry with classroom educators to team-teach computer science in U.S. high schools. TEALS aims to grow fivefold in the next three years, with the goal of working with 2,000 tech industry volunteers to reach 30,000 students in nearly 700 schools across 33 states. A key objective of TEALS is to support classroom educators as they learn the computer science coursework, preparing them to teach computer science independently after two years of team-teaching.

Nadella reinforced the company’s commitment to computer science education today during the annual Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce where he called upon thousands of tech professionals to serve as TEALS volunteers and help broaden the opportunity for students of all backgrounds to learn computer science in high school.

“Computer science is a foundational subject — like algebra, chemistry or physics — for learning how the world works, yet it’s offered in less than 25 percent of American high schools,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “We need to increase access to computer science and computational thinking for all students, especially those from diverse populations, by partnering across the industry and with teachers and schools to turn this situation around and change the paradigm for developing a more diverse tech talent pipeline.”

There are three additional key elements of Microsoft’s global commitment to increasing access for all youth to the full range of computing skills, from digital literacy to computer science.

Global philanthropic investments with nonprofits in 80 countries, including the Center for Digital Inclusion in Latin America, Silatech in the Middle East and Africa, CoderDojo Foundation in Europe, YCAB Foundation in Asia, and many others, will deliver a range of computing skills from digital literacy to computer science education to youth in local communities around the world.

Microsoft Imagine connects students with the tools, resources and experiences they need to turn their innovative ideas into reality. Whether it’s building a game or designing an app, Microsoft Imagine makes learning to code easy and accessible for students and educators, no matter their age or skill level and at no cost. Whether it’s free cloud services like Azure, online competitions via Imagine Cup that educators can incorporate into their curriculum, or fun self-serve learning tutorials, Microsoft Imagine helps bring a student’s technology passion to life through computer science.

YouthSpark Hub resources are designed to inspire youth about the full spectrum of computing skills, ranging from digital literacy to computer science engineering. In addition to providing access to the Microsoft Imagine tools, the YouthSpark Hub brings together opportunities to participate in activities such as DigiGirlz and YouthSpark Live, attend free YouthSpark Camps at the Microsoft Stores, and access training through nonprofit organizations supported by Microsoft around the world.

Since 2012, Microsoft YouthSpark has created new opportunities for more than 300 million youth around the world, offering technology skills training and connections to employment, entrepreneurship, and continued education or training.

More information about YouthSpark and access to tools and resources can be found at http://YouthSparkHub.com and http://imagine.microsoft.com.

Those wanting more information on the TEALS program and to learn more about how they can get involved should visit http://TEALSK12.org.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Source: PR Newswire Service; retrieved September 17, 2015 from: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-expands-global-youthspark-initiative-to-focus-on-computer-science-300144592.html

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VIDEO – Microsoft YouthSpark: Opportunity for Youth – https://youtu.be/ZRKYTQ6_UEs

Published by Microsoft – http://www.microsoft.eu
YOUTH INFOGRAPHIC: http://www.microsoft.eu/Portals/0/Doc…

There’s $75,000,000 and then there’s $75,000,000 from Microsoft.

A $75,000,000 charitable gift from Microsoft is more than just money; it’s an invitation to explore the future: the future of Information Technology.

This is BIG! As it also builds a technology talent pipeline, especially for the under-represented female population; so future jobs are at stake.

Microsoft founder and largest shareholder, Bill Gates, is now retired from the CEO’s office. (Though he continues as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors). He is a certifiable billionaire – a member of the One Percent – in which his riches came from this company. He is a great role model for all the youth of the Caribbean.

A great role model for the adults, too!

This innovator’s latest effort is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which sets out to make a permanent impact on the world. According to a previous blog detailing this foundation’s efforts, his belief is that every life has equal value. So his Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. Now we see his hallmark company following this lead so as to also promote hi-technology values among the more disadvantaged youth populations in the world.

We absolutely appreciate those leading and following in this path.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean champions the cause of building and optimizing the Caribbean eco-system. There are a lot of expectations for technology in the region, to aid and assist with all aspects of the Go Lean prime directives, defined as follows:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap clearly recognizes that the love and curiosity for technology must be ingrained as early as possible. Since the Caribbean does not only want to be on the consuming end of technological developments, we want to create, produce and contribute to the world of innovations. So we need to foster genius qualifiers in our Caribbean youth for careers and occupations – at home – involving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

This point was pronounced at the outset of the Go Lean book with these opening Foreword (Page 3) and the subsequent Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 14) with these statements:

Foreword: Our youth, the next generation, may not be inspired to participate in the future workings of their country; they may measure success only by their exodus from their Caribbean homeland.

xiii. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, prefabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

xxx. Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

The Go Lean book seeks a quest to create 64,000 new direct and indirect technology/software jobs in the Caribbean marketplace. It will be a good start to use the grants and support of Microsoft, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other philanthropic groups and NGO’s to foster this campaign.

The Go Lean roadmap was constructed with the community ethos in mind to forge the needed change to adopt technology. Plus with the execution of these related strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies it will help build up our communities. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Non-Government Organizations	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Anti-Bullying Campaigns	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Vision – Prepare the Youth with the skills to compete in the modern world	Page 46
Strategy – Mission – Exploit the benefits and opportunities of globalization	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – State Department – Registrar/Liaison of NGO’s	Page 80
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Trends in Implementing Data Centers – Creating the ‘Cloud’	Page 106
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – Caribbean Cloud	Page 111
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Cyber-Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – *STEM* Promotion	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance – e-Government & e-Delivery	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries	Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – Internet Marketing	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One-Percent	Page 224
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Appendix – CU Job Creations	Page 257
Appendix – Giving Pledge Signatories – 113 Super Rich – One Percent – Benefactors	Page 292

This Go Lean roadmap calls for the heavy-lifting to build-up Caribbean communities, to shepherd important aspects of Caribbean life, so as to better prepare for the future, dissuade emigration and optimize the ICT eco-systems here at home.

These goals were previously featured in Go Lean blogs/commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	Tourism Digital Marketing & Stewardship — What’s Next?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6269	Education & Economics: Lessons from Detroit
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6151	3D Printing: Here Comes Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3974	Google and Mobile Phones – Here comes Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3915	‘Change the way you see the world; you change the world you see’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3490	How One Internet Entrepreneur Can Rally a Whole Community
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2126	Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1698	STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Amazon – A Role Model for Caribbean Logistics
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1277	The need for highway safety innovations – here comes Google
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=476	CARICOM Urged on ICT
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308	CARCIP Urges Greater Innovation

The Go Lean book focuses primarily on economic issues, and it recognizes that computer technology is the future direction for industrial developments. (See the foregoing VIDEO). This is where the jobs are to be found. The Go Lean roadmap describes the heavy-lifting for people, organizations and governments to forge these innovations here at home in the Caribbean. Clearly philanthropic organizations, Not-For-Profit charities, foundations and NGO’s are also stakeholders for the effort to make the Caribbean better.

So the Go Lean roadmap invites NGO’s to impact the Caribbean – to plant seeds – according to their charters. We are open to ask for their help. But we assure these benefactors that their help is really an investment. Our young people have the will, passion and integrity to grow the seeds into fine fruit.

We want more … such organizations. We will be pursuing other NGO’s … especially for the under-represented female population, such as:

Black Girls Code – Their Vision: To increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology.

Women in Technology – A premier professional association for women in the technology industry, we understand the unique challenges you face. No matter where you are in your professional development, or what technology-related field you’re in, our community offers a broad range of support, programs and resources to advance women in technology from the classroom to the boardroom.

Women in STEM – The Office of Science and Technology Policy, in collaboration with the White House Council on Women and Girls, is dedicated to increasing the participation of women and girls — as well as other underrepresented groups — in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by increasing the engagement of girls with STEM subjects in formal and informal environments, encouraging mentoring to support women throughout their academic and professional experiences, and supporting efforts to retain women in the STEM workforce.

This is an invitation to the world to help us help ourselves. It is not just a dream. This is a conceivable, believable and achievable business plan. With the right commitment of time, talent and treasuries from domestic and foreign sources, we can succeed in making the region a better place to live, work, learn and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Book Review on ‘Mitigating Income Inequality’

Posted on September 17, 2015 in Economics, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Income Inequality = the rich becoming richer while the middle classes shrink.

A phrase like Income Inequality, on the surface, would appear to be just about economics. But truthfully this is more a subject about governance, but yes, in alignment with economic and security concerns.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and accompanying blogs constantly focus on economics, security and governance in the Caribbean region. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). If this effort is successful then it could result in some abatement of Income Inequality.

The subject of Income Inequality has been influx more and more as of late, especially after the Great Recession of 2008 – a frequent topic for the Go Lean book and accompanying blogs. The desire to eliminate or reduce Income Inequality is a practical argument for social cohesion and to reduce social unrest; as such eruptions can weaken society. Income Inequality has a slippery slope that can lead to down to Failed-State status. Now after waging global conflicts of World War I, World War II plus countless regional conflicts and sectarian violence, it is important for societies to be “on guard” for encroachments in this regard.

Thusly, Income Inequality is a “hot topic” … in many countries.

A 2011 OECD study investigated economic inequality in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa. It concluded that key sources of inequality in these countries include “a large, persistent informal sector (Black Markets), widespread regional divides (e.g. urban-rural), gaps in access to education, and barriers to employment and career progression for women.”^[12] Here are some poignant tidbits on this subject from varied countries around the world (Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia; retrieved 09/16/2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality):

Russia
A report by Credit Suisse in 2013 states that: Russia has the highest level of wealth inequality in the world, apart from small Caribbean nations with resident billionaires. Worldwide, there is one billionaire for every US$170 billion in household wealth; Russia has one for every US$11 billion. Worldwide, billionaires collectively account for 1–2% of total household wealth; in Russia today 110 billionaires own 35% of all wealth.^[9]

Western Europe
A previous blog-commentary detailed how royal charters – formal documents issued by monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to individuals or corporate bodies – contributed to much of the Income Inequity legacy in Western European lands, and their former colonies. Among the past and present groups formed by royal charter are the British East India Company (1600), the Hudson’s Bay Company, Standard Chartered, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), the British South Africa Company, and some of the former British colonies on the North American mainland, City livery companies, the Bank of England and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).^[2] Principals of these chartered companies became instant oligarchs; and their heirs inherited this wealth and status over the decades and centuries. In recent times however, more egalitarianism emerged, mostly because of an embrace of Neo-Socialism governmental policies and strong unions.

United States
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) opined in a 2010 The Nation article that an “upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country.”^[14] The top 1% in 2007 had a larger share of total income than at any time since 1928.^[15] In 2011, according to PolitiFact and others, the top 400 wealthiest Americans “have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.”^{[16][17][18][19]}

Economic researchers John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer (2006) of the CEPR (Center for Economic and Policy Research) point to economic liberalism and the reduction of business regulation along with the decline of union membership as one of the causes of economic inequality. In an analysis of the effects of intensive Anglo-American liberal policies in comparison to continental European liberalism, where unions have remained strong, they concluded “The U.S. economic and social model is associated with substantial levels of social exclusion, including high levels of income inequality, high relative and absolute poverty rates, poor and unequal educational outcomes, poor health outcomes, and high rates of crime and incarceration. At the same time, the available evidence provides little support for the view that U.S.-style labor-market flexibility dramatically improves labor-market outcomes. Despite popular prejudices to the contrary, the U.S. economy consistently affords a lower level of economic mobility than all the continental European countries for which data is available.”^[68]

This lesson in economic history is presented in a consideration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. In addition to the CU, the roadmap introduces the implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). These two entities are designed to provide better economic stewardship (governance), to ensure that the economic failures of the past, in the Caribbean and other regions, do not re-occur here in the Caribbean homeland. The book posits that we must NOT fashion ourselves as parasites of these cited countries/regions, (US, Europe or Russia) but rather pursue a status as a protégé of these powers; benefiting from their lessons-learned but molding a better society.

Consider further the US model …

The Go Lean book cites the example of the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, with this quotation:

Ways to Impact Wall Street – Learn from Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement – Page 200
This protest movement began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City’s Wall Street financial district. The main issues raised by the protests were social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of financial service firms on the Federal government. The slogan, “We are the 99%”, referred to income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. In hindsight and as a lesson for the CU, these underlying concerns were legitimate as the 2008 Great Recession had its root causes tied to the many issues of Wall Street abuses against Main Street.

Ways to Impact Student Loans – Lessons from Occupy Wall Street (OWS) – Page 160
The OWS protest movement highlighted some legitimate issues with the student loan industry. The US Federal government provides guarantees on student loans (direct and indirect), and the loans are non-dischargeable in any BK process, so private loan issuers were assured a profit. The issuers would therefore drive the industry to lend more and more to less capable students at high interest rates. As a result of the protest, the Obama Administration eliminated the indirect channel for student loan, taking the profit motive out of the process. The CU will [apply this lesson and] only direct lend.

For the most part, the people of the United States are good-natured and mean well. But there is a Shadow Influence in the US financial eco-system that undermines a lot of policies for the Greater Good. One theoretical framework of the field of Economics – neoclassical – has fully defined this. Neoclassical economics views inequalities in the distribution of income as arising from differences in value added by labor, capital and land. Within labor income distribution is due to differences in value added by different classifications of workers. In this perspective, wages and profits are determined by the marginal value added of each economic actor (worker, capitalist/business owner, landlord).^[47] Thus rising inequalities are merely a reflection of the productivity gap between highly-paid professions and lower-paid professions.^[48]

A prominent Neoclassical Economist, Cambridge University Professor Dr. Ha-Joon Chang, has emerged in recent years; he published this book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. This publication addresses the width-and-breath of the subject of Income Inequality. Consider the related VIDEO and Book Reviews here:

VIDEO – “The Real News Network / TRNN” Interview with Ha-Joon Chang Part 1 – https://youtu.be/J7m9wfFnH6o

Posted April 4, 2011 – Part 1: Introducing the book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism with a summary of the first chapter/”Thing”: “There is no such thing as a free market”.

Part 2: https://youtu.be/4x3cS3F-SDM
Part 3: https://youtu.be/x_iLg00PuyU
Part 4: https://youtu.be/szoimtsFQEg
Part 5: https://youtu.be/RQ4Xzv9LsZs
Part 6: https://youtu.be/EhjKVo-f6Zw
Part 7: https://youtu.be/f74NPSPFTjw
Part 8: https://youtu.be/3bgcUPRnMls

————-

Book Review: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

Amazon Summary:

The acclaimed Ha-Joon Chang is a voice of sanity―and wit―in this lighthearted audiobook with a serious purpose: to question the assumptions behind the dogma and sheer hype that the dominant school of neoliberal economists have spun since the Age of Reagan. 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism uses twenty-three short essays (a few great examples: “There Is No Such Thing as a Free Market,” “The Washing Machine Has Changed the World More than the Internet Has”) to equip listeners with an understanding of how global capitalism works, and doesn’t, while offering a vision of how we can shape capitalism to humane ends, instead of becoming slaves of the market.

Praise for the book 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism:

“A lively, accessible and provocative book.” ―Sunday Times (UK)

“Chang, befitting his position as an economics professor at Cambridge University, is engagingly thoughtful and opinionated at a much lower decibel level. ‘The “truths” peddled by free-market ideologues are based on lazy assumptions and blinkered visions,’ he charges.” ―Time

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Chang (Bad Samaritans) takes on the “free-market ideologues,” the stentorian voices in economic thought and, in his analysis, the engineers of the recent financial catastrophe. Free market orthodoxy has inserted its tenterhooks into almost every economy in the world–over the past three decades, most countries have privatized state-owned industrial and financial firms, deregulated finance and industry, liberalized international trade and investments, and reduced income taxes and welfare payments. But these policies have unleashed bubbles and ever increasing income disparity. How can we dig ourselves out? By examining the many myths in the narrative of free-market liberalism, crucially that the name is itself a misnomer: there is nothing “free” about a market where wages are largely politically determined; that greater macroeconomic stability has not made the world economy more stable; and a more educated population itself won’t make a country richer. An advocate of big, active government and capitalism as distinct from a free market, Chang presents an enlightening précis of modern economic thought–and all the places it’s gone wrong, urging us to act in order to completely rebuild the world economy: “This will some readers uncomfortable… it is time to get uncomfortable.” (Jan.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
Leading economist [Ha-Joon Chang] has likened the nation’s acceptance of free-market capitalism to that of the brainwashed characters in the film The Matrix, unwitting pawns in a fake reality. [Chang] debunks received wisdom on everything — Rachel Shields Independent A masterful debunking of some of the myths of capitalism … Witty, iconoclastic and uncommonly commonsensical … this book will be invaluable — John Gray Observer Lively and provocative book … Read this book — David Smith Sunday Times Incisive and entertaining … scathing about the conventional wisdom’ — Robert Skidelsky New Statesman Important .. persuasive … [an] engaging case for a more cautious and caring era of globalisation — James Crabtree Financial Times Myth-busting and nicely-written … the best economists are those who look around at our man-made world and ask themselves “why?”. Chang is one — Sean O’Grady Independent –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Sample Customer Review
By: William Podmore on November 2, 2010
Format: Kindle Edition

Ha-Joon Chang, Reader in the Political Economy of Development at Cambridge University, has written a fascinating book on capitalism’s failings. He also wrote the brilliant Bad Samaritans. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times says he is `probably the world’s most effective critic of globalisation’.

Chang takes on the free-marketers’ dogmas and proposes ideas like – there is no such thing as a free market; the washing machine has changed the world more than the internet has; we do not live in a post-industrial age; globalisation isn’t making the world richer; governments can pick winners; some rules are good for business; US (and British) CEOs are overpaid; more education does not make a country richer; and equality of opportunity, on its own, is unfair.

He notes that the USA does not have the world’s highest living standard. Norway, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Sweden and the USA, in that order, had the highest incomes per head. On income per hours worked, the USA comes eighth, after Luxemburg, Norway, France, Ireland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Finland and Sweden have the highest industrial output per person.

Free-market politicians, economists and media have pushed policies of de-regulation and pursuit of short-term profits, causing less growth, more inequality, more job insecurity and more frequent crises. Britain’s growth rate in income per person per year was 2.4 per cent in the 1960s-70s and 1.7 per cent 1990-2009. Rich countries grew by 3 per cent in the 1960s-70s and 1.4 per cent 1980-2009. Developing countries grew by 3 per cent in the 1960s-70s and 2.6 per cent 1980-2009. Latin America grew by 3.1 per cent in the 1960s-70s and 1.1 per cent 1980-2009, and Sub-Saharan Africa by 1.6 per cent in the 1960s-70s and 0.2 per cent 1990-2009. The world economy grew by 3.2 per cent in the 1960s-70s and 1.4 per cent 1990-2009.
So, across the world, countries did far better before Thatcher and Reagan’s `free-market revolution’. Making the rich richer made the rest of us poorer, cutting economies’ growth rates, and investment as a share of national output, in all the G7 countries.

Chang shows how free trade is not the way to grow and points out that the USA was the world’s most protectionist country during its phase of ascendancy, from the 1830s to the 1940s, and that Britain was one of world’s the most protectionist countries during its rise, from the 1720s to the 1850s.

He shows how immigration controls keep First World wages up; they determine wages more than any other factor. Weakening those controls, as the EU demands, lowers wages.

He challenges the conventional wisdom that we must cut spending to cut the deficit. Instead, we need controls capital, on mergers and acquisitions, and on financial products. We need the welfare state, industrial policy, and huge investment in industry, infrastructure, worker training and R&D.

As Chang points out, “Even though financial investments can drive growth for a while, such growth cannot be sustained, as those investments have to be ultimately backed up by viable long-term investments in real sector activities, as so vividly shown by the 2008 financial crisis.”

This book is a common-sense, evidence-based approach to economic life, which we should urge all our friends and colleagues to read.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Dont-About-Capitalism/dp/1501266306

So how do we mitigate Income Inequality?

After presenting 23 bold statements about Things They Didn’t Tell Us About Capitalism, Professor Ha-Joon Chang, provides one more chapter, a conclusion, answering this exact question. Everyone is urged to buy his book and consume his solutions.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean, also answers a similar question: how do we mitigate Income Inequality in the Caribbean?

In summary, the Go Lean movement discourages the region from modeling the American brand of Free Market capitalism. The movement posits that America is plagued with Crony-Capitalism and institutional racism. It is therefore not the eco-system for the Caribbean to model.

On the other hand, we must give more priority to the Middle Class – as in creating 2.2 million new jobs – and less to the Rich – One Percent. (Though there is no plan to penalize their success or to forcibly redistribute any wealth).

In general, the CU will employ better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate internal and external threats.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Early in the Go Lean book, this need for careful technocratic stewardship of the regional Caribbean economy was pronounced (Declaration of Interdependence – Page 12 – 13) with these acknowledgements and statements:

xi.   Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii.   Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xxiv.    Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxv.    Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.

The Go Lean book stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to regulate and manage the regional economy and mitigate Income Inequality in the Caribbean. These points are detailed in the book, as in this sample list:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the Stability of the Banking Institutions	Page 45
Strategy – Provide Proper Oversight and Support for the Depository Institutions	Page 46
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Minimizing Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Caribbean Central Bank	Page 73
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Depository Institutions Regulatory Agency	Page 73
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Effects of 2008 Financial Crisis	Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank as a Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Single Market / Currency Union	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress	Page 147
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation	Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Black Markets	Page 165
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Lessons from the “Occupy Wall Street” Protests	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Advocacy – Battles in the War on Poverty	Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Help the Middle Class	Page 223
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent	Page 224
Appendix – Controlling Inflation – Technical Details	Page 318

The points of effective, technocratic economic stewardship of the Caribbean have been detailed in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6286	Managing the ‘Invisible Hand of the Market’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5597	Economic Principle: Market Forces -vs- Collective Bargaining
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3858	ECB unveils 1 trillion Euro stimulus program
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3582	For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090	Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2930	‘Too Big To Fail’ – Caribbean Version
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1731	Role Model Warren Buffet
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1309	5 Steps of a Bubble
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=782	Open the Time Capsule: The Great Recession of 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353	Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’

The Go Lean book reports that the Caribbean is in crisis. There are movements on that “slippery slope”. Already the region is suffering a debilitating brain-drain estimated at 70% with some countries reporting up to 81%. This disposition is symptomatic of a Failed-State status. This roadmap attempts to reboot the Caribbean eco-systems, because we have this bad track record to contend with. The status quo must be assuaged.

It is time for change in the Caribbean! It is time to build a better society, for all: rich, poor and middle classes. Finally, the region is presented with a functional roadmap – the book Go Lean…Caribbean – where the strategies, tactics and implementations are conceivable, believable and achievable. Yes, we can make our homeland a better place to live, work and play.

Everyone in the Caribbean, the people, institutions and governments, are hereby urged to lean-in for this Go Lean roadmap. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Wi-Fi Hot Spots Run By Hackers Are Targeting Tourists

Posted on September 16, 2015 in Economics, Government, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

For all the good that the internet brings to the world, there is a lot of bad too. The W.W.W in a web address does not mean Wild Wild West. But it feels like that; the bad old days of outlaws and gunslingers. (The actual WWW initials mean World Wide Web). Let the buyer beware!

The need for a Sentinel in Caribbean electronic commerce has been fully established by this commentary. Someone needs to be “watching the store in the Caribbean”. Electronic commerce now means internet and mobile transactions, encompassing smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

While the Caribbean member-states are not as advanced as other North American locations (US & Canada) or many Western European countries, we have fully embraced the internet via broadband, Wi-Fi and mobile communication utilities. The assertion in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, is that any plan to reboot Caribbean economics, security and governance must include promotion and regulation of technological initiatives as well. This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to facilitate the growth, stewardship and oversight of electronic commerce in a regional Single Market.

There is therefore the need to be “on guard” for “bad actors” that will surely emerge to exploit Caribbean stakeholders, including residents, businesses and visitors – possibly up to 150 million people, including 80 million tourists. This news VIDEO here reports on a new threat:

VIDEO: Caution: Wi-Fi hot spots run by hackers are targeting tourists – http://www.today.com/video/caution-wi-fi-hot-spots-run-by-hackers-are-targeting-tourists-526433347646

September 16, 2015 – The “Hacking of America” series continues with a new warning: Before you log on to free public Wi-Fi hot spots at popular tourist destinations like New York City’s Times Square, be aware that they could be traps for hackers to steal your identity. One warning sign: The word “free.” NBC’s Tom Costello shares tips to protect your online security with TODAY.

Imagine a Caribbean tourist, disembarking a cruise ship, turning on a smartphone and being enticed with “FREE Wi-Fi”.

The Go Lean book relates regional oversight for the Caribbean Single Market – a lean technocracy – for cross-border electronic media, governance of the Information Technology Arts and Sciences and Grievance mediation. These activities are part –and-parcel of the missions of Go Lean roadmap, whose prime directives are identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the people and processes (economic engines) of the region from threats and attacks (physical and electronic) that may originate from foreign or domestic sources.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including consolidation of all Postal operations. The Caribbean Postal Union will deploy a Caribbean Cloud, a Social Media / Electronic Commerce offering for all Caribbean member-states, branded www.myCaribbean.gov.

These prime directives will elevate Caribbean society. With this success comes the emergence of “bad actors”. The foregoing VIDEO relates one such instance. The goal of preparing the appropriate security apparatus – to protect the people and processes – was envisioned in the Go Lean roadmap from the beginning; this was defined early in the book (Page 12 & 14) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xv. Whereas the business of the Federation and the commercial interest in the region cannot prosper without an efficient facilitation of postal services, the Caribbean Union must allow for the integration of the existing mail operations of the governments of the member-states into a consolidated Caribbean Postal Union, allowing for the adoption of best practices and technical advances to deliver foreign/domestic mail in the region.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

According to the foregoing VIDEO, the threat for cyber-crimes is now exposed to mobile users and those innocently partaking of FREE Wi-Fi services. This should not be so endangering. Wi-Fi communications should be a benign utility. There is the natural expectation that the governmental authorities would protect the innocent and interdict all villainous parties. This “natural expectation” is part-and-parcel of the Social Contract between citizens and their governments. For the 80 million visitors enjoying Caribbean hospitality, this presumed protection should automatically extend to them.

This is the assumption. The region must therefore anticipate these “bad actors” and deploy the counter-measures to monitor, mitigate and manage all identified risks associated with this cyber-threat. All cyber-crimes and threats to electronic commerce must be a constant focus for the “new guards” being proposed for implementation in the Caribbean with this Go Lean/CU roadmap.

The book posits that these are among the issues that are too big for any one Caribbean member-state to manage alone; that there are times when there must be a cross-border, multilateral coordination. So confederating all 30 Caribbean member-states and appointing the CU as a deputized agency to oversee this cyber activity is a wise course of action. In addition, the technical competence for the “guardians” of this new Caribbean economy must be “cutting edge”. Can we truly expect this from the current bureaucratic structures of these small member-states? Hardly.

In a previous blog, the “cutting-edge” readiness of one member-state (Bahamas) was likened to 1985, as opposed to 2015; the blog stated that “they are not reaching for the stars but rather reaching for the lamp-post”. Other blog-commentaries on this subject have detailed the full width-and-breath of preparing Caribbean society for the diverse economic, security and governing issues of managing ICT in this new century. See sample blogs here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	The Need for Online Tourism Marketing Stewardship
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5435	China Internet Policing – Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5353	US Presidential Politics and the Internet
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4793	Online reviews – like Yelp and Angie’s List – can wield great power for services marketed, solicited and contracted online.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4381	Net Neutrality – The need for Caribbean Administration of the Issue.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4337	Crony-Capitalism Among the Online Real Estate Markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881	European and North American Intelligence Agencies to Ramp-up Cyber Security Cooperation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906	Bitcoin e-Payments needs regulatory framework to manage ‘risky’ image
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308	Caribbean Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) urges greater innovation and protection.

These commentaries demonstrate that there is the need for a technocratic governing body to better oversee and police Caribbean electronic commerce. This structure will assuage cyber-crimes and illicit activities for the Caribbean neighborhood in the online world.

We have so much more than Wi-Fi decoys to consider – as conveyed in the foregoing VIDEO. Successful execution of the Go Lean roadmap can expect a surge in internet/online activity and transactions; as there is the plan to deploy schemes to facilitate more e-Commerce: Central Bank adoption of Electronic Payment schemes and Postal Integration/Optimization, the Caribbean Cloud portal for www.myCaribbean.gov. So many more challenges – and lawlessness – will emerge.

The Go Lean book therefore presents the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that must be adopted and executed to elevate this region to be competent with the Worldwide Web. See the following sample here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Privacy versus Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide – Allow for FREE Wi-Fi	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate a Single Market of entire region	Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Caribbean Postal Union	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration	Page 79
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Communications and Media Authority	Page 79
Implementation – Year 1 / Assemble Phase – Establish CPU	Page 96
Anecdote – Implementation Plan – Mail Services – US Dilemma	Page 99
Implementation – Improve Mail Services – Electronic Supplements	Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – For Residents, Visitors & Diaspora	Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce	Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy –Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy –Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries – Hi-Density Wi-Fi	Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events – Hi-Density Wi-Fi & Mobile Apps	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – Public Access Wi-Fi	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce – Mobile Apps & Hi-Density Wi-Fi	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street – Downtown Wi-Fi	Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

The Go Lean book creates some Great Expectations for the internet. It posits that online facilitations can serve as an equalizing element for the Caribbean to better compete with the rest of the world. So we must elevate the region’s core competence with all-things-cyber, including the security dynamics.

“Bad actors will always emerge to exploit economic opportunities” – Go Lean (Page 23).

So to keep pace with the latest and greatest cyber-criminals, we must do the heavy-lifting of “serving and protecting” the Caribbean online populations. The region needs this technocracy of the CU Trade Federation. Everyone is therefore encouraged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Tourism Stewardship — What’s Next?

Posted on September 15, 2015 in Economics, Government, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Let’s learn from history…

The industry of travel agencies did not always exist … in modern times. It emerged as transportation options standardized (rail, steamships, and airplanes) and became more convenient. The transportation companies did not need travel agencies; they only acquiesced to the industry stakeholders as a matter of convenience. According to the short history of travel agency pioneer Thomas Cook in Appendix A …

[they] agreed to make a permanent arrangement with him provided he found the passengers.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society, to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the engines of commerce so as to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The category of “play” covers the full scope of tourism, which is the primary economic driver for our Caribbean region; the book estimates 80 million visitors among the region. (Since that number includes cruise passengers that may visit multiple Caribbean islands on one itinerary, each port is counted separately; without cruise passengers, a figure of 68 – 69 million is perhaps more accurate).

This commentary is a consideration of tourism, not travel. Tourism is a subset of the travel eco-system, so any Agent of Change in the world of travel must be carefully considered on tourism, on Caribbean tourism.

The World Tourism Organization defines tourists or tourism as people “traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”.^[1]

Tourism is now a popular global leisure activity. Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country’s balance of payments. Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the economy of both the source and host countries, in some cases being of vital importance.

Tourism suffered as a result of a strong economic slowdown of the late-2000s recession, between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus,^[2][3] but slowly recovered. International tourism receipts (the travel item in the balance of payments) grew to US$1.03 trillion in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010.^[4] International tourist arrivals surpassed the milestone of 1 billion tourists globally for the first time in 2012,^[5] the same year in which China became the largest spender in international tourism globally with US$102 billion, surpassing Germany and United States. China and emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil had significantly increased their spending over the previous decade.^[6]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism

The Go Lean book considers these Agents of Change (Page 57) that have dynamically affected the Caribbean economic eco-systems:

Technology
Globalization
Aging Diaspora
Climate Change

This first one, technology, has had a most shocking effect on this travel/tourism industry. We can conclude that the days of Thomas Cook are over. It is no longer convenient for tourism industry stakeholders (transportation lines, resort properties, etc.) to acquiesce to travel agents; they are no longer needed to find passengers-guests-travelers-tourists.

(The industry for travel agents have effectively disappeared).

Technology, the Internet-Communications-Technology (ICT) in particular has furnished alternative and better options for travel enterprises to find passengers-guests-travelers-tourists; see sample website, Booking.com, in the VIDEO in the Appendix C below. (These websites also provide better options/prices for consumers). Travel agents are now inconsequential.

The same too with politicians leading the Tourism stewardship!

The national stewards of Caribbean tourism must now transform for this Agent of Change. Instead of “schmoozing” travel agents to incentivize bookings, it is necessary to master Search Engine Optimizations (SEO), website design, social media outreach, etc..

The Caribbean member-states do not need “Ministers/Secretaries of Tourism” or Ambassadors of governments, they need Computer Programmers! More exactly, the region needs multi-lingual computer programmers, as the foregoing World Tourism Organization quote relates that much of the growth in tourism numbers are from the emerging markets of China, Russia, Brazil, etc. (In Economics, these countries are grouped B.R.I.C.S. for Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa).

Technology and Globalization! The stewardship of Caribbean tourism must truly adapt, evolve and transform to keep pace.

How is the Caribbean tourism industry doing in this regard? There is the case-in-point of Aruba. See the news article here:

Title: Why Aruba Tourism is Booming — And What’s Next
Sub-title: The Dutch Caribbean’s tourism hub is growing. Quickly.
By: Caribbean Journal staff

Plainly, tourism in Aruba is booming. The island saw a 16.2 percent increase in stayover visitor arrivals in the first half of 2015, making it the Caribbean’s fastest-growing destination in the first half of 2015, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization. So what’s next for the island? To learn more, CJ caught up with Ronella Ronella Tjin Asjoe, CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority.

What is the outlook for Aruba tourism and the forecast for the high season?

With each passing year, Aruba continues to see an increase in the number of stay-over visitors and visitor on-island spending. After receiving a record number of annual visitors in 2014 (1.07 million), ATA set an aggressive goal for an 11.5 percent increase in 2015, as well as a 4 percent increase in tourism receipts, and is on track to surpass those goals. The overall ADR is projected to grow by 5-10 percent in 2015, and RevPar is projected to grow by a similar rate. With increased airlift, island-wide hotel renovations and new projects in the works, coupled with ATA’s innovative digital marketing strategies, Aruba’s tourism product improves annually — resulting in improved performance results year over year.

What new initiatives are there for Aruba Tourism Authority?

Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) has launched a new interactive experience allowing visitors to share their perfect Aruba vacation before ever stepping foot on our popular Caribbean island. The Happiness Builder is a content-rich planning experience where travelers can explore nearly 100 videos featuring adventure, relaxation, romance and cultural activities in Aruba. This dynamic and fully-immersive planning process — from choosing the video clips to picking an accompanying music track and personal message — results in a customized “Shortcut to Happiness” video that is easily sharable. As Aruba continues to evolve from both a product and marketing perspective, new and innovative tools like the Happiness Builder remain crucial to Aruba’s success as one of the most popular tourist destinations.

What are the largest challenges facing Aruba as a tourist destination?

The World Tourism Council (WTTC) reports Aruba’s GDP is more reliant on travel and tourism than any other nation, relative to size, in the world. Tourism currently accounts for 88 percent of the nation’s GDP and only continues to increase. As such, Aruba must remain creative and digital-savvy to inspire consumers to visit and fully experience our island. Our target audience visits more than 20 websites before booking their vacation, so it is essential for us to maintain a presence throughout that process with a timely, persuasive message at each stage. By engaging the best strategists and leveraging targeted technologies, we can ensure our marketing dollars are spent effectively against desired consumers in-market for vacation travel.

What sort of new investments are being made in the public sector of Aruba as it relates to tourism?

As part of Aruba’s ongoing, $1 billion+ island revitalization and beautification project, the destination recently invested more than $100 million in significant hotel updates to enhance visitors’ experiences, with an additional $50 million planned for next year. The Aruba Airport Authority also fully renovated the Reina Beatrix International Airport, introducing new amenities and services true to the One happy island brand. This includes an airport wide Wi-Fi upgrade, installation of APC and ABC Kiosks, three new F&B concepts and an additional 150 seats, and an update to the airport arrival hall and VIP lounges. Airport investments between $100-150 million are planned in the upcoming years, as traffic continues to reach new heights

Are there large renovations, new projects or new hotels are on the horizon?

In addition to the island-wide resort renovations, Aruba has new hotels in the works. The city of San Nicolas continues to be a large focus for ATA and the government, as it continues to evolve as a cultural center, with new museums slated in the coming years.

Tell us a little about upcoming Aruba events and festivals. Which of these can you recommend?

Fall is one of Aruba’s most eventful times of year, with countless culinary, cultural and musical festivals. Upcoming events include the Aruba International Film Festival, Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival and highly-anticipated, first annual Restaurant Week, Sept. 28-Oct. 9. Boasting 60 participating restaurants, Aruba is increasingly revered as the “Ultimate Sand Bar Island,” with 25+ bars/restaurants conveniently located on the water. Options range from casual decks overlooking the Caribbean sea to fine dining toes-in-the-sand establishments. Aruba’s new restaurant week offers food critics, wine connoisseurs, foodies and everyone in between the opportunity to explore Aruba’s culinary heritage.
Source: Caribbean Journal – Regional – News Site (Published September 13, 2015) – http://caribjournal.com/2015/09/13/why-aruba-tourism-is-booming-and-whats-next/

According to the foregoing news story/interview, the Tourism stewards in Aruba understand the significance of the technology/digital strategy for elevating this economic engine. Is this the case for the rest of the region? Hardly!

Even still, it is obvious that the expertise and reach of the officials in Aruba is still limited; see previous blog-commentary here on the State of Aruban society. The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the underlying movement seeks to re-boot the strategies and tactics of tourism marketing for the entire Caribbean region. The book asserts Caribbean member-states must expand and optimize their tourism outreach but that the requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state (like Aruba) alone. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in greater production and greater accountability. This deputized agency is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book thereafter introduces the CU and provides a roadmap for its implementation into a Single Market for the Caribbean economy … and tourism marketing.

The goal of the CU is to bring the proper tools and techniques to the Caribbean region to optimize the stewardship of the economic, security and governing engines. The book posits that the economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, with technocratic management and stewardship better than the status quo. While the goal of the roadmap is to pursue a diversification strategy, the reality is that tourism will continue to be the primary economic driver in the region for the foreseeable future. The publisher of the book Go Lean…Caribbean convenes the talents and skillsets of movers-and-shakers in electronic commerce so as to forge the best tools and techniques for this new ICT-based marketing.

According to the below Appendix B – Priceline and Appendix C – VIDEO, the world is operating under a different business model than previously familiar in the Caribbean. Truly the region needs programmers not politicians to shepherd tourism in the homeland.

Change has come to the travel industry. Just how do we optimize the marketing and management of our new products and services to elevate our economies?

This book Go Lean… Caribbean provides the needed details. Early in the book, the optimization and best-practices of regional tourism was highlighted as a reason the Caribbean region needed to unite, integrate and confederate. These pronouncements were included in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 14):

iv. Whereas the natural formation of the landmass is in a tropical region, the flora and fauna allows for an inherent beauty that is enviable to peoples near and far. The structures must be strenuously guarded to protect and promote sustainable systems of commerce paramount to this reality.

vi. Whereas the finite nature of the landmass of our lands limits the populations and markets of commerce, by extending the bonds of brotherhood to our geographic neighbors allows for extended opportunities and better execution of the kinetics of our economies through trade. This regional focus must foster and promote diverse economic stimuli.

viii. Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries… In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism… – impacting the region with more jobs.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

The Go Lean… Caribbean book wisely details the community ethos to adopt to proactively facilitate the digital campaigns for the changed landscape of tourism marketing; plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Literary, Art and Music in Graphic Design	Page 27
Community Ethos – Impact Research & Development – Including ICT	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing – Data / Social Network	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and Foster Local Economic Engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Exploit the Benefits of Globalization in Trade-Tourism	Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Website *www.myCaribbean.gov* for Caribbean stakeholders – Tourists	Page 74
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Tourism Promotions and Administration	Page 78
Implementation – Integrate All Caribbean Websites to *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal	Page 97
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal	Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image – Digital Media Presence	Page 133
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Tourism & Economy Went Bust	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Egypt – Lack of Tourism Stewardship	Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Measure Progress – Mining *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal Data	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Internet & Social Media Marketing	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – Excess Inventory Marketing	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events – Sharing Economy	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Market Southern California	Page 194
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – Cyber-Caribbean Image/Media	Page 218

The CU seeks to foster internet-communications-technologies to aid-and-abet tourism. This includes all supporting functions before, during and after visitors come to our shores. In fact the Go Lean roadmap considers the tourist, a stakeholder in this empowerment plan. These prime directives apply to them as well:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines, ensure public safety for stakeholders and marshal against economic crimes.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Examine here how a technocratic effort can enhance the Caribbean tourism outreach online. See this How-To article:

Title: Template For Success: 5 Keys to Creating A Winning Social Media Plan

By: Stuart Leung, Guest Columnist from Salesforce.com

With social networks becoming more and more ingrained in everyday business communication and gaining widespread acceptance as a marketing channel, your company needs to know how to connect with your consumer base.

So, do you have a plan around social media?

With dozens of social networks that each offer unique benefits, the natural inclination is to jump on every platform, but unless you have multiple social media managers, the most effective way to communicate is to prioritize and create a business plan around social. With a strategy, you can target your time and effort to not only show up to the social party, but build real relationships with your connections.

There is a difference between using social media, utilizing it correctly, and leveraging it for the needs and goals of your business. Studies indicate that 33% of consumers use social networks as a way they discover new brands, products or services, and if you’re not doing social media the right way, it’s really easy for a consumer to be put off and move on.

Perhaps your business has a Facebook page, but it isn’t engaging with your fans. There’s the corporate Twitter account, but it’s produced only 14 tweets in the last year. And does it make sense for your small business to be invested in Pinterest if the account has been dormant? Businesses jumping in without a plan happens more often than not because it’s simple to register with an email, choose a handle, and go through the motions.

Successful social media players have more than just a presence. They’ve not only developed a strong social media plan, but they also allot real resources to engage and grow their user base on each network.

With Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, SlideShare, Pinterest, YouTube, Tumblr, and more, how do you choose which networks to plan around? It’s a common dilemma that faces thousands of business owners everyday.

Here are five important factors that will help not only develop a social media presence, but hopefully will open up new opportunities for business as well:

Realistic Metrics for Social Media Success

In order to achieve success, you first need to define what success will look like on social media.

Take a critical look at how you use social media now. Has it been working for you? Are you able to see any growth as a result? Do you know how to measure that growth?

Now, ask yourself what it is that you want to accomplish. Common social media goals can be enhancing customer awareness, promoting staff accomplishments, and sharing information about your company. Whatever your end goals may be, try to break them down into easily definable and measurable objectives. Be specific when you do this, so that you’ll be able to see definitively what is moving you towards completing these objectives.

As you get more of a feel for what social marketing can achieve, and what you need it to do for you, you’ll be able to refine your goals and make them more realistic. Also, this is a great time to review your overall marketing plan as you look for ways to increase your social media presence.

Active and Nurtured Community

Who is reaching out to you on social and is already, organically engaging with your brand? How can you nurture and grow that community in an authentic way that also supports your team’s overall marketing efforts?

What other methods could you use to connect with your audience, and how could you link your efforts to make them more effective? Define these personas and remember that they will determine your success or failure, so make sure that you know who they are, and how to best connect with them.

Content and Promotion

The Internet is a dynamic and evolving creature, which means that the content that you create for your social media has to be dynamic as well.

A common pitfall among many organizations is not having enough fresh and interesting content for social media. Strive for content that is relevant, current, and genuinely applicable to your audience today.

Plan ahead and dedicate resources for your social media efforts. It’s critical to have a content calendar to organize when you’re going to generate content and manage when the content will be pushed out.

Will you have employees who will write it, or do you plan to use freelancers? Decide who will be creating the assignments and monitoring the quality of the work, and ensure that your social media plan not only allows for regular updates and posts, but speaks the language of that particular social network.

Social Networks Relevant to Your Business

Focus on specific social media networks that will most help you attract and engage your audience.

This goes hand in hand with factor #2 above—the community you will be nurturing. How does your company want to connect with current and prospective customers. Is your brand voice personal or professional? Do you have resources for a two-way conversation, or will your strategy focus on broadcasting?

The demographics of your base are also important here. How old are they? What is their gender? Further defining your audience will greatly help you choose the social network that works best for your audience.

Open and Transparent Communication

The open-forum format of social media means your company will benefit from direct communication with your customers. In all interactions with customers on social, authenticity and transparency is key.

Allow customers to use social media to share their feedback—show appreciation for positive feedback with positive responses, and address negative feedback head-on. Don’t make the mistake of deleting negative posts. Instead, show your customers that they’ve been heard, apologize and accept responsibility, and when possible, use feedback to improve how you do business.

Make sure that whomever is in charge of social media knows how to respond, and is working closely with your internal PR team to manage these inevitable situations.

Source: Forbes Magazine – National Business Weekly (Published September 3, 2014; retrieved September 15, 2015) – http://www.forbes.com/sites/salesforce/2014/09/03/creating-winning-social-media-plan/

This foregoing article describes the heavy-lifting involved in optimizing the digital marketing efforts for the Caribbean touristic enterprises. This hard-work is worth the effort. The Returns-on-Investment is assured!

In previous Go Lean blogs, related points of the Agents of Change affecting tourism have been detailed; see sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210	Cruise Ship Commerce – Getting Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4639	Tobago: A Model for Cruise Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3225	The need to optimize Caribbean aviation policies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2571	Internet Commerce meets Sharing Economy: Airbnb
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1984	Casinos Failing Business Model within Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1943	The Future of Golf; Vital for Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US – # 2: Tourists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=254	The need to enhance Tourism with “Air Lifts”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=235	Tourism’s changing profile

This commentary has related the world of Thomas Cook the person, and reported that the business model he established has now passed on into history, just like him. The new players include entities like the Priceline Group and their series of companies – see Appendix – Priceline below. The stewardship of the past just simply no longer applies today.

It is what it is!

The Caribbean must lean-in to this new tourism business model; we must embrace the future present. With the empowerments and elevations in the Go Lean roadmap we can succeed in making the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play, for citizens and tourists alike. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——-

Appendix A – Thomas Cook

A pioneer of the [leisure] travel agency business, Thomas Cook‘s idea to offer excursions came to him while waiting for the stagecoach on the London Road at Kibworth [England]. With the opening of the extended Midland Counties Railway, he arranged to take a group of 540 temperance campaigners from Leicester Campbell Street station to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles away. On 5 July 1841, Thomas Cook arranged for the rail company to charge one “shilling” per person that included rail tickets and food for this train journey. Cook was paid a share of the fares actually charged to the passengers, as the railway tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have been issued at his own price. This was the first privately chartered excursion train to be advertised to the general public; Cook himself acknowledging that there had been previous, unadvertised, private excursion trains.^[34] During the following three summers he planned and conducted outings for temperance societies and Sunday-school children. In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway Company agreed to make a permanent arrangement with him provided he found the passengers. This success led him to start his own business running rail excursions for pleasure, taking a percentage of the railway tickets.

Four years later, he planned his first excursion abroad, when he took a group from Leicester to Calais [Northern France] to coincide with the Paris Exhibition in 1848. The following year he started his ‘grand circular tours’ of Europe. During the 1860s he took parties to Switzerland, Italy, Egypt and the United States. Cook established ‘inclusive independent travel’, whereby the traveller went independently but his agency charged for travel, food and accommodation for a fixed period over any chosen route. Such was his success that the Scottish railway companies withdrew their support between 1862 and 1863 to try the excursion business for themselves.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism#Emergence_of_leisure_travel

Book Thomas Cook Travel and Leisure Services directly at: https://www.thomascook.com/

——-

Appendix B – Priceline Group – A Giant in Electronic Travel Commerce

The Priceline Group [NASDAQ: PCLN], is a provider of online travel & related services to consumers and local partners in over 200 countries through six primary brands:

Booking.com – Hotel booking source, originating in Europe but now boasting 700,000 properties and 900,000 room nights/year.

Priceline.com – Online travel agency for Air, Hotel and Car Rentals products; originating in North America

Agoda.com – An Asian-based online hotel retailer.^[5]

KAYAK – Meta travel search company; originating in North America

Rentalcars.com – A multinational rental car service

OpenTable – Online restaurant-reservation service for about 31,000 global restaurants, sitting 15 million diners a month.^[2]

Collectively The Priceline Group operates in over 200 countries and territories in Europe, North America, South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa in over 40 languages.

Formerly known as Priceline.com LLC, the company was officially renamed in April 2014 to better to reflect its evolution as a company with multiple independently-operated brands.^[1] In 2014, Darren Huston was named Chief Executive Officer of The Priceline Group, a role previously held by Jeff Boyd.^[2]

——-

Appendix C – VIDEO – Booking.com TV Commercial – https://youtu.be/VG6Lt7_8uEw

Published on Jan 15, 2014 – What’s your hotel niche? Footwear? Eggs? Electric wind? If you’re into it, Booking.com knows where to “booking” find it. / “Planet Earth’s #1 Accommodation Site”.

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Farewell to ‘Sábado Gigante’

Posted on September 14, 2015 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

All good things come to an end!

As for the long-running Variety Show, ‘Sábado Gigante’, on the Spanish-language TV-network Univision, it is not “all good things”, its “Gigante” things.

Yes, the 53-year run is finally coming to an end.

This milestone deserves our consideration, as the Agents of Change for this iconic television show are the same factors identified as Agents of Change for Caribbean life in the book, Go Lean…Caribbean. They are identified as follows:

Technology
Globalization
Aging Diaspora

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). While this roadmap’s quest is economic empowerment, it clearly recognizes that music, dance and culture can play a key role in the elevation of any community. The Spanish-speaking Caribbean constitutes 59% of the population of the Caribbean region (see Appendix), and this community has loved ‘Sábado Gigante’, so this consideration is “muy importante”!

See the story here of the upcoming final broadcast of this Latin television mainstay:

Title: Farewell to “Sábado Gigante”
Miami, FL – September 14, 2015 – “Sábado Gigante” is a Spanish language TV phenomenon that has entertained audiences for decades, both in Latin America and here in the United States. This morning, Mo Rocca will show us:

If you like acrobats, animal acts, beautiful dancing girls, Zumba exhibitions, game show contests, talk show tears, and pretty much anything else under sun, “Sábado Gigante” is the show for you. It’s a variety show on steroids

“Sábado Gigante” (Spanish for Gigantic Saturday) airs every Saturday for three hours, and is watched by millions of people in the U.S. and in 40 countries around the world.

Fans wait in lines for hours in the Miami heat to be in the audience of this legendary broadcast. One woman drove four hours to attend. Big fan? “Yeah, we’ve been watching it since we were in diapers!” she laughed.

And the main reason for its gigante success? Don Francisco, the impresario, pitchman and ringleader of the “Sábado” circus. He’s been hosting the show for 53 years (that’s a world record).

In all that time, he’s missed only one Saturday, when his mother died in 1974. There’s never even been a rerun.

Rocca asked, “Who taught you to work so hard?”

“Maybe my father,” said Don Francisco, whose real name is Mario Luis Kreutzberger. He’s a 74-year-old Chilean-born son of refugees from Germany.

“They were German Jews,” he said. “And they fled during the Second World War, during the Holocaust, to Chile. Not because they choose Chile. That was the only option that they had.

“I was a kid in the middle of the war — even in my country, in Chile, half of the population, they were with the Germans. It was not easy to grow up in an environment like this.”

To make friends he’d have to be more like, well, a TV host. “I found an opportunity making jokes, doing shows for the school. And I was soon accepted by the majority.”

But after high school, he was sent by his father, a tailor, to New York City to learn the family trade. “I came in 1959. I was 19 years old. And I had only maybe 20 words in English.”

But it wasn’t the New York fashions that turned his head; it was that new-fangled contraption in his hotel room: The television. “When I put it on, I was amazed. That was a radio that you [were] able to see and to listen at the same time. That was my first contact with television. I said to myself, ‘My father’s wrong; I’m learning something that is before yesterday; this will be the future.'”

He returned to Chile determined, and in 1962 convinced a reluctant station manager to give him one hour of airtime on a Saturday. “Sábado Gigante” ran from 7:00 to 8:00. “Then he gave me from 6:00 to 8:00, 5:00 to 8:00, 4:00 to 8:00, 3:00 to 8:00, 2:00 to 8:00, 1:00 to 9:00. Eight hours, live, during 22 years,” Francisco said.

So, Rocca asked, “When did you go to the bathroom?”

“During the commercials. I was fast at that time, when I went to the bathroom!”

In 1986 Univision, the network that airs “Sábado Gigante,” moved the show’s production to Miami, the gateway to Latin America. And the show itself became a gateway to a mass Latin audience for future superstars like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, even U.S. presidents — all of them courting an audience that’s muy importante.

This son of German immigrants may be the most recognizable face in all of Latin America. Just take a walk with Don Francisco through Miami’s Bayside Market, where he is mobbed by fans from many countries, and you’ll get a sense of how far his reach extends.

One woman from Cuba asked Francisco why he was leaving “Sábado Gigante.” He replied, “I’m getting old.”

“You are not old!” she retorted. “Don’t leave the program!”

“Sábado Gigante” is ending its run next Saturday. Over the last few seasons the show’s ratings with younger viewers have fallen precipitously.

Still, as Rocca found out as a recent guest on the program, it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the loud, brash, flamboyant “Sábado Gigante”:

Rocca: “¡Cincuenta y tres años! Más que David Letterman. Más que Johnny Carson. Más que Jack Paar. ¡Usted es el rey de entretenimiento!”

Others have been called the King of Entertainment, but none has matched the reign of Don Francisco.

Source: Sunday Morning – CBS News Sunday Magazine; retrieved 09-14-2015 from: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/farewell-to-sabado-gigante/

———

Video Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-historic-run-of-sabado-gigante-comes-to-an-end

(VIDEO plays best in Internet Explorer).

This show has never been a paid-program; it has always been on free broadcast TV; (notwithstanding cable/satellite subscribers paying for the utility). It has always been paid for by the advertisers.

But show-business has changed. Television has changed…

… most TV shows are available online; plus there is now time-shifted viewing (DVR) and on-demand platforms offering an alphabetical menu of shows.

This Internet-Communications-Technology (ICT) driven Agent of Change is what impacts ‘Sábado Gigante’, and what impacts the Caribbean. The changing TV landscape affects the Caribbean region as well, or at least it should. The CU roadmap has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and marshal against economic crimes.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The ‘Sábado Gigante’ show has only had one host during its 53-year run. Don Francisco (Mario Luis Kreutzberger) is now 74 years old. Much of his audience has aged with him. This refers to the populations in Latin America and the Diaspora population residing in the US. The foregoing article refers to a definite declining youth dynamics of the show. The host has aged; the audience has aged; and there are less of them.

This is a bad formula for ad-supported television. The end has come, as advertisers seek a younger audience.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap recognizes the gravity of Latin music/entertainment to this region; and the dynamics of an emerging youth population. These demographics cannot be ignored by the planners of a new integrated Caribbean; (see Appendix).

The Go Lean book posits that while economics, security and governance are all important for the sustenance of Caribbean life, pursuits like art, culture, music, dance, and beauty are the reasons we want to live. “Work” is important in this roadmap, but so is “Play”. As we say farewell to ‘Sábado Gigante’, we also say farewell to Don Francisco. We salute him for a job – and life course – well done! We recognize him as a promoter of the arts, entrepreneur, industrialist and advocate for Latin culture. Don Francisco is hereby applauded as a role model that the rest of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Diaspora community can emulate. He has provided a successful track record of forging change, overcoming incredible odds, managing crises to successful conclusions and paying forward to benefit the next generation.

In terms of the future, the Go Lean book asserts that there is plenty of talent in the Caribbean. The genius qualifiers of many Caribbean men and women are already heightened; and there is a built-in audience to consume the appreciation of this talent. The goal now is foster the local eco-system in the homeland so as to optimize the media industries ourselves; for us and by us. If we continue to fail at this endeavor, we would continue to be faced with this harsh reality: those with talent would have to flee the region to garner the business returns on their artistic investments. Thusly, this Go Lean economic empowerment roadmap strategizes to create a Single Media Market to leverage the value of broadcast rights for the entire region, utilizing all the advantages of cutting edge ICT offerings. The result: an audience of 42 million people across 30 member-states and 4 languages, facilitating television, cable, satellite and internet streaming wherever economically viable.

Early in the book, the benefits of media and technology empowerment is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 & 14), with these opening statements:

xiii. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xiv. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

xv. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.

xxii. Whereas the heritage of our lands share the distinction of cultural tutelage from European and American imperialists that forged their tongues upon our consciousness, it is imperative to form a society that is neutral and tolerant of the mother tongue influences of our people to foster efficient and effective communications among our citizens.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The region has the eco-system of free broadcast television, and the infrastructure for internet streaming. So the issues being considered regarding the ‘Sábado Gigante’ finale have bearing in the execution of this roadmap.

The Go Lean roadmap was constructed with the community ethos in mind to forge change and build up the communities around the music/entertainment industry, plus the execution of related strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to make the change permanent. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Abundance of Talent	Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness – Appreciation of the Arts	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Consolidating All Caribbean Region in to a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Staffing – Music/Sporting Events at Fairgrounds	Page 55
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture & Sports Administration	Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration	Page 83
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities (Fairgrounds)	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #5 Four Languages in Unison / #8 Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – Intellectual Property Protections	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood – And the Media Industries	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Media Consumption	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – Media Priorities	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts – Respect for Intellectual Property	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Appendix – Caribbean Musical Genres – 169 in the 30 Member-States	Page 347

This commentary previously featured subjects related to developing the eco-systems of the music/entertainment business, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6022	Music Role Model ‘Ya Tafari’ – Celebrating in the Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5648	Music Role Model Taylor Swift Wields Benevolent Influence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4019	Watch the Super Bowl … Commercials
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3999	Breaking New Ground in the Changing Show-business Eco-System
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	‘We Built This City on ‘ …Show-business
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568	Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244	Media Role Model – Broadcasting/Internet Streaming: espnW.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171	Sports/Entertainment Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1092	Aereo – Model for the Future of TV Blending with the Internet
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US – # 9: Optimized Media Arts

Saturday September 19 will be the final broadcast of the show. ‘Sábado Gigante’ will be “Muy Mas Gigante”. According to the Music/Entertainment industry iconic magazine/e-Zine “Billboard”, major Latin music stars are confirmed for participation:

Title: ‘Sabado Gigante’ Final Episode: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, Daddy Yankee & More Stars Confirmed
The network confirmed to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter exclusively that the lineup of talent for the finale includes global superstar Shakira, Spanish heartthrob Enrique Iglesias, Colombian rocker Juanes, Mexican pop diva Paulina Rubio, Italian pop singer Laura Pausini, Latin urban king Daddy Yankee, salsa icon Marc Anthony, regional Mexican acts Espinoza Paz and Intocable, pop balladeer Luis Fonsi, bachata idol Prince Royce and the original crossover queen, Gloria Estefan. Their participation will be a mix of live performances and other surprises, the details of which will be revealed by Univision in the coming days.

The Go Lean book focuses primarily on economic issues, but it recognizes that music, dance and culture (indicative of a Variety Show) can build up a community, nation and region. So the quest to re-build, re-boot and re-tool the Caribbean must include dance, music and variety entertainment. This is remindful of the following movie quotation from V for Vendetta (2005).

Hero Character named “V”: Would you… dance with me?
Evey Hammond (Female Lead Character): Now? On the eve of your revolution?
V: A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having!
(Source: V for Vendata 1 of 126 notable quotations).

The Go Lean roadmap describes the heavy-lifting activities for the many people, organizations and governments to accomplish this goal of elevating the Caribbean … through economics … and song-and-dance.

This goal is conceivable, believable and achievable. Yes, we can make the region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——-

Appendix – Population of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean

Cuba*	11,236,444
Dominican Republic	9,523,209
Puerto Rico	3,994,259
Total Spanish Caribbean	24,753,912
All Caribbean Region	42,198,874
Percentile	58.66%

* While broadcast to Cuba may be blocked at present, the status quo of US-Cuban relations is changing daily.

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Managing the ‘Invisible Hand of the Market’

Posted on September 12, 2015 in Economics, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

So “who” does control the world? Or more exactly, who controls the world’s economy; how about the Caribbean economy? Are there entities trying to regulate and dictate the financial affairs of society?

The simple answer is Yes. Planners, forecasters, profit-seekers abound.

But, is there an all-benevolent power? Or worse, a malevolent one; a secret society trying to mold the world’s thoughts, feelings and actions into “its designs”. Conspiracy theories also abound, even for the limited Caribbean region. There is the historic fact that there are Special Interest Groups and Crony-Capitalists looking to exploit public resources for private gains; these “bad actors” are always there, always present. In addition, there are also bad government policies of rent-seeking, which are frequently manifested in the Caribbean region. (See recent news article here: http://freeport.nassauguardian.net/News/CCC–Lower-global-oil-costs-should-lower-power-bills).

It is the assertion of this commentary that the Caribbean market economy has often fallen prey to controlling forces – governments, industries, Direct Foreign Investors – looking to control the environment for their advantage. Many times though, these controlling forces have good intentions and altruistic motives seeking the Greater Good, but they may not have been equipped with the proper tools and techniques for effective oversight.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the underlying movement seeks to bring the proper tools and techniques to the Caribbean region to optimize the stewardship of the economic, security and governing engines. The book posits that the economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, with technocratic management – stewardship – better than the status quo.

Will these new economic stewards then become some secret society that fosters the power and control of Caribbean economy and society? While this is not the design, there is the need to examine the full width-and-breath of controlling institutions. There is a contrast in theories; on the one hand there is the theory of the unknown, as in the benign Invisible Hand of the Market, on the other hand, there is the reality of secret societies controlling the market, as in the historic Illuminati.

Brace yourself for the details.

Invisible Hand
This consideration stems back to the Father of Macro-Economics, Adam Smith, the 18th century Scottish political economics pioneer, and his landmark book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This publication is cited as a reference source in the book Go Lean…Caribbean – a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the Caribbean region. A relevant quote from the Go Lean book follows (Page 67):

… The “Invisible Hand” is a frequently referenced theme from Smith’s book. He refers to “the support of domestic industry” and contrasts that support with the importation of goods. Neoclassical economic theory has expanded the metaphor beyond the domestic/foreign manufacture argument to encompass nearly all aspects of economics. The “invisible hand” of the market is a metaphor now to describe the self-regulating behavior of the marketplace. …

Consider this VIDEO on the Invisible Hand:

VIDEO 1: The Invisible Hand – 60 Second Adventures in Economics – https://youtu.be/ulyVXa-u4wE

Published on Sep 5, 2012 – Economist, Adam Smith, used the term the Invisible Hand to describe the self-regulating nature of the market place – a core concept for so-called free-marketeers.

Illuminati
The actual definition of the Illuminati is more vague and non-specific. Though it is rooted in history and fact, there is more fiction and fantasy associated with this concept. Consider the encyclopedic reference here:

Encyclopedic Reference: Illuminati
The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, “enlightened”) is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. The society’s goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life and abuses of state power. “The order of the day,” they wrote in their general statutes, “is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them.”^[1] The Illuminati—along with Freemasonry and other secret societies—were outlawed through edict, by the Bavarian ruler, Charles Theodore, with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 1787 and 1790.^[2] In the several years following, the group was vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed that they continued underground and were responsible for the French Revolution.

In subsequent use, “Illuminati” refers to various organizations which claim or are purported to have links to the original Bavarian Illuminati or similar secret societies, though these links are unsubstantiated. They are often alleged to conspire to control world affairs, by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations, in order to gain political power and influence and to establish a New World Order. Central to some of the most widely known and elaborate conspiracy theories, the Illuminati have been depicted as lurking in the shadows and pulling the strings and levers of power in dozens of novels, movies, television shows, comics, video games, and music videos.

Modern Illuminati
Several recent and present-day fraternal organisations claim to be descended from the original Bavarian Illuminati and openly use the name “Illuminati”. Some of these groups use a variation on the name “The Illuminati Order” in the name of their own organizations,^[27][28] while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, have “Illuminati” as a level within their organization’s hierarchy. However, there is no evidence that these present-day groups have amassed significant political power or influence, and rather than trying to remain secret, they promote unsubstantiated links to the Bavarian Illuminati as a means of attracting membership.^[19]

Popular culture – Modern conspiracy theory
The Illuminati did not long survive their suppression in Bavaria, and their further mischief and plottings in the work of Barruel and Robison must be considered as the invention of the writers.^[3] However, writers such as Mark Dice,^[29] David Icke, Texe Marrs, Jüri Lina and Morgan Gricar have argued that the Bavarian Illuminati have survived, possibly to this day.

Many modern conspiracy theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati.^[30][31] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidents of the United States are a common target for such claims.^[32][33]

Other theorists contend that a variety of historical events were orchestrated by the Illuminati, from the Battle of Waterloo, the French Revolution and President John F. Kennedy’s assassination to an alleged communist plot to hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry.^[34][35]

Some conspiracy theorists claim that the Illuminati observe Satanic rituals.^[36][37] [See Samples & Examples in the Appendix-VIDEOs below.]

Criticism and satire of this theory has became so common that it is now a minor internet meme, with users identifying triangles in pieces of media, superimposing the Annuit cœptis over the triangle and then (usually in the form of an image macro) proclaiming that said work is a work of the Iluminati.^{[citation needed]}

Novels
The Illuminati, or fictitious modern groups called the Illuminati, play a central role in the plots of many novels, for example The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. They also make an appearance in Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. A mixture of historical fact and established conspiracy theory, or pure fiction, is used to portray them.
Source: Wikipedia – Online Encyclopedia (Retrieved 09/10/2015) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati

There is serious discussions around the subject of “controlling institutions”, from “pundits and peons” alike. A poignant reference for this consideration is the acclaimed Professor, Author, Scientist, and Social Justice Activist Noam Chomsky. See his VIDEO interview on this subject here:

VIDEO 2: “Who does control the world?” – Noam Chomsky – BBC interview 2003 – https://youtu.be/rqznqIpkZz0

Published on Feb 21, 2015 – Noam Chomsky BBC interview 2003 , http://www.betterworldlinks.org/
Also very important information about capitalism you will find here: Prof. Richard Wolff https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB-5…, Ecosocialism, climate justice, degrowth – Joanna Cabello [Carbontradewatch] – Daniel Tanuro [Ecosocialist International Network] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csuHt…

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the accompanying movement does not dwell in conspiracy theories, but it does identify and relate the damaging affects of Special Interest and Crony-Capitalists. This does not surmise that the whole world is being controlled by some secret society, but rather certain industries and government policies. (See reference to Wall Street’s Shadow Influences in this prior blog/commentary here: https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397).

The Go Lean roadmap therefore seeks to neutralize all Crony-Capitalistic and plutocratic influence in Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines. Further one previous blog/commentary, related how many entitlements were legacies stemming from Royal Charters and the resultant effects on powerful families, though not secret-based. This blog concluded with the remediation to assuage this bad legacy.

This book and subsequent 340+ blogs (as of this date) posit that the Caribbean can even do better than our American counterparts, that rather than being parasites, we can be protégés and maybe even provide American communities our model on how to build a progressive society to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs stress that the region can re-boot and turn-around by forging new societal institutions to empower the region with transparency. This point was vividly pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these pronouncements:

Preamble: As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of [other] communities.

This is the quest of Go Lean…Caribbean, to impact the Caribbean, and make the homeland a better place in which to live, work and play. In general, the CU will employ better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate internal and external threats.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states / 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the stability of our mediums of exchange (Currency)	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Post WW II European Marshall Plan Model	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Haiti Marshall Plan	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Local Government and the Social Contract	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previousWest Indies Federation	Page 135
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Optimizing Economic-Financial-Monetary Engines	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Omaha – Human Flight Mitigations	Page 138
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238
Appendix – Failed-State Index for Uneven Economic Development	Page 272
Appendix – European Shuffling in the Guianas – Historic Timeline	Page 307

This Go Lean movement represents the effort to remediate Caribbean societies now. We need to focus on reality, not be overwhelmed with conspiracy theories – see Appendix-VIDEOs below. Yes, there are “controlling institutions”; there is the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Money Center Banks (Wall Street) with global outreach; there are Special Interest Groups; there are Crony-Capitalists; there are profit-seekers and rent-seeking (especially in the Caribbean region). These constitute bad community ethos that need to be identified, qualified and remediated.

It is the assertion of this roadmap that the Caribbean market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress.

The Go Lean roadmap focuses on fostering good community ethos.

Our quest is simple, to positive impact the future, with open and transparent policies intended for the Greater Good. Yes, we can!

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——

Appendix VIDEOs: Illuminati Conspiracy Theories Samples & Examples

https://youtu.be/g4hJwucOrwI – Illuminati Slip on CNBC

https://youtu.be/Eet307SQv7o – Exposing The Darkness: Music Artists Expose Satan’s NWO & Industry.

https://youtu.be/ct0StLPZI7Q – Illuminati compilation clips 100% real

https://youtu.be/m29wwgzyaJI – Madonna SuperBowl Half Time Show – Filled with Imagery?

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Crony-Capitalism, Model, Power

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Education & Economics: Welcome Mr. President

Posted on September 10, 2015 in Economics, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

There is a concept in the field of Econometrics and Statistics, that numbers can tell any lie. Proponents and opponents can look at the same numbers and draw different conclusions. Consider:

An 8-ouce glass with 4 ounces of water.
It is half full.
It is half empty.

So while numbers can be a source of great debate in the planning and forecasting process, there comes the time where the “rubber meets the road”, where there is no more planning or interpretation, it is just reality; it then becomes this scenario:

“It is what it is”.

This is the reality facing the Detroit Metro-area School District for Farmington, Michigan. This week was back-to-school, the start of a new academic school year, and the reality is:

There are not enough students and too many schools.

What’s a community to do?

See the VIDEO here:

VIDEO #1 Title: Farmington Hills school district weighs closures – http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/farmington-hills-school-district-weighs-closures/35186390

Detroit, MI – The Farmington Hills school district says it has too much space and too few students.

This news report aligns with the movement promoting the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The publication took an assessment of the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines and then declared … a crisis! The same as the Detroit-area is in crisis after decades of societal decline in their societal engines; to the point that there are now not enough students to fill the class rooms. The Caribbean is suffering a similar fate of dysfunction. The schools buildings in the Farmington District are still there; the teachers are still hired, (under labor contracts); the school buses still roam the city for pick-up and drop-off; food supplies still have to be delivered, prepared and served to the available students. But now there are less of them, and less monies accordingly. (The State of Michigan, like most US States, provides education grants to each school district based on the number of students).

This is the case in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan USA. The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean are here to “observe and report” the turn-around and rebirth of the once-great-but-now-distressed City of Detroit and its metropolitan area. The foregoing article/VIDEO relates to topics that are of serious concern, demographics of the community. The numbers cannot be ignored! Declining populations are a problem and the consequences are dire.

School closures are only one symptom.

This is a lesson for the Caribbean!

Problems like “brain drain”, “retiring baby-boomers”, “having less babies”, “education policy” are all very relevant for the societal concerns of the any community, including the Caribbean.

This latter point – education policy – is the focus of this commentary. (College education in particular).

This is a concern for Detroit and other American cities. To the extent that US President Barack Obama came to Detroit, yesterday (September 9, 2015) to advocate for a change in government policy for education. Mr. Obama recognizes that there is the need to re-boot the American tertiary education eco-system to better adapt to the changing workplace and job markets. Without the ability to supply the market with the labor force being demanded, communities will just continue to lose out on population growth and economic growth. The situation would go from good … to bad, to worse, to Detroit. 🙁

This is why the President was here (Metro Detroit) in January, and again yesterday. See the VIDEO here of his September 9^th visit:

VIDEO #2 Title: Obama touts retraining, reinvention in Warren speech – http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/obama-touts-retraining-reinvention-in-warren-speech/35186446

Detroit, MI – President Barack Obama touted retraining and reinvention in his speech at Macomb Community College.

We need to apply these lessons in the Caribbean. Education policy has been devastating for this region. Rather than the usual gains, we have experienced declines due to the implementation of education policy in the region. This point has been echoed in many previous Go Lean blog/commentaries. See sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5482	For-Profit Education: Plenty of Profit; Little Education
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5423	Extracurricular Music Programs Boost Students
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4913	Ann Arbor: Model for ‘Start-up’ Cities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4572	Role Model: Innovative Educator Ron Clark
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4487	FAMU is No. 3 for Facilitating Economic Opportunity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1256	Is a Traditional 4-year Degree a Terrible Investment?

This commentary is a big proponent for the Caribbean of the type of education reform being touted by President Obama. But this commentary is a big opponent of Caribbean stakeholders leaving their homeland to matriculate in these American schools. Our track record cannot be ignored, for far too often, our Caribbean students have not returned, contributing further to our brain drain and societal abandonment problem. We need this Obama-promoted education reform, but we need it in the Caribbean, for the Caribbean.

Change has now come. The driver of this change is technology and globalization. Under the tenants of globalization, the conflict is a Trade War. There are offensive and defensive battles. Caribbean institutions must be able to attract foreign students to study in the region, not just have local students study abroad. Otherwise, we can never compete in this education trade wars. It will be all “give” and no “take” for us.

How do we re-boot the region’s education eco-systems for this Trade War?

The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on reforming the Caribbean tertiary education systems, economy, governance and Caribbean society as a whole. The roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence, pronouncing the approach of regional integration (Page 12 & 14) as a viable solution to elevate the region’s educational opportunities:

xix.    Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores …

xxi.    Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxvii.    Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

This book Go Lean… Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This represents change for the region. The CU/Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book details how education is a vital consideration for Caribbean economic empowerment, but with lessons-learned from all the flawed decision-making by the Caribbean in the past and from other communities like Detroit. The vision of the CU is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean to do the heavy-lifting of championing better educational policies. The book details those policies (like online learning; forgive-able student loans), the community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to succeed in the education reform quest in the region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Education without Risk of Abandonment	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Education Department	Page 85
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Labor Department – Job Training	Page 89
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – Online Options	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Student Loans – Forgive-able Options	Page 160
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Better Managed the Social Contract – Education Optimizations	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries	Page 187
Appendix – Education and Economic Growth	Page 258
Appendix – Measuring Education	Page 266

The US is the world’s largest Single Market economy and yet they are failing in some communities, i.e. Detroit. Let’s learn from this… and do better.

We want to only model some of the American example. We want to foster a education climate to benefit the Greater Good of the Caribbean, and not repeat bad mistakes.

Those are the lessons from Detroit and the Caribbean past.

It is time now to graduate from this “school … of thought”. It is time to lean-in to the reform, re-boot and empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. It is time to work to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work, learn and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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College, Detroit, ICT, Jobs, Model, Transform

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Puerto Rico Bondholders Coalition Launches Ad Campaign

Posted on September 9, 2015 in Economics, Government, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

The book Go Lean … Caribbean was spot on! It reported in 2013 when published, that the assessment of Puerto Rico was dire:

The Greece of the Caribbean.

Then again in previous blogs, this commentary detailed the desperate solutions being sought by the ailing Puerto Rico (April 2014). The island is between ‘a rock and a hard place’ (March 2015)!

Now this new article reports how the governmental administrations of this territory are willing to short-change investors and renege on financial promises that were made to previous bondholders. This is bad for the island’s credit rating and country risk assessments. This gross disregard for the “Full Faith and Credit” is egregious; rather the credit image of any state government should be jealously protected. This story – see here – fully describes the urgent need to reboot the economic, security and governing engines of this island:

Title: Puerto Rico bondholders coalition launches ad campaign

WASHINGTON, DC — Main Street Bondholders Coalition, a project of the 60 Plus Association, America’s largest center-right seniors organization representing more than 7.2 million older Americans, has launched a paid advertising campaign in Washington and Puerto Rico to highlight what it describes as Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s plan to violate Puerto Rico’s constitution at the expense of small bondholders.

“Governor Garcia Padilla’s plan – to declare debts un-payable and then attack bondholders by calling them ‘vultures’ – is both unjust and unconstitutional. Our coalition includes Puerto Rican residents and mainland seniors living on fixed incomes, who staked their retirement in bonds backed by Puerto Rico’s full faith and credit. Congress must oppose the governor and his team’s reckless plan that disregards the rule of law and devastates the lives of these small investors,” said Matthew Kandrach, vice-president for 60 Plus.

Padilla’s plan is so radical and unprecedented that members of his own political party are speaking out against it:

Nadal Power, chairman of Puerto Rican Senate Committee on Treasury and Public Finance: “We have to respect what the Constitution says and to do otherwise would take away a lot of credibility, not only the word of Puerto Rico, but compliance with the supreme law.”

Eduardo Bhatia, president of the Senate of Puerto Rico: “Puerto Rico has not been disciplined. We must restore confidence. We have to reduce government spending.”

Added Kandrach, “Puerto Rico can fix its financial problems, but any solution must be built on the cornerstone of genuine fiscal reform, not empty rhetoric and punishing investors. The governor and his circle of advisors, who are the same bunch representing deadbeat sovereigns like Argentina, have chosen to manufacture a crisis in order to get Washington’s help in their plan to stiff creditors. Congress must not allow that to happen.

“Puerto Rico would benefit from a fiscal control board, just like the District of Columbia had in the 1990s when it faced financial crisis. Congress must also oppose the governor’s plan to restructure Puerto Rico’s constitutional bonds. Allowing him to do so would set a terrible precedent, and open a Pandora’s Box of other state defaults. No retirement account in America would be safe.”

Main Street Bondholders Coalition is a project of the 60 Plus Association that is made up of small bondholders from across America who are committed to a policy process that returns Puerto Rico to sound financial management, respects the rule of law, and protects their retirement savings.
Source: Caribbean News Now – Regional Online News Source – Retrieved 09-09-2015 http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Puerto-Rico-bondholders-coalition-launches-ad-campaign-27533.html

The summary of this news article is that it looks like Puerto Rico is “cruising for a bruising”, flirting with Bankruptcy. They resemble a Failed-State in some Banana Republic, rather than an American sovereign territory in the southern shadows of its bigger-richer mainland. This reflects a broken eco-system.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap to re-boot the island’s economic engines. The focus of the roadmap is the introduction and implementation of the region-wide professionally-managed, deputized technocracy of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap asserts that the problems of Puerto Rico (by extension, the entire Caribbean) are too big for any one member-state to solve alone. There is the need to leverage the problems and solutions across the remaining of the Caribbean region; all 30 member-states.

The CU roadmap is a request for Puerto Rico to confederate with the rest of the Caribbean, their English-speaking, Dutch-speaking, French-speaking Caribbean neighbors; despite their political status. Puerto Rico needs the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that would emerge from such integration. As reported in the previous April 2014 blog:

Puerto Rico needs the CU!
The CU needs Puerto Rico!

For the roadmap to be successful there is interdependence among these Caribbean member-states, since they are all too small. There is an overbearing need for leverage and economies-of-scale. This point was declared early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11 – 14), with these statements:

viii. Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent Overseas Territory of imperial powers, the systems of governance can be instituted on a regional and local basis, rather than requiring oversight or accountability from distant masters far removed from their subjects of administration. The Federation must facilitate success in autonomous rule by sharing tools, systems and teamwork within the geographical region.

xxv. Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.

xxix. Whereas all Caribbean democracies depend of the free flow of capital for municipal, public and private financing, the institutions of capital markets can be better organized around a regional monetary union. The Federation must institute the controls to insure transparency, accounting integrity and analysis independence of the securities markets, thereby shifting the primary source of capital away from foreign lenders to domestic investors, comprising institutions and individuals.

The CU requires the full participation of all 30 member-states in the region. A careful assessment of government finances, performed for the Go Lean book, shows that the finances for all Caribbean member-state governments are curtailed – the region is in crisis. One state after another feature deficits or excessive high Debt-to-GDP rates. (The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank have monitors permanently stationed in the region). For many states, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis still lingers.

To assuage the economic crisis for Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean member-states, the Go Lean roadmap focuses on both increasing revenues, lowering operational expenses, and refinancing previous high-interest debt instruments (bonds). The roadmap is a complete re-boot! Imagine new revenue streams and a separation-of-powers to off-load some of the operational burdens to the CU Trade Federation. These are the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap, pronounced as these 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean introduces the CU so as to assume much of the Caribbean economic, security and governing functionality. The roadmap makes Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play. How? By the adoption of a series of community ethos, plus the execution of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to elevate the societal engines of the region and to stop any downward spiral into Failed-State status. See the lists here:

Assessment – Caribbean Single Market & Economy	Page 15
Assessment – Dutch Caribbean – Integration & Secessions	Page 16
Assessment – French Caribbean – Organization & Discord	Page 17
Assessment – Puerto Rico – The Greece of the Caribbean	Page 18
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Forging the Single Market for the whole region	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce	Page 129
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Egypt – Dysfunction in a Tourism Mecca	Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Credit Ratings	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories	Page 244

The Go Lean roadmap alerts the Caribbean – the 42 million people, 10 million Diaspora and 80 million visitors – that the effort to elevate the societal engines is heavy-lifting. This is no easy task, serious-minded leadership is necessary. There can be no reneging of commitments and repayments of previous bond obligations, as related in the foregoing news article and this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Puerto Rico on brink of debt default – https://youtu.be/BBwtxF52OrE

Published on Aug 3, 2015 – Envision Capital Management CEO Marilyn Cohen explains how Puerto Rico got into poor fiscal shape.
Category: News & Politics
License: Standard YouTube License

There must be new solutions that considers the pasts, accepts the present and fosters the future.

Change has come to the Caribbean. Puerto Rico and all neighboring member-states are admonished to lean-in to the empowerments and elevation described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are needed urgently now! We need the emergence of a $800 Billion regional economy, 2.2 million new jobs. We need the Caribbean homelands to become better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Tragic images show refugee crisis at a tipping point in Europe

Posted on September 3, 2015 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

You break it, you buy it!

Though this policy is not codified in law, this seems to be the de facto standard for handling other people’s property.

But the issue in this commentary is not property, it is people.

The people of the Failed-State countries of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are desperate and fleeing for their lives to get out of those war-torn countries to find relief. These ones risk their lives, and the lives of their children, to turn “sure defeat” into a fighting chance for life. It’s a bet – a gamble – and many times, these ones lose.

The name of a young toddler is now surfacing to give a name (and face) to his tragedy. Young Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee, drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, trying to make it to shore with his parents. See the images here:

VIDEO: Tragic images show refugee crisis at a tipping point in Europe – http://www.today.com/video/tragic-images-show-refugee-crisis-at-a-tipping-point-in-europe-518578243727

Posted September 3, 2015 – Hundreds of thousands of refugees are risking their lives to reach Europe this year, 20,000 overwhelming a small Greek island in just the last week, with thousands drowning and dying in what’s become the biggest mass migration since WWII. NBC’s Bill Neely reports for TODAY.

“There but for the Grace of God go I” – Old Expression

From the Caribbean perspective, we have seen this tragedy before, again and again. Just recently – in January – this commentary related the same tragedies in Caribbean member-states with refugees endangering their lives to leave places like Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. We understand the full breadth-and-width of Failed-States.

The toddler – Aylan Kurdi – in the foregoing photo deserves better. It is hoped that these images that were published Wednesday with his soaked red shirt, blue bottoms and tiny velcro-strap shoes that washed up on the beach in the Turkish resort of Bodrum, would ricochet across traditional and social media and be hailed as emblematic of the desperate and deadly refugee struggle to reach Europe.

These were plastered on international front pages on Thursday. This boy’s tragic life and death will not be in vain. The situation in these Failed-State countries (Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan) must be addressed. See Appendix below.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for elevating the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, a few near Failed-State status. The book does not target Middle-East countries in its mitigation and remediation plans – Caribbean only – but we seek to learn lessons from the handling of this crisis.

The 5-Step leading-learning curve is normally:

1. Look, 2. Listen, 3. Learn, 4. Lend-a-hand and then 5. Lead.

We cannot lead in this case, but we can lend-a-hand, (contribute to any international relief campaign). We can also learn how to minimize Failed-State risks within our region.

So who should take the lead for fixing the Middle East Failed-State dysfunctions or the refugee crisis into Europe?

According to the opening quotation of this commentary: those who broke it. (Notice, in the foregoing VIDEO, that the refugees are targeting NATO countries).

The US and Western Europe are perhaps more directly responsible. They are the ones, in multi-national coalitions, that toppled the strong governments of Afghanistan and Iraq, then sat aside and allowed ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) to form with the hope of overthrowing the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. (So far, ISIS, has become its own “Frankenstein Monster”, to say the least, creating more distress and becoming its own threat). See Appendix below.

The Middle East is not easy!

In 2008 the newly elected US President, Barack Obama, vowed to exit US forces from Afghanistan and Iraq. He succeeded. The “laws of unintended consequences” may now have taken reign.

As for the Caribbean, we are on the periphery of this issue. Yes, we are allied to the United States and their enemies do tend to lash out at American allies. So we do have the “Sum of All Fears” that Al-Qaeda, ISIS or some other terrorist group would secure a “dirty bomb” nuclear device and detonate it in the Caribbean. But the biggest concern must be the slow creep of Failed-State status. This point was pronounced early in the Go Lean book as a motivation and a basis for confederation among Caribbean neighbors; there are the applicable statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12):

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed-state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xiii. Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states (for example: Haiti and Cuba) will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). With a branding name like Trade Federation, obviously the scope of elevating Caribbean society starts with economics. But the CU must seek to optimize the security dynamics in addition to economic empowerments. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate challenges/threats to ensure public safety for the region’s stakeholders.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book contends that though terrorism may not be a scourge on Caribbean life presently, new “bad actors” will eventually emerge to exploit the new economic successes envisioned in the Go Lean roadmap. The CU/Go Lean Strategy statement is quoted as follows (Page 46):

Fix the broken systems of governance in our region and deter against movements towards Failed-States, and any preying upon our people. We must protect the most vulnerable among us and guarantee the human/civil rights of our women and minorities.

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize the societal engines of the region, to stop any downward spiral into Failed-State status. See the lists here:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Focus on Youth & Progress	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate region into a Single Market Economy	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change – Increase in Droughts and Floods	Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Federal Courts – Truth & Reconciliation Commissions	Page 75
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas … in the Caribbean Region – Haiti & Cuba	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Model the EU – From Worst to First	Page 130
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed – Germany Reconciliation Model	Page 132
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Cuba & Haiti on the List	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – European post-war rebuilding	Page 139
Planning – Lessons from Egypt – Arab Spring	Page 143
Planning – Lessons from the US Constitution – Gradual Optimization	Page 145
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History – Reconciliations with Indigenous Peoples	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Help Women	Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Dominican Republic – Need for Reconciliations	Page 237
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Jamaica – Mitigate Migrations & Brain Drain	Page 239

In previous blog commentaries, the related issues of Caribbean migration and refugee-seeking were fully explored. See sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759	Pressed by Debt Crisis, Doctors Leave Greece in Droves
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4809	Americans arrested for aiding ISIS
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3662	Migrant flow into US from Caribbean spikes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2907	Local Miami Haitian leaders protest Bahamian immigration policy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809	A Lesson in History: Economics of East Germany
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531	A Lesson in History: World War I Ethnic Cleansing
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433	Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623	Only at the precipice, do they change

All of the Caribbean needs to pay more-than-the-usual attention to the crisis with these Middle East Failed-States and the resultant refugee influx into Europe.

“There but for the Grace of God go I”

The remediation and mitigations in the Go Lean book are best-practices to minimize the push-pull factors for our own societal abandonment, and downward spirals into Failed-States. Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in this roadmap. Let’s show the world how to re-boot Failed-States and how to forge better conditions in a homeland. Let’s truly make the Caribbean better places to live, work, and play. 🙂

… and R.I.P. little Aylan Kurdi. We will not soon forget you. 🙁

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——–

Appendix – Middle East Failed States

Afghanistan

A landlocked country, with a population of approximately 32 million people; it is located within South Asia and Central Asia between Iran and Pakistan. The recent history features a series of coups in the 1970s and was followed by a Soviet invasion and a series of civil wars that devastated much of Afghanistan.

The September 11 attacks on the United States were perpetrated by known terrorist Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement. The US demanded that the then-Taliban government hand him over.^[122] After refusing to comply, the October 2001 Operation Enduring Freedom was launched by the US to topple the Taliban government. During the initial invasion, US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps. The United States began working with the Northern Alliance to remove the Taliban from power.^[123] American forces remained until the official end of the war on December 28, 2014. However, thousands of US-led NATO troops have remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces.^[138] The 2001-present war has resulted in between 185,000 and 249,000 deaths, which includes civilians, insurgents and government forces. A Taliban insurgency remains, to this day.

Iraq

This country is situated near the Arabian Peninsula and sits in between Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and Kuwait. The largest ethnic groups in Iraq are Arabs and Kurds. Other ethnic groups include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians and Kawliya.^[6] Around 95% of the country’s 36 million citizens are Shia or Sunni Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism and Mandeanism also present.

Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party from 1968 until 2003. After an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Hussein‘s Ba’ath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011,^[9] but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country. Civil strife continues to this day with conflicts among the ethnic and religious sects.

Syria

A country of 18 million people, on the coast of the Mediterranean; it is made up of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, it is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Circassians,^[8] Mandeans^[9] and Turks. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans and Yazidis. Sunni Arabs make up the largest population group in Syria. Since March 2011, Syria has been embroiled in an uprising against Assad and the Ba’athist government as part of the Arab Spring, a crackdown which contributed to the Syrian Civil War and Syria becoming among the least peaceful countries in the world.^[16]

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China’s Caribbean Playbook: America’s Script

Posted on September 2, 2015 in Economics, Locations, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

China has invested heavily in the Caribbean, as of recent; see list here of selected announcements since January 2014:

New $250 Million Hotel Project – The Pointe – Breaks Ground in Nassau

Big China-Bahamas project – Baha Mar – Still embroiled in legal wrangling

A New $2 Billion Caribbean Resort Project in Grenada

Is This Island – Puerto Rico – China’s Next Caribbean Investment Target?

The Caribbean’s Big New Canal Project – backed by China

Antigua and Barbuda Closer to Completion of New Airport Terminal – built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation

China to Build More Homes in Grenada

Dominica, China Sign Agreement on $16 Million in Projects

Barbados, China Talk Agriculture

Trinidad, China Talk Infrastructure

British Virgin Islands Signs Agreements With Delegations From China

Just what is China’s motive, their end game?

Should we be leery or should we just embrace [the badly needed] help from whatever sources?

How much of this questioning is influenced by a pro-American yearning? Pro-Christian yearning? Fear of strangers? Racist under-valuing of non-White/European races?

There is the need for the Caribbean to take stock of its thoughts-feelings-actions and give all of these questions serious deliberation.

If this Golden Rule is true: “he who has the gold makes the rules”, then we will be held to account to stakeholders in China, as their many state-own companies are definitely “bringing gold” to the table. This was vividly communicated in a previous (2014) China-Caribbean Trade/Business Summit:

“Latin America has much to gain from deepening its relationship with China, just as China has much to gain from our region,” said Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). “For our governments, this is a strategic priority. But much of the day-to-day building of those links will fall on the private sector.”

China joined the IDB as a shareholder in 2009, and is now the top trade partner for several countries in the region, including Brazil and Chile.

Trade between Latin America and the Caribbean and China is expected to double in the next decade. …

Source: http://caribjournal.com/2014/09/15/china-holds-business-summit-with-latin-america-caribbean/

The book Go Lean…Caribbean anticipates the participation of Direct Foreign Investments in the Caribbean community. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU will serve as an integrated entity to shepherd progress and optimization among the region’s societal engines for economics, security and governance. This is to be likened to a Confederated Command of Allied Forces for battles in a “Trade War”.

This aligns with the CU/Go Lean roadmap, as the focus of CU is about Trade, not politics; thus the CU branding is Trade Federation. The experience and wisdom of this roadmap was derived from successes and failures in 2008 Trade Wars.

China is officially a Communist country. But these referenced headlines do not refer to politics nor any Chinese influence of the region’s politics; not even any pressure to lean politically. It is only about trade and succeeding in a global “Trade War”.

China, with its Communist leaning is also officially atheist but truthfully, their de facto policy is religious agnosticism; they simply tolerate them all. (Many religions abound in that 1.2 Billion population, consider: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and the toleration of Western religions). The publisher of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, SFE Foundation, is a Community Development Foundation; it shares many of these same ideals. This was related in the book’s opening chapter with this Who We Are statement:

The SFE Foundation is not a person; it’s an apolitical, religiously-neutral, economic-focused movement, initiated at the grass-root level to bring change back to the Caribbean … There is an old observation/expression that states that “there are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder ‘what happened?’“ Principals of SFE Foundation were there in 2008 … on the inside looking out, not the outside looking in. Understanding the anatomy of the modern macro economy, allows the dissection of the processes and the creation of viable solutions.

This focus on trade is very familiar.

This is the same playbook of the United States of America in building the world’s largest Single Market economy. (Remember, with the Army Corp of Engineers, the US built the Panama Canal, but with more strings attached). China is simply following the same American script – minus the cronyism and militarism – of promoting trade of their products, services and capital.

Capital? Yes, many of the projects highlighted in the foregoing news articles are being financed by China’s state-owned banks and lending institutions. They are “putting their money, where their mouth is”. These are economic battles only! See US President Barack Obama’s comments on China’s Caribbean motives in the Appendix-VIDEO below.

As a region, with numerous Failed-States, can we really quiver over the nationality of our benefactors; can we question the ethnicity of the “Cavalry that has come to our rescue”? Hardly! We have to just manage with whatever refuge being offered, to allow us to better cover our basic needs.

For example, healthcare delivery is still a major concern in the Caribbean. According to the following article, the member-state of Jamaica needs to expand their number of hospital beds … and a China-backed project is facilitating this quest:

Title: China to Fund $511 Million Project at University of the West Indies
By: Dana Niland, Contributor, Caribbean Journal – Online News Source; (posted 08/28/2015; retrieved 09/02/2015 from:
http://caribjournal.com/2015/08/28/china-to-fund-511-million-project-at-university-of-the-west-indies/)

The University of the West Indies and China Harbour Engineering Company (see Appendix) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a $511 million USD development project.

The project will include the expansion of the University Hospital from 500 to 1,000 beds, an upgrade to the College Commons, the building of a 100-room hotel, and a new center for sporting activities.

The expansion will also include the addition of a cogeneration plant to supply electricity and to feed the cooling system for the campus.

Addressing the signing ceremony at the UWI Mona Campus, Professor Archibald McDonald said that the realignment of the hospital’s structure was necessary to promote efficiency and to put the institution in a position to serve the wider region.

“This will have all the modern facilities. The Government of Jamaica invests a large portion of its budget to the [UHWI]; therefore, the University Hospital has to give back to the people of Jamaica. It has to supplement the Government’s hospitals, and provide a higher level of care,” he said.

Jamaican Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson also praised the arrangement.

“I am satisfied that the direction [in which] they are going will preserve and protect the most vulnerable within our society, and ensure that health care is not out of the reach of ordinary citizens,” Ferguson said.

The project in this article is not solely for Jamaica, but rather, it is within the charter of the University of the West Indies; so there is a regional focus.

The underlying motivation of the Go Lean book is brotherly love. Therefore who so ever, brings a solution to impact the Greater Good for the Caribbean people must be embraced, despite their political affiliations. The Go Lean roadmap is therefore not “pro” or “con” American, but rather pro solutions; in fact the CU is described as a technocracy with a focus on delivery and merit; this is the same charter as the Steering Committee of the Government of the Peoples Republic of China. This was related in the Go Lean book (Page 64) as follows:

Even the leaders of the Communist Party of China are mostly professional engineers. The Five-Year plans of the People’s Republic of China have enabled them to plan ahead in a technocratic fashion to build projects such as the National Trunk Highway System, the High-speed rail system, and the Three Gorges Dam.

A basic economic principle, subscribed in Go Lean (Page 21), is that “Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices and Incentives”. So the advanced field of economics hereby posits that Economic Systems, more so than political systems influence people’s choices and incentives. The CU seeks to optimize the region’s economic systems to better deliver on the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap, pronounced as the following statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate challenges/threats to ensure public safety for the region’s stakeholders.
Improvement of Caribbean governance, including a separation-of-powers with member-states, to support these economic/security engines.

So the CU vision is to provide the stewardship for the region’s economic engines, first, so as to succeed in the goals of the roadmap. This vision was pronounced at the outset of the book in the roadmap’s Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The CU roadmap drives change among the region’s economic, security and governing engines. These solutions are as new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; sampled as follows:

Who We Are – Veterans of 2008 “Wars” & Financial Crisis	Page 8
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – CU Vision and Mission	Page 45
Strategy – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Reform our HealthCare industries to better fulfill our health care needs	Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy – China’s Example	Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade	Page 67
Tactical – Recovering from Economic Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Interstate Commerce & Trade Facilitation	Page 79
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Office of Trade Negotiations	Page 80
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Benefit Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works – US Army Corp of Engineers Model	Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Jamaica	Page 239
Appendix – Trade SHIELD Principles	Page 264
Appendix – Caribbean Failed-States Indicators & Definitions	Page 271

The Caribbean region needs help! We need the elevations of this Go Lean roadmap; we need the direct investments from China’s banks. We need the expertise and core competences of China’s many state-owned engineering and development companies. We simply cannot expect progress with a North American-only focus. We cannot only look North and West, we must also look East and South. The world is now flat; we must embrace globalization.

It is now a changed world. We must embrace China. Not as new colonizers, but as partners. There are opportunities for China to reap returns on their investments, with no exploitation of the Caribbean land or people.

The Caribbean is arguably the best address on the planet, but there are many deficiencies, as in jobs and economic empowerments. With the previous North & West focus we have suffered. Our deficiencies has led to societal abandonment so bad that the region has lost a large share of our human capital, one estimate of 70% of the college-educated population to the brain-drain.

No More! Our region can be and must be better.

The shepherding of the Caribbean economy now requires best-practices and technocratic executions; it requires those trained and accomplished from the battles of globalization and trade wars. This is the Go Lean roadmap.

Everyone, the people, businesses, institutions and trading partners are all hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Appendix – China Harbour Engineering Company, Ltd (CHEC) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Harbour_Engineering

CHEC is an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of CCCC (China Communications Construction Company), providing infrastructure construction, such as marine engineering, dredging and reclamation, road and bridge, railways, airports and plant construction.^[1] As a dredger the company is the second largest in the world, carrying out contracts in Asia, Africa, and Europe.^[2]

The company was established in December 2005 during the merger of China Harbour Engineering Company Group (founded 1980) with China Road and Bridge Corporation into CCCC.

CHEC has won large contracts for dredging, particularly in the Middle East and Asia.

———
Appendix – VIDEO – President Obama On China’s Influence In The Caribbean & Latin America https://youtu.be/vfve6V3zA08

Published on Apr 16, 2015 – President Obama on China’s growing influence in the Caribbean and Latin America at youth town hall meeting, Thursday April 9, 2015, University of the West Indies (Mona Campus), Kingston, Jamaica. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftDpg…

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China, Foreign Policy, Jamaica, Model, Trade, Transform

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