Planning – Page 10 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Category: Planning

Concerns about ‘Citizenship By Investment Programs’

Posted on January 14, 2015 in Ethos, Government, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

People come to the Caribbean for so many reasons. The book Go Lean…Caribbean cataloged 3 primary reasons: 1. Live, 2. Work, and 3. Play.

This last category is so vast that it covers the full scope of tourism: sun, sand, sea, surf, savor, salsa and smoke; (savor as in foods; salsa as in dance and smoke as in cigars). This is the region’s primary economic activity. But now there are reports of a new attraction starting to emerge in certain Caribbean member-states:

Citizenship.

“Say it ain’t so?!?!”

There are reports that many newcomers are relocating to Caribbean member-states for other, sometimes nefarious, reasons: proximity (to other North American markets), legacy status (Overseas territory of European powers), favorable tax status, and lax governmental oversight. These occurrences have raised the ire of many developed nations (United States, Canada and the EU). There are concerns too for the planners of a new elevated Caribbean, the promoters of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); the purpose of which is to elevate Caribbean society, for all 30 member-states. The book does not ignore the subject of nationality and immigration, so reports of newcomers relocating to member-states just for citizenship purposes must be fully vetted.

Consider this article on this issue in St. Kitts & Nevis:

Title #1: US, Canada and EU monitoring St Kitts-Nevis citizenship programme, says opposition
By: Ken Richards, West Indies News Network; Posted: January 6 2015 – http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-US%2C-Canada-and-EU-monitoring-St-Kitts-Nevis-citizenship-programme%2C-says-opposition-24268.html

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (WINN) — There is fresh criticism of the St Kitts and Nevis citizenship by investment programme (CIP), following reports that the US Department of Treasury is closely monitoring the activities of a former Iranian national who now holds a St Kitts and Nevis passport.

According to the Treasury Department, 49-year-old Hossein Zeidi was responsible for converting foreign currency into US bank notes for delivery to the Iranian government.

Zeidi is reported to be among nine individuals and entities under surveillance pursuant to various Iran-related regulations.
They are accused by the US of supporting Iranian government sanctions evasion efforts.

The US Treasury Department says that Zeidi holds a St Kitts and Nevis passport, number RE0003553.

Team Unity leader Timothy Harris is reiterating the opposition group’s concern about such developments, and the impact they are having on the CIP.

He recalled that the Americans had issued an advisory last May against the federation’s citizenship programme.

“It is therefore reasonable that that department will continue to pursue the activities of the citizenship by investment programme and of the government officials in particular,” Harris told WINN FM.

“We know for sure that the US Treasury Department continues to be interested in the CIP programme, continues to be interested in the cavalier manner in which our passports are being sold like black pudding on a Saturday,” the MP who heads the opposition alliance said.

According to Harris, Canada and the European Union are also monitoring the St Kitts and Nevis programme.

The US Treasury Department gave no details as to how Zeidi had in his possession a St Kitts-Nevis passport, but the twin island Federation provides citizenship to foreigners who make significant investments in the country.

Treasury Department officials claim that the Iranian government contracted with Zeidi and Seyed Kamal Yasini to convert Iranian funds denominated in non-Iranian local currency into US dollars.

According to the Americans, these individuals and their network have to date effected the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars in US dollar bank notes to the Iranian government in violation of existing sanctions.

Republished with permission of West Indies News Network

Consider too, this older article of this issue in the Turks & Caicos Islands:

Title #2: British government refutes Turks and Caicos economic citizenship claim
By: Caribbean News Now contributor Published on April 18, 2014; retrieved January 13, 2015 from: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-British-government-refutes-Turks-and-Caicos-economic-citizenship-claim-20771.html

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — Britain’s Home Office has refuted a claim by promoters of a resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) that investors are eligible to apply for a British Overseas Territory Citizen passport, thereby enabling the holder to reside in the UK.

In a press release on Monday entitled “Eligibility for British Overseas Territory Citizen passport … with Turks and Caicos resort project”, Asia Pacific Investment House claimed that “Investors in Caicos Beach Club Resort and Marina are eligible to apply for a permanent residency certificate and British Overseas Territory Citizen passport, enabling the holder to reside in the UK, making this a highly coveted investment opportunity.”

However, according to Tom Lawrence, at the Home Office Communications Directorate in London:

Eligibility for British Overseas Territory Citizenship ((BOTC) is governed by the British Nationality Act 1981. Citizenship is granted by the governor of the territory and OverseasTerritories are not able to grant BOTC status other than in accordance with that Act.

Residency and other requirements for BOTC status apply, so anyone who has not lived lawfully in the territory for a number of years is unlikely to qualify.

Criteria for the grant of BOT Citizenship include residence requirements, a good character requirement and an intention to make the principal home within the relevant territory.

Generally, the residency requirements are for a minimum of five years residence immediately preceding the application, during which total absences must not exceed 450 days with a maximum of 90 days absence in the last year. The applicant must not have been in breach of immigration rules at any time during those five years and the last year of residence must have been free of any immigration control.

BOTCs do not have the right of abode in the UK unless they later become British citizens.

“There is no direct route to BOTC and the investor will have to meet the eligibility requirements as noted,” Neil Smith, the TCI governor’s spokesman, confirmed.

Asia Pacific Investment House, which describes itself as “a leading venture capital company, registered in the offshore regime of the British Virgin Islands, with its operating HQ in Singapore’s financial district”, did not respond to requests for comment.

It is not known at this time if the British and/or TCI authorities will take action in relation to these apparently false claims targeting uninformed investors.

There is a consistent pattern here, in order to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Caribbean politicians, administrators or business/investment development specialists make promises related to easy citizenship. This is definitely a wrong community ethos!

There are other Caribbean member-states that have Citizenship by Investment Programs established (or proposed):

Antigua & Barbuda: http://www.cip.gov.ag/. *
Dominica: http://economiccitizenshipdominica.com/
Belize: http://www.investorvisa.ae/citizenship-by-investment/belize/
St Lucia (proposed): http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/08/30/st-lucia-mulls-citizenship-by-investment/#

* The first persons to attain Antigua & Barbuda citizenship under the Citizenship by Investment Programme was George Georges and his family of four, Syrian nationals.

“Other countries (Australia, Belgium, Portugal, Singapore, Spain the UK and the US) provide an alternate approach, temporary residence permits or “golden visas” to wealthy individuals in return for investment. Applicants can often receive permanent residency through such schemes by sustaining their investment through a period of two to five years, but the aforementioned Caribbean nations typically offer cheaper and almost immediate routes to full citizenship in exchange for a one-off investment. In St. Kitts & Nevis, for example, the entire process, including background checks, takes as little as 90 days”. (Source: Nearshores Americas). “Most countries withhold official data regarding the number of people who have become citizens through CIPs or the amount of FDI recouped, but Henley and Partners^$ [(Professional Residency & Citizenship Advisors with offices in 25 countries)] estimate that such schemes generate US$2 billion a year worldwide. Unsurprisingly, cash-strapped Caribbean countries that are often overly reliant on tourism have been quick to take notice”.

When factoring in the recent publicity of the harsh treatments to boat-bound refugees, these lax CIPs give the impression that citizenship in the Caribbean is For Sale; that there is no concern for human rights for certain refugees (Haitian, Cubans, Jamaicans, etc.); but let someone show up with some money then the nationality doors are wide open. This too is wrong!

In a previous blog commentary, the increased migrant flow of Caribbean refugees were detailed. Also, the current conflict in the Bahamas, with the accusations of human rights abuses from the Haitian-American Diaspora in Miami was also thoroughly addressed.

The One Percent versus the 99 Percent; the “Have’s versus the Have-Not’s”! So many Failed-State images^# come to mind. The Go Lean book qualifies the characteristics of Failed-States (Page 272-273); these 2 attributes here are most prominent:

Uneven Economic Development Along Group Lines (UED)
Rise of Factionalized Elites (FE)

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to elevate the Caribbean, in its entirety. The impressions of some “Banana Republic” – Failed-State – are unbecoming! It undermines legitimate investment in the region and the worthiness of natives from these Caribbean islands when they travel abroad. The occurrence of some “Citizenship for Hire” practice for some Caribbean state automatically draws scorn for other nearby states. Truthfully, the rest of the world does not know the difference of St. Kitts versus St. Vincent, or the Turks/Caicos Islands versus the Bahama Islands. All of these Caribbean member-states are in the “same boat”, and are judged by the same yardstick.

Change has now come to the Caribbean! This is the call for greater accountability/transparency on a regional basis.

Why should the CU be charged with responsibility in this area? Does this not relate to individual sovereignty? “Mind your own business” – may be a logical retort from member-states criticized for their citizenship/nationality practices.

The Go Lean book relates an opening declaration that the Caribbean is in crisis and that these geographic neighbors must band together – confederate – to mitigate these common problems with superlative solutions, on the regional basis. This need was pronounced early in the book in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 10 – 14) with these statements:

Preamble: While the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle us to form a society and a brotherhood to foster manifestations of our hopes and aspirations and to forge solutions to the challenges that imperil us, … our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters.

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.

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 Go Lean book and blogs posit that the problems of the Caribbean are too big for any one member-state to tackle alone; rather there is the need for a regional technocratic solution; thus the CU. Only then can all 30 Caribbean member-states in the homeland be a better place to live, work and play for all of its stakeholders: 42 million residents; 80 million visitors; 10 million Diaspora; countless Foreign Direct Investors.

The CU, applying best-practices for advanced governance and agile deliveries would facilitate 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.
Improve Caribbean governance, with consideration for minority equalization, to support these engines.

How exactly can the CU impact the citizenship/nationality practices in the region?

The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies necessary to effect change in the region, to improve the regional stewardship over Caribbean society. They are detailed as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	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
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development – Invited SGE’s	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate region into a Single Market Economy	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Invite empowering immigrants for economic benefits	Page 46
Strategy – Customers – Foreign Direct Investors	Page 48
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Justice	Page 77
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of State – SGE’s & One Percent Liaison	Page 80
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Ideal for FDI	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – CariCom versus CU	Page 115
Planning – 10 Big Ideas … in the Caribbean Region – Confederation without Sovereignty	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image	Page 133
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Guard against Encroachments	Page 134
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract – Failed-State Indices Movements	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration – FDI Time, Talent & Treasuries	Page 174
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice – Federal Accountability	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the One Percent	Page 224
Appendix – Failed State Indicators and Definitions for the CU	Page 271

All of the Caribbean needs to deal with these domestic issues … now! But some issues, due to image, public relations or quest for justice, should be managed with special care.

In the legal arena – juris prudence – there is an arrangement referred to as a Special Prosecutor. This allows for a detached, objective view of issues of Justice. (In the US for many decades, Naturalization and Citizenship processing was managed by the federal Department of Justice).

The Go Lean/CU roadmap has a similar proposed solution: facilitating the Proxy and e-Government processing at the CU level on behalf of member-states – thereby removing the subjectivity and bias to the citizenship/nationality process. Each state sets their criteria and the CU technocracy simply provides the processing, with full accountability and transparency; no appearance of bribery, corruption and creating eligible voters just in time for elections. Already there is an eco-system with the issuance of CariCom passports. Step One/Day One of the Go Lean roadmap is the assembly of CariCom organs into the CU Trade Federation. Any one passport issued by a CariCom country is automatically respected by other CariCom countries. So “mind your own business” cannot be considered a valid response.

If Caribbean people want change, progress, empowerment, growth, jobs, justice, security and equality, then this move of deputizing “nationality process” to the federal level is simply the “price that must be paid”.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is Big Deal for the region as real solutions can finally be realized. Then we can present to the world that while the Caribbean homeland is Not For Sale, it is truly a better place to live, work, and play. 🙂

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

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^# Appendix: Failed-State Indicators & Definitions

a. UED – Uneven Economic Development Along Group Lines

When there are ethnic, religious, or regional disparities or inequalities, governments tend to be uneven in their commitment to the social contract. There may be group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in areas like education and economic opportunities. Uneven economic empowerments are manifest in group-based impoverishments as measured by poverty levels, infant mortality rates, educational levels, etc. The end result may be the rise of communal nationalism, based on real or perceived group inequalities.

This indicator include pressures and measures related to:

Income Share of Highest 10%; Income Share of Lowest 10%; Urban-Rural Service Distribution; Slum Population

b. FE – Rise of Factionalized Elites

When local and national leaders engage in deadlock and brinksmanship for political gain, this undermines the social contract. The brinkmanship may be expressed with nationalistic political rhetoric by ruling elites, often in terms of communal irredentism (e.g., a “greater Serbia” to annex neighboring lands with Serbian ethnics) or of communal solidarity (e.g., “ethnic cleansing” or “defending the faith”). With the absence of legitimate leadership widely accepted as representing the entire citizenry, the result may be fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along ethnic, class, clan, racial or religious lines.

This indicator include pressures and measures related to:

Power Struggles; Defectors; Flawed Elections; Political Competition.

^$ Appendix VIDEO: Henley & Partners – The Firm of Global Citizens – http://youtu.be/XoBcb4qLn1s

Published on May 7, 2014 – Henley & Partners is the global leader in residence and citizenship planning … The firm also runs an industry-leading government advisory practice.

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Foreign Policy, Image, Power, Transform

NEXUS: Facilitating Detroit-Windsor Commerce

Posted on January 9, 2015 in Industries, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

Trade and location go hand in hand. Until globalization took root, the quest was always to do business in a nearby marketplace. Even now there is a Green Conservation movement to return to those principles, to minimize energy usage by growing most foods locally and consuming locally. This move uses the tagline: Think Global, Buy Local!

In Marketing 101, a basic tenet is “location, location, location”.

But what if that location is at the cross-roads of countries, borders and independent states?

The same precepts should apply, only with more coordination.

This is a lesson learned from the Detroit-Windsor metropolitan area; but this lesson is fitting for application throughout the Caribbean.

This consideration by the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean, a roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), is a continuation of the effort to “observe and report” on the turn-around of the once great City of Detroit. Previous commentaries alluded that transportation options are critical to this metropolitan’s area’s revitalization. Now that consideration extends across the international border for the US and Canada. Detroit aligns the west-side of the Detroit River (see Appendix below); the east-side is the City of Windsor in the Canadian Province of Ontario. Despite the two cities and two countries, this area is actually just one “single market”.

The vision of the Go Lean roadmap is a “single market” out of all the Caribbean 30 member-states of independent countries and overseas territories. Since so many individual states are in close-proximity with other states, many times of different jurisdiction and even language, cross border coordination is fitting for deployment within this region. Consider these examples:

Haiti – Dominican Republic: Shared island with a border
St. Martin – Saint Maarten: Shared island with a border
Lesser Antilles: Neighboring islands, 30 to 40 miles apart
Trinidad – Venezuela: 7 mile strait
US – British Virgin Islands: 6 Major Islands 30 to 40 miles apart

The Go Lean roadmap calls for the deployment of ferries, railroads, tunnels, bridges, causeways, light-rail streetcars, natural-gas powered vehicles/buses and toll roads, all part of the effort to empower the region through transit (Page 205).

In order to facilitate commerce between the Caribbean member-states, there is the need to efficiently and effectively process Customs and Border Inspections. The Detroit-Windsor model furnishes a great example of pre-registering stakeholders as “Known Travelers” and then allowing this efficient border crossing system branded as NEXUS. See details here of the program and aligned products/features (NEXPRESS Toll Cards/Transponders and DWT Mobile App):

NEXUS
The NEXUS alternative inspection program has been completely harmonized and integrated into a single program. NEXUS members now have crossing privileges at air, land, and marine ports of entry. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, the NEXUS card has been approved as an alternative to the passport for air, land, and sea travel into the United States for US and Canadian citizens.

The NEXUS program allows pre-screened travelers expedited processing by United States and Canadian officials at dedicated processing lanes at designated northern border ports of entry, at NEXUS (CA Entry) and Global Entry (US Entry) kiosks at Canadian Preclearance airports, and at marine reporting locations. Approved applicants are issued a photo-identification, proximity Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) card. Participants use the three modes of passage where they will present their NEXUS card, have their iris scanned, or present a WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) and make a declaration.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) are cooperating in this venture to simplify passage for pre-approved travelers.

What are the Benefits of NEXUS?
Individuals approved to participate in NEXUS receive an identification card that allows them to:

Receive expedited passage at NEXUS-dedicated lanes, airport kiosks, and by calling a marine telephone reporting center to report their arrival into the United States and Canada; and

Cross the border with a minimum of customs and immigration questioning

NEXUS applicants only need to submit one application and one fee. Applicants may apply on-line via the CBP Global On-Line Enrollment System (GOES) Web site. Qualified applicants are required to travel to a NEXUSEnrollmentCenter for an interview. If they are approved for the program at that time, a photo identification card will be mailed to them in 7-10 business days. NEXUS allows United States and Canadian border agencies to concentrate their efforts on potentially higher-risk travelers and goods, which helps to ensure the security and integrity of our borders.

How Do I Apply?

Applications can be submitted using the CBP on-line application system, Global On-Line Enrollment System (GOES), or to one of the Canadian Processing Centers (CPC), along with photocopies of their supporting documentation and the US $50 or CN $50 application-processing fee.

(Source: http://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus)

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NEXPRESS
As a NEXPRESS TOLL card holder you can take advantage of dedicated lanes, express toll lanes and expedited crossing-service to get to your destination faster.

o Travel to Caesars Windsor, Detroit Tigers baseball, Red Wings hockey, and other attractions… fast.

Are you commuting to work, visiting top restaurants, gaming in the Detroit Casinos and/or Caesars Windsor [Casino], attending your favorite sporting events and attractions, or just visiting family and friends?

No matter the destination, we’ll try to get you there as fast as possible.

Located between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, our tunnel connects the U.S. interstates to Ontario’s Highway 401. In fact, the Detroit Windsor Tunnel provides one of the fastest links between Canada and the United States.

o Use our expanded inspections facilities that ease the Customs and Immigration process.

As part of the U.S.Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), the United States requires that all travelers, including U.S. and Canadian citizens, present a specific document to enter the United States by air, land or water:

A valid Passport, a Passport Card, a Nexus card, or

An Enhanced Michigan Driver’s License, a FAST Card

Commercial Carriers

Have you replaced your larger vehicles with vans for environmental and economic reasons? You may enjoy a savings of up to 25% on toll and volume discounts!

And with our commercial credit system, you can take advantage of faster processing at the toll booths, automatic fare calculation by vehicle weight, easier record-keeping, and top-notch customer service.

o Tunnel Bus

Check out The Tunnel Bus, operated by Transit Windsor. With this exclusive feature of the Detroit-Windsor tunnel, you can leave the driving to us and enjoy quick, cost-effective trips between downtown Windsor and Detroit.

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VIDEO: http://youtu.be/igdqylbm8yI – American Roads – “Innovating Mobile, Transit, Tolling and Parking technologies”

DWT Mobile

DWT Mobile is a free app now available for Apple and Android devices!

Cross the border faster and pay only $4.25 per trip with your smartphone! Pre-purchase your trips, show the barcode at the gate, and be on your way. You will save time, save gas, AND save money!
(Source: Detroit – Windsor Tunnel Authority – Retrieved December 11, 2014
http://www.dwtunnel.com/Default.aspx )

As the once great City of Detroit attempts to re-boot, remake and revive its metropolitan area, cross-border regionalism is very important to foster commerce in the wider metropolitan area. There is the need to efficiently move people between these “states” to facilitate live, work and play options.

There are security issues as well. The Appendix (Outlaw History/Prohibition) relate past challenges on the Detroit River. (The Caribbean was also complicit in Prohibition-era security breaches).

Customs and Border operations facilitates security as well as commerce. The NEXUS model demonstrate how technology can be employed to foster efficiency in this process. “Known Traveler” processing can be used to filter daily/occasional commuters, so that security officials can focus more attention on high-risk/high-threat cargo and passengers.

The Go Lean book asserts the economic principle that “voluntary trade creates wealth” (Page 21); the more trade the more wealth. The roadmap anticipates the challenges that port cities and border towns, (like the role of Detroit for the US), would have to endure and changes they must foster to help grow the regional economy. These points were pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14), with these statements:

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.

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.

xxiii. Whereas many countries in our region are dependent OverseasTerritory 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.

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 … impacting the region with more jobs.

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 CU mission is to implement the complete eco-system to expand interstate trade in the region. There are many strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that will facilitate this mission; a sample is detailed here:

Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Choose because Resources are Limited	Page 21
Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Commerce – Interstate Commerce	Page 79
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Transportation – Turnpike Operations	Page 84
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Command-and-Control	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Union Atlantic Turnpike	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – 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 Improve Local Government	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources	Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry	Page 206
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Transit Options	Page 234
Appendix – Alaska Marine Highway System	Page 280

The world is preparing for changes to more efficient border crossing and customs operations, as demonstrated in Detroit. This is a tenet of globalization: less Customs duties-less barriers, plus easier access to foreign markets, customers and patrons. The Caribbean must compete better in this global marketplace by first optimizing interstate trade in the regional market. This blog commentary touches on many related issues and subjects that affect planning for Caribbean empowerment in this trade and transportation industry-space. Many of these issues were elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

M-1 Rail: Detroit’s Alternative Transit to Expand Commerce

Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies and improve this trade

DC Streetcars – Model For Caribbean Re-development

Growing Trade and Transport – The NYNJ Port Authority Model

Trains and Trucks play well together

The Go Lean book introduces the “Union Atlantic” Turnpike as a big initiative of the CU to logistically connect all CU member-states for easier transport of goods and passengers. Crossing borders means there must be “Customs” operations embedded in this Turnpike structure; Known Traveler processing, as modeled by the NEXUS program, allows for the empowerments described here in this blog commentary and in the 370 pages of the Go Lean book. This plan refers to multiple transportation arteries envisioned for the Turnpike: Tunnels, Pipelines, Ferries, Tolled Highways, and Railroads.

The Caribbean needs help with transportation options, jobs, security and growing the economy; plus the heavy-lifting tasks of motivating our youth to impact their future here at home… in the Caribbean; as opposed to the recent history of societal abandonment. Detroit as a model, teaches many lessons: good, bad and ugly.

Let’s pay more than the usual attention to these lessons, examining how the Detroit metropolitan area has managed the agents of change; much is dependent on our applying lessons learned.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix – Outlaw History / Prohibition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_River):

The Detroit River is a 24-nautical-mile-long^[1] river that is a strait in the Great Lakes system.^[2] The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as River of the Strait. The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world.^[3] The river travels west and south from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, and the whole river carries the international border between Canada and the United States. The river divides the major metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario — an area referred to as Detroit–Windsor. The two are connected by the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel.

On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified, ushering in Prohibition in the country of the United States, which lasted from 1920 to 1933. To go into effect one year after its ratification, the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were nationally banned. Detroit was (and still is) the largest city bordering Canada, where alcohol remained legal during Prohibition.

Detroit became the center of a new industry known as rum-running, which was the illegal smuggling or transporting of alcoholic beverages or any other illegal drinks during Prohibition. There were no bridges in the area connecting Canada and the United States until the Ambassador Bridge was finished in 1929 and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel in 1930. Since ferry services were inoperable during the winter months, “rum-runners” traveled across the frozen Detroit River by car to Canada and back with trunk loads of alcohol. Rum-running in Windsor became a very common practice. This led to the rise of mobsters such as the Purple Gang, who regularly traveled across the frozen river and used violence as a means to control the route known as the “Detroit-Windsor Funnel” — parodying the newly built tunnel.^[12] The river typically freezes over during much of the winter. Detroit became the leader in the illegal importation of alcohol, which found its way all over the country.

The Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, and the St. Clair River (another strait connecting Lake St. Clair with Lake Superior) carried 75% of all liquor smuggled into the United States during Prohibition. During warmer months, specialized boats were used to haul alcohol across the river. There was no limit on the methods used by rum-runners to import alcohol across the river. Government officials were unable or unwilling to deter the flow of alcohol coming across the Detroit River. In some cases, overloaded cars fell through the ice, and today, car parts from this illegal era can still be seen on the bottom of the river. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, the rum-running industry ended.^[3][13][14]

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Detroit, Foreign Policy, Jobs, Model

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Migrant flow into US from Caribbean spikes

Posted on January 7, 2015 in Government, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

The subject of nationality is dominant in the news right now. This is due to many illegal migrants fleeing their homelands seeking a better life abroad, for themselves and/or their children, many times at great risk to their lives. The issue of the processing of immigrant children is where the simple desires meets complicated politics.

Do children of illegal immigrants have the right to stay in their new country of birth or be deported back to the homelands of their parents? What if one parent is a citizen of the host country, should gender of the parent matter?

These questions reflect the heavy-lifting burdens that the Caribbean member-states must address regarding nationality and immigration.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for elevating Caribbean society, for all 30 member-states. The book does not ignore the subject of nationality and immigration. In fact the roadmap provides perhaps the ultimate resolution to this perplexing problem, that of a regional entity providing a regional solution. Consider the details of this news article:

Title: Migrant flow into US from Caribbean spikes
Associated Press Wire Service; Posted: January 4, 2015
http://news.yahoo.com/migrant-flow-us-caribbean-spikes-145024265.html
By: Jennifer Kay

MIAMI (AP) — Just starting a five-year sentence for illegally re-entering the United States, George Lewis stared at the officers staring back at him at Miami’s federal detention center and considered whether he’d risk getting on another smuggler’s boat — a chance that soaring numbers of Caribbean islanders are taking — once he’s deported again.

U.S. authorities deported Lewis following a four-year sentence for a felony drug conviction in May 2013 to the Bahamas, where he was born but lived only briefly. His Haitian mother brought him to Miami as an infant, and though he always considered the U.S. home, he never became a legal resident.

Just five months after he was deported, he got on a Bahamian smuggler’s boat with over a dozen other people trying to sneak into Florida. It capsized and four Haitian women drowned. He and the others were rescued.

So would he dare make another attempt?

“Yeah,” Lewis, 39, said with a sigh. But, he added, “I would put on a life vest next time.”

A recent spike in Cubans attempting to reach the United States by sea has generated headlines. But the numbers of Haitians and other Caribbean islanders making similar journeys are up even more. And while federal law grants legal residency to Cubans reaching U.S. soil, anyone else can be detained and deported.

That law, the so-called wet foot-dry foot policy, and Coast Guard operations related to migrants remain unchanged even as Cuban and U.S. leaders say they are restoring diplomatic relations after more than 50 years.

“The Coast Guard strongly discourages attempts to illegally enter the country by taking to the sea. These trips are extremely dangerous. Individuals located at sea may be returned to Cuba,” said Lt. Cmdr. Gabe Somma, spokesman for the Coast Guard’s 7th District in Miami.

According to the Coast Guard, in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, U.S. authorities captured, intercepted or chased away at least 5,585 Haitians, 3,940 Cubans and hundreds from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries attempting to sneak into the country.

That’s at least 3,000 more migrants intercepted than in the previous fiscal year. It’s also the highest number of Haitian migrants documented in five years and the highest number of Cubans recorded in six. It’s unknown how many made it to U.S. shores without getting caught, or how many died trying.

More than 1,920 migrants — most of them Cuban or Haitian — have been intercepted so far in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. The Coast Guard worries that number will only increase as news spreads about recent changes to the U.S. immigration system, including fast-tracking visas for some Haitians already approved to join family here and an executive order signed by President Barack Obama that would make millions already illegally in the U.S. eligible for work permits and protection from deportation.

“Any perceived changes to U.S. immigration policy can cause a spike in immigration because it gives a glimmer of hope,” even to people not eligible under those changes, said Capt. Mark Fedor, chief of response for the Coast Guard’s 7th District.

It’s unclear why the numbers are jumping. Poverty and political repression have long caused Caribbean islanders to attempt the journey, and the outlook remains dismal for many. Coast Guard and U.S. immigration officials think another calm summer without many tropical storms and a recovering U.S. economy might have encouraged more to take to the sea. They also say the increased captures may reflect better law enforcement.

Smuggling operations in the region range from individual opportunists looking to use their vessels for extra money to sophisticated networks that may add drug shipments to their human cargo, said Carmen Pino, an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami. Smugglers also lure people, especially in relatively new routes that send Haitians into the neighboring Dominican Republic to board boats bound for Puerto Rico.

Lewis said he easily talked his way onto a smuggler’s boat with about a dozen Haitians and Jamaicans hoping to make it to Florida under the cover of darkness. He just struck up a conversation with some locals at a sports bar in Bimini, a small cluster of Bahamian islands 57 miles off Miami, where Lewis figured he could find a boat home.

“It was like getting a number from a girl. I just needed the right line,” Lewis said in an interview in November. The failed trip cost $4,000.

After his rescue, U.S. authorities initially accused him of being a smuggler, partly because he was the only person on board with a phone, which he used to call 911 when the boat started taking on water. He scoffed at the allegation. He remembered that on the boat he was talking to a teenage Haitian girl and thinking about his mother’s boat trip from Haiti to the Bahamas as a young girl, a crossing he never thought he would emulate. “I said, ‘Run behind me when we hit land.'” He said. ” I said, ‘Follow me, I’ll get you there.'”

Now Lewis finds himself back in the U.S. but not at home and facing another forced return to the Bahamas, a homeland he doesn’t know and where the government considers Haitians who have migrated illegally and their children an unwanted burden.

Lewis knows he’d try to reach the U.S. again.

“It’s not worth losing your life, but what life do you have when you have a whole country against you? I’m completely alienated from a country where I’m supposed to be from,” Lewis said.

A key problem with this immigration issue is the nationality sensitivity of any audience. As a people, what standards are we willing to tolerate versus what conditions are so deplorable that we must protest for change, with revolutionary fervor?

The American standard, because of its “Super Power” status, tends to influence the “normalized” view for many people in the Caribbean neighborhood for what is right and what is wrong with nationality recognition. But the US standard is bred from lessons learned from hard experiences. The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, (adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments, addressing citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War of 1860 – 1865), provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”^[24] The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” excludes children born to foreign diplomats and children born to enemy forces engaged in hostile occupation of the country’s territory.^[25] Birthright citizenship is a separate concept from “natural-born citizen”, a qualification for the office of President of the United States.

The sensitivities of the issues of migration and nationality are heightened right now because countries in the Caribbean neighborhood have become more exacting in their treatment of Cuban and Haitian refugees, many even considering changes to their constitutions in an effort to tighten immigration policies so as to end the automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.^[12] This is already the status quo for the Bahamas.

In a previous blog commentary, the issue of the Bahamas versus the Haitian-American Diaspora in Miami was thoroughly detailed. This one point is extracted for consideration here:

The Bahamas does not automatically grant citizenship to people born of foreign parentage in its homeland. There are special provisos even if one parent is a Bahamian citizen; many details of which are gender-biased.

This Bahamian nationality standard creates a repressive circumstance for many born there to foreign parents; they have no status in the Bahamas, nor may they have any in their parent’s homeland. This means they are disqualified for jobs, advanced education or a passport – see experience of George Lewis in the foregoing news article. They cannot prosper where they are planted, nor legally migrate for better opportunities. As depicted in the Appendix A – VIDEO: “they cannot win, cannot break-even and cannot get out of the game”. These ones would rather risk their lives and the lives of their children than accept this status quo.

This previous blog commentary related the Bahamas citizenship standard (jus sanguinis) versus the US/Canadian standard (jus soli), as applied to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands member-states as well. All the independent countries in the Caribbean ascribe to either the one standard or the other – see ‘Nations Granting Birthright Citizenship’ Appendix B below. The French Caribbean member-states apply French nationality standards and the Netherlands Antilles member-states apply the nationality standards of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The only other Caribbean member-states for nationality consideration are the British Overseas Territories (Bermuda, BVI, Caymans, Montserrat, and the Turks & Caicos); there is a formal Citizenship/Nationality B.O.T. process based on British Nationality standards. This summarizes all 30 member-states.

These Latin phrases, jus soli and jus sanguinis, for the applicable legal concepts are hereby explored:

1. Encyclopedic Reference: Jus soli (Latin: right of the soil) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli – Retrieved January 7, 2015

Jus soli is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship.^[2] As an unconditional basis for citizenship, it is the predominant rule in the Americas, but is rare elsewhere.^[3][4][5][6] Since the Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was enacted in 2004, no European country grants citizenship based on unconditional jus soli.^[7][8] A study in 2010 found that only 30 of the world’s 194 countries grant citizenship at birth to the children of undocumented foreign residents.^[5]

Almost all states in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania grant citizenship at birth based upon the principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood), in which citizenship is inherited through parents not by birthplace, or a restricted version of jus soli in which citizenship by birthplace is not automatic for the children of certain immigrants. Countries that have acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness will grant nationality to otherwise stateless persons who were born on their territory, or on a ship or plane flagged by that country.

Jus soli is associated with permissive citizenship rights. Most countries with unconditional jus soli laws tend to give birthright citizenship (and nationality) based on jus sanguinis rules as well, although these stipulations tend to be more restrictive than in countries that use jus sanguinis as the primary basis for nationality.

At one time, jus sanguinis was the sole means of determining nationality in Europe (where it is still widespread in Central and Eastern Europe) and Asia. An individual belonged to a family, a tribe or a people, not to a territory. It was a basic tenet of Roman law.^[9] [This is the premise of the “Christmas” story, the reason why Joseph and a pregnant Mary had to go to Bethlehem to register in accord with the declaration of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus – Luke Chapter 2:1–5; The Bible].

Lex soli is a law used in practice to regulate who and under what circumstances an individual can assert the right of jus soli. Most states provide a specific lex soli, in application of the respective jus soli, and it is the most common means of acquiring nationality.

[Consider additional sources in the reference work by Jon Feere: “Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison,” Center for Immigration Studies].

————–

2. Encyclopedic Reference: Jus sanguinis (Latin: right of blood) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis – Retrieved January 7, 2015

Jus sanguinis is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth but by having one or both parents who are citizens of the state. Children at birth may automatically be citizens if their parents have state citizenship or national identities of ethnic, cultural or other origins.^[1] Citizenship can also apply to children whose parents belong to a diaspora and were not themselves citizens of the state conferring citizenship. This principle contrasts with jus soli (Latin: right of soil).^[22]

At the end of the 19th century, the French-German debate on nationality saw the French, such as Ernest Renan, oppose the German conception, exemplified by Johann Fichte, who believed in an “objective nationality”, based on blood, race or language. Renan’s republican conception, but perhaps also the presence of a German-speaking population in Alsace-Lorraine, explains France’s early adoption of jus soli. Many nations have a mixture of jus sanguinis and jus soli, including the United States, Canada, Israel, Greece, Ireland, and recently Germany.

Today France only narrowly applies jus sanguinis, but it is still the most common means of passing on citizenship in many continental European countries. Some countries provide almost the same rights as a citizen to people born in the country, without actually giving them citizenship. An example is Indfødsret in Denmark, which provides that upon reaching 18, non-citizen residents can decide to take a test to gain citizenship.

Some modern European states which arose out of dissolved empires, like the Austro-Hungarian or Ottoman, have huge numbers of ethnic populations outside of their new ‘national’ boundaries, as do most of the former Soviet states. Such long-standing diasporas do not conform to codified 20th-century European rules of citizenship.

In many cases, jus sanguinis rights are mandated by international treaty, with citizenship definitions imposed by the international community. In other cases, minorities are subject to legal and extra-legal persecution and choose to immigrate to their ancestral home country. States offering jus sanguinis rights to ethnic citizens and their descendants include Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Armenia and Romania. Each is required by international treaty to extend those rights.

The Caribbean member-states are badly in need of reform and remediation, to lower the “push and pull” factors that drive so many to risk their ‘life and limb’, and those of their children, to take flight under dangerous circumstances to seek a better life. Many people of goodwill do not want to live in a society where dead bodies may float up on beaches because people are desperate to leave their homeland at any cost. The Go Lean roadmap opens with the hypothesis that the Caribbean is the greatest address in the world; people should be “beating paths to get here”, not “beating down doors to get out”; (Page 3).

The idea of desperate migration is not just a problem for Cuba, Haiti and the countries in the migrants’ path (Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) to get to better living conditions. This is a problem for all the Caribbean. There is always someone doing better and someone doing worst. For instance, while the Bahamas may have 80,000 illegal Haitians on their shores, there is a report that there were 70,000 illegal Bahamians in the US as of 2003; (College of The Bahamas 2005 Study on Haitian Migration, Page 10). The problem is so much bigger than just what’s at “face value”, the initial impression. This is a deep, serious issue that cuts at the heart of the Caribbean community ethos and requires heavy-lifting to address.

The Go Lean book and blogs posit that the effort is less to cure the Caribbean homeland than to thrive as an alien in a foreign land. But. this is easier said than done! Yet this is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap, to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play for its 42 million residents and 80 million visitors, across the 30 member-states. The CU, applying best-practices for community empowerment has these 3 prime directives, proclaimed 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, with consideration for minority equalization, to support these engines.

The vision is to lower the “push and pull” factors that drives many to abandon their Caribbean homeland.

How exactly can the CU impact the most troubled countries that are the source of so many illegal migrants: Cuba and Haiti? The book relates the history of post-war Europe, where the Marshall Plan was instrumental in rebooting that continent. The book Go Lean…Caribbean details a Marshall Plan-like roadmap for Cuba and Haiti, and other failing Caribbean institutions.

The related subjects of economic, security and governing dysfunction among European and Caribbean member-states have been a frequent topic for blogging by the Go Lean promoters, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3473	Haiti’s Failed Attempts to Expand Caracol Industrial Park and Job Engines
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3455	Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba – Need for Re-boot Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3050	Obama’s immigration tweaks leave Big Tech wanting more
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=2480	A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2330	‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s bishops say
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531	A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago Today – World War I
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433	Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623	Only at the precipice, do they change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599	Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize the “push/pull” factors that send Caribbean citizens to the High Seas to flee their homeland:

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	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
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security	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 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 the US Constitution	Page 145
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration – Case Study of Indian Migrants	Page 174
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	Page 237
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Trinidad & Tobago – Indo versus Afro	Page 240
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Guyana – Indo versus Afro	Page 241
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories – All is not well	Page 244
Appendix – Puerto Rico Migrations to New York	Page 303

All of the Caribbean needs to deal with these domestic issues … now! We need to learn from the experiences of our neighbors, as depicted in the Go Lean book, and minimize the push-pull factors leading to societal abandonment. The US learned its lessons from a Civil War (Page 145), Canada from the fears of war (Page 146). As depicted in the foregoing news article, our citizens are dying in the waters trying to flee our homelands. When is enough, enough?

The Go Lean/CU roadmap has proposed solutions: CU citizenship; and facilitating the Lex soli process at the CU level – thereby removing the subjectivity and bias to the nationality process. Fragments of this proposed system is already in place with the issuance of CariCom passports. The Go Lean roadmap calls for the assembling of CariCom organs into the CU Trade Federation, the Caribbean passport practice would therefore continue.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean to learn the lessons from history or other successful (US & Canada) and unsuccessful societies (East Germany, etc.). The Go Lean book posits that the Caribbean is in a serious crisis, but asserts that this crisis would be a terrible thing to waste. The people and governing institutions of Cuba, Haiti and the entire Caribbean region are hereby urged to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean.

This is a Big Deal for the region, as real solutions can finally be realized. Then we can present to the world that the Caribbean homeland is truly a better place to live, work, and play.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————————–

Appendix A – VIDEO: The Wiz – http://youtu.be/3r1ssg1LIt4 The Crow Anthem (1978)

“You can’t win … can’t break-even and you can’t get out of the game”

Appendix B – Nations Granting Birthright Citizenship – Excerpts

(Source: https://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn/issues/birthright-citizenship/nations-granting-birthright-citizenship.html)

Birthright Citizenship is the automatic granting of citizenship to children born within a nation’s borders or territories. The United States and Canada are the only developed nations in the world to still offer Birthright Citizenship to tourists and illegal aliens. 8 U.S.C. § 1401 : US Code – Section 1401 (1952) grants automatic citizenship to any person born in the United States.

The following are among the nations repealing Birthright Citizenship in recent years:

Australia (2007)
New Zealand (2005)
Ireland (2005)
France (1993)
India (1987)
Malta (1989)
UK (1983)
Portugal (1981)

DEVELOPED NATIONS
Birthright Citizenship – Caribbean Neighborhood Only

YES	NO
Canada	Bermuda
United States	Netherlands
	United Kingdom

OTHER NATIONS
Birthright Citizenship – Caribbean Neighborhood Only

YES	NO
Antigua and Barbuda	Bahamas
Barbados	Haiti
Belize	Suriname
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago

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Cuba, Foreign Policy, Haiti, Image, Security

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Lessons Learned from Queen Conch

Posted on January 3, 2015 in Government, Planning, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

So you think you are independent?

Just consider the lessons from the Queen Conch and discover exactly how independent, or interdependent, you truly are.

This is just one of the many lessons that the Queen Conch teaches Caribbean stakeholders.

According to the subsequent news article, there is a “Minority Report” (WildEarth Guardians) that the Queen Conch may be endangered and facing extinction. A Federal Government (US) agency listened intently to the concerns expressed by advocates alerting them of the conch’s dwindling status – an argument of extinction. Stakeholders in the Caribbean should have been sitting on “pins and needles” for the verdict. If this agency agreed with the Minority Report … Boom!

No more conch imports to the US. Further the host countries would have to regulate their conch fisheries to better manage the stock in national and international waters. Life as we know it, in the affected countries, would change forever; see VIDEOs below.

Where is your independence now?!

The publishers of book Go Lean…Caribbean monitor the developments in the societal engines related to the economic, security and governing aspect of Caribbean life. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an agency for managing integration and “common cause” issues for all the Caribbean. The issues in the following news article highlights the subject matter of “Common Pool Resources“:

Title: No conch ban; Queen conch ‘not currently in danger of extinction’
By: K. Quincy Parker, Business Editor

The United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has decided not to place the queen conch on the endangered species list, erasing fears of a U.S. import ban on one of the Caribbean’s most valuable marine resources.

Concern over the potential of a conch ban was evident in the region, given the importance of conch exports to the Caribbean. Conch meat exports from 12 Caribbean countries are about 14,000 tons and contribute around $185 million in earnings. Even the shells are exported, albeit to a far lesser extent. CARICOM states together are the main suppliers of queen conch on the international market.

The matter was raised recently at the sixth meeting of the CARICOM-United States Trade and Investment Council (TIC) in Nassau.

In 2013, The Bahamas exported $4.2 million in fresh and frozen conch, practically all of it to the U.S. The value of conch shell exports was $43,700.

Study and findings
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a division of the NOAA responsible for the stewardship of living marine resources within the United States’ exclusive economic zone, conducted a 12-month study and on Wednesday issued its determination on the petition to list the queen conch (Strombus gigas) as threatened or endangered under the United States’ Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“We have completed a comprehensive status report for the queen conch in response to the petition submitted by WildEarth Guardians,” NFMS said. “Based on the best scientific and commercial information available…we have determined that the species does not warrant listing at this time.”

The NMFS explained the process through which the decision had been made. First NMFS conducted a biological review of the species’ taxonomy, distribution, abundance, life history and biology. Available information on threats affecting the species’ status was compiled into a status report, which also defined the foreseeable future for the NMFS evaluation of extinction risk.

The group then established a group of biologists and marine mollusk experts – referred to as the Extinction Risk Analysis (ERA) group – to conduct a threats assessment for the queen conch, using the information in the status report. The ERA group was comprised of six Endangered Species Act policy experts from NMFS’ Office of Protected Resources and its southeast and southwest regional office’s protected resources divisions; three biologists with fisheries management expertise from NMFS’ southeast region’s sustainable fisheries division, and two marine mollusk biologists from NMFS’ northwest and southeast fisheries science centers. The ERA group had expertise in marine mollusk biology, ecology, population dynamics, ESA policy and fisheries management. The group members were asked to independently evaluate the severity, scope, and certainty for each threat currently and in the foreseeable future, which they qualified as 15 years from now.

After the year-long investigation, the ERA spoke.

“We conclude that the queen conch is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, nor is it not likely to become so within the foreseeable future,” the NMFS reported.
The Nassau Guardian; Bahamas Daily Newspaper (Posted 11/07/2014; Retrieved 12/30/2014) –
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/51572-no-conch-ban-queen-conch-not-currently-in-danger-of-extinction

The foregoing article trumpets the need for regional stewardship of resources that traverse from one member-state to another: sovereign democracies and overseas territories in and around the Caribbean Sea. The following 3 prime directives are explored in full details in the roadmap:

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.

For the Queen Conch, there is no border consideration, they move and multiply from one Caribbean member-state to another. So there needs to be an administration over Caribbean Common Pool Resource that is agnostic of borders. This is the role of a super-national organization to provide the effective integration and administration for the region. All the geographical member-states, 30 in all, need to confederate, collaborate, and convene with the CU for Common Pool Resource solutions. This pronouncement is made in the Declaration of Interdependence, (Page 10 & 11). The statements are included as follows:

Preamble: While our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters.

iii. Whereas the natural formation of the landmass for our society is that of an archipelago of islands, inherent to this nature is the limitation of terrain and the natural resources there in. We must therefore provide “new guards” and protections to ensure the efficient and effective management of these resources.

The vision of this Go Lean roadmap is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean into an integrated “Single Market” – Dutch, English, French and Spanish homelands – vested with the powers, tools and techniques to conduct the oversight role and responsibility for the region’s Common Pool Resource. The governance will include an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the 1,063,000 square miles of the Caribbean Sea and a separation-of-powers between the CU federal and member-state Environmental Protection governing agencies. The Go Lean book details these series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies designed to foster regional oversight and solutions for the Queen Conch … and other Caribbean resources:

Anecdote – Caribbean Single Market & Economy	Page 15
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choice Lie in Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrated Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Vision – Agents of Change: Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Non-sovereign Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy – Exploration of EEZ resources	Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration	Page 79
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Environmental Control & Regulatory Commission	Page 83
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Agriculture and Fisheries Department	Page 88
Anecdote – Turning Around The Current Regional Administration: CariCom	Page 92
Anecdote – Success Story: “Lean” in Government	Page 93
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change – EEZ Exploration Rights	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up – US Relationship	Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Border Security	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – # 3 Integrated Homeland Security	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce – Trade SHIELD	Page 129
Planning – Ways to Model the EU – Deputized Agencies for Entire Region	Page 130
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress – Big Data Capture and Analysis	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Anecdote – Governmental Integration: CariCom Parliament	Page 167
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security – Caribbean Naval Authority	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources – Common Pool Resources	Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – Natural Resources Oversight	Page 22?
Appendix – Trade SHIELD – “Enforcement“ Trade -versus- Environment Paradox	Page 264

As mentioned in the foregoing article, the 12 conch exporting countries and (US) territories in the Caribbean are as follows:

Aruba, (Netherlands Antilles)	Dominican Republic
Barbados	Grenada (the “Grenadines”)
Bahamas	Jamaica
Belize	Martinique / Saint Barthélemy
Bermuda	Turks and Caicos Islands
British Virgin Islands	US / Puerto Rico
Cuba	US / Virgin Islands

The problem for the Queen Conch lie in the management (or lack there-of) for Common Pool Resources. There are now threats and risks to the viability of this Caribbean inhabitant. There are attempts at conservation too. Consider this encyclopedic information^[1] as follows:

Threats
Photo: The island of Anegada, British Virgin Islands, a heap consisting of thousands of queen conch shells discarded after their flesh was taken for human consumption.

Within the conch fisheries, one of the threats to sustainability stems from the fact that there is almost as much meat in large juveniles as there is in adults, but only adult conchs can reproduce, and thus sustain a population.^[62] In many places where adult conchs have become rare due to overfishing, larger juveniles and sub-adults are taken before they ever mate.^[62][69] On a number of islands, sub-adults provide the majority of the harvest.^[70] Lobatus gigas abundance is declining throughout its range as a result of overfishing and poaching. Populations in Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in particular, are currently being exploited at rates considered unsustainable. Trade from many Caribbean countries is known or thought to be unsustainable. Illegal harvest, including fishing in foreign waters and subsequent illegal international trade, is a common problem.^[50] The Caribbean “International Queen Conch Initiative” is an international attempt at managing this species.^[52]
Conservation
The queen conch fishery is usually managed under the regulations of individual nations. In the United States all taking of queen conch is prohibited in Florida and in adjacent Federal waters. No international regional fishery management organization exists for the whole Caribbean area, but in places such as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, queen conch is regulated under the auspices of the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC).^[50] In 1990, the Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention) included queen conch in Annex II of its Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW Protocol) as a species that may be used on a rational and sustainable basis, but that requires protective measures.

This species has been mentioned in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1985.^[32] In 1992 the United States proposed queen conch for listing in CITES Appendix II, making queen conch the first large-scale fisheries product to be regulated by CITES (as Strombus gigas).^[50][71][72] In 1995 CITES began reviewing the biological and trade status of the queen conch under its “Significant Trade Review” process. These reviews are undertaken to address concerns about trade levels in an Appendix II species. Based on the 2003 review,^[63] CITES recommended that all countries prohibit importation from Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, according to Standing Committee Recommendations.^[73] Queen conch meat continues to be available from other Caribbean countries, including Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, which operate well-managed queen conch fisheries.^[50]

The Go Lean roadmap for the CU stresses the importance of common pool resource management. Managing the quota and harvesting seasons of seafood stock is a classic role for governmental agencies. But without the CU, there is no jurisdiction for the international waters between the islands. The area of “Fisheries” is a big economic engine for the coastal communities, but mitigating the risks of stock depletion would be a priority for the CU. This oversight is necessary for Queen Conch, plus other seafood stock like lobster, grouper and flying fish.

While the Minority Report by the “WildEarth Guardians” group in the foregoing news article may not have been adhered to by the US government, Caribbean stakeholders need to take heed. We have more at stake; any depletion of Queen Conch populations, endangered, extinct or not, is a serious matter of concern for our homeland.

The Go Lean book, foregoing news article and the encyclopedia references above all recommend a best-practice for the Caribbean: technocratic administration of the regional common pool resources, regardless of independence or sovereignty consideration. This is a matter of interdependence and survival of Caribbean culture and our way of life. See VIDEO #1 below demonstrating conch preparation in the Bahamas and VIDEO #2 revealing a Belizean recipe for the Caribbean conch delicacy.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for this Caribbean integration roadmap, this exercise in “single market” promotion. Now is the time to Go Lean and make the Caribbean region a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

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

————–

Appendix – Referenced Citations:

1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_conch
32. McCarthy, K. (2007). “A review of queen conch (Strombus gigas) life-history. Sustainable Fisheries Division NOAA. SEDAR 14-DW-4.
50. NOAA.Queen Conch (Strombus gigas). Retrieved 4 July 2009.
52.“International Queen Conch Initiative”. NOAA: Caribbean Fishery Management Council. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
62.“Virgin Islands Vacation Guide & Community”. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
63. CITES (2003). Review of Significant Trade in specimens of Appendix-II species. (Resolution Conf. 12.8 and Decision 12.75). Nineteenth meeting of the Animals Committee, Geneva (Switzerland), 18–21.
69. Theile, S. (2001). “Queen conch fisheries and their management in the Caribbean”. Traffic Europe (CITES): 1–77.
70. Oxenford, H. A.; et al. (2007). Fishing and marketing of queen conch (Strombus gigas) in Barbados. CERMES Technical Report Number 16. University of the West Indies, Barbados: Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies.
71.Appendices I, II and III. cites.org website. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
72.NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs website: CITES. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
73.“Standing Committee Recommendations”. CITES Official Documents No 2003/057. 2003. Retrieved 16 April 2010.

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Appendix – VIDEO # 1 – http://youtu.be/lqHwoX3VXeY – Conch Salad – Eleuthera Island, Bahamas – Martha Stewart

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Appendix – VIDEO # 2 – http://youtu.be/w1JP05CeA9A – Conch Fritters: Fry Jack – Cooking with Flavors of Belize & Chef Sean Kuylen

Published on Jan 14, 2014 – A classic Belizean dish, perfect for an appetizer at dinner time or a quick snack. And as usual, Chef Sean puts his spin on things adding Belikin Lighthouse Beer to the batter while giving chefs at home good tips when preparing this simple dish.

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Fisheries, Foreign Policy, History, Image, Trade

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Forecast for higher unemployment in Caribbean in 2015

Posted on December 18, 2014 in Economics, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

The quest for jobs is going to get harder. This is the point of the following news article; the regional forecast for the Latin American & Caribbean region is that economic conditions will be distressed even more in 2015.

All hands on deck!

The book Go Lean…Caribbean anticipates creating 2.2 million new jobs … despite those projected distressful conditions; see VIDEO below. The goal is to make the region “a better place to live, work and play”. So all the empowerments and remediation need to be applied now.

The quest to create these jobs will take 60% inspiration – new ideas – and 80% perspiration – hard-work and heavy-lifting. The math of this addition exceeds 100 percent. This is the key: winners give more than 100%. See story here:

Title: ILO report forecasts higher unemployment in Latin America, Caribbean in 2015
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found an “unusual pattern” in this year’s urban employment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, which continued to fall despite warning signs of economic slowdown.

The ILO report titled “Labour Overview for Latin America and the Caribbean 2014,” noted that the region’s urban unemployment rate may reach 6.3 per cent in 2015, which means that there will be some 500,000 more without jobs.

“There are warning signs,” said Elizabeth Tinoco, the ILO’s regional director. “The concern is that we are creating fewer jobs despite unemployment remaining at a low level,” she added.

Although unemployment has not risen due to this slowdown in growth, there has been a sharp reduction of new jobs reflected in the employment rate, which fell by 0.4 percentage points to 55.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.

“This means that at least one million (fewer) jobs have been created,” Tinoco said.

The ILO said that this “scenario of uncertainty” comes after a decade in which the region enjoyed significant economic growth. The unemployment rate dipped to record lows and allowed for a higher quality of jobs.

The urban unemployment rate of young people dropped from 14.5 per cent to 14 per cent but still remains between 2 and 4 times higher than that for adults. What’s more, the unemployment rate for women is 30 per cent higher than that for men, and 47 per cent of urban workers work in the informal economy.

“Many people who temporarily left the workforce in 2014 will return to search for a job next year, together with young people entering the labour market. The region will have to create nearly 50 million jobs over the coming decade, just to offset demographic growth,” Tinoco said, adding “we are talking about almost 15 million people unemployed.

“So we have to face the huge challenge of rethinking strategies to push growth and a productive transformation of the economy to foster economic and social inclusion through the labour market,” Tinoco said.

The ILO is calling on countries in the region to prepare for the possibility of a labour market which has to take specific measures to stimulate employment and protect individual incomes.
Caribbean 360 – Online Regional News Source (Posted 12-15-2014; retrieved 12-16-2014) –
http://www.caribbean360.com/news/ilo-report-forecasts-higher-unemployment-latin-america-caribbean-2015

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society, starting with economic empowerment. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has 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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for many empowerments, such as the infrastructure of Self-Governing Entities (SGE), to allow for industrial developments in a controlled (bordered) environment. This creates the right climate, entrepreneurial spirit, and access to capital for job-creators to soar. The book starts with a focus on the community ethos of job-creators: protecting property (in this case intellectual property), bridging the digital divide, fostering genius and better managing negotiations.

This strategy is valid for urban areas, as SGE’s can avail the close proximity of a willing work force, and quickly deploy transportation options like electrified streetcars, light-rail, natural gas buses and other transit options.

In response to the dire predictions in the foregoing news article, the fear is that despite the love the Caribbean populations may have for their homeland and culture, they will leave to find work, when none is available locally. This is factual from the past. This actuality has been the “siren call” for this Go Lean book. The foreword of the book thusly states (Page 3):

Many people love their homelands and yet still begrudgingly leave; this is due mainly to the lack of economic opportunities. The Caribbean has tried, strenuously, over the decades, to diversify their economy away from the mono-industrial trappings of tourism, and yet tourism is still the primary driver of the economy. Prudence dictates that the Caribbean nations expand and optimize their tourism products, but also look for other opportunities for economic expansion. The requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state. 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). This book advocates that all Caribbean member-states (independent & dependent) lean-in to this plan for confederacy, collaboration and convention.

Populations leaving the islands create a whole new set of problems, for those leaving and those left behind. “The grass is not greener on the other side”; see the VIDEO below of European dire forecast for 2015. The Go Lean roadmap posits that it takes less effort to remediate Caribbean life than to thrive as an alien in some foreign land. This point has been frequently addressed in blog/commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547	Miami’s Successful Now after first discriminating against immigrants
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2251	What’s In A Name? Discrimination of Hispanics in the US.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2222	Sports Role Model – Playing For Pride … And More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2025	Negative Attitudes & Images of the Caribbean Diaspora in US
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683	British public sector (Afro-Caribbean) workers strike over ‘poverty pay’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1596	Book Review: ‘Prosper Where You Are Planted’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433	Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of tertiary educated to brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350	PayPal expands payment services to 10 markets – More Latin Transfers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1296	Remittances to Caribbean Increased By 3 Percent in 2013
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=857	Caribbean Image: Dreadlocks
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We *Don’t* Want from the US – Job Discrimination of Immigrations

Also consider what happens after the societal abandonment. There are less of the educated classes remaining in the region to execute effective and efficient administration of the economic, security and governing engines. The disposition goes from bad to worst. (Even the flight of non-educated classes has a devastating effect: less people to support the marketplaces). Alas, classic Anthropology provides a key assessment. This science maintains that when a community comes under assault the responding options are “fight or flight”. For the past 50 years, “flight” has been the default reaction. The Go Lean roadmap now proposes the alternative: “fight”. But this is not a “call to arms” or for a revolt against the governments, agencies or institutions of the Caribbean region, but rather a petition for a peaceful transition and optimization of the economic, security and governing engines in the region.

The fighting spirit being advocated here is the community ethos to protest against the status quo:

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”.

We need jobs in the region and we need them now! The Go Lean roadmap provides job-creating solutions; so now that the forecast is for more economic distress in 2015, the urging is to double-down on this roadmap.

The points of the arts and sciences of job creations were foremost in the consideration of this book. Early, this intent was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14) with these statements of the need to remediate Caribbean communities:

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. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx.        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.

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.

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, pre-fabricated 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.

The purpose of the Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap is to compose, communicate and compel economic, security and governing solutions for the Caribbean homeland. We want a better society than the past; and perhaps even better than the countries so many of our citizens flee to. (We also want our Diaspora to repatriate; to come back home).

How, what, when for the Go Lean roadmap to effect the region with the harvesting of new jobs? The book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact job empowerment in the region, member-states, cities and communities. Below is a sample:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	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
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Close the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Job-Creating Industries	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Self-Governing Entities	Page 80
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Transportation Enhancements	Page 84
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean	Page 118
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Self Governing Entities as Job Creating Engines	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – OECD-style Big Data Analysis	Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Battles in the War on Poverty	Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234
Appendix – Job Multipliers (new indirect jobs from created direct jobs)	Page 259

Other subjects related to job empowerments have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3164	Michigan Unemployment – Then and Now – Lessons Learned
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3152	Making a Great Place to Work®
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3050	Obama’s Immigration Reforms to take more Caribbean STEM workers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2953	Funding Caribbean Entrepreneurs – The ‘Crowdfunding’ Way
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2857	Where the Jobs Are – Entrepreneurism in Junk
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2800	The Geography of Joblessness
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2750	Disney World’s example of Self Governing Entities and Economic Impacts
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2126	Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2003	Where the Jobs Are – Ship-breaking under the SGE Structure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1698	Where the Jobs Are – STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214	Where the Jobs Are – Fairgrounds as SGE & Landlords for Sports Leagues
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=398	Self-employment on the rise in the Caribbean – World Bank

The purpose of this roadmap is to elevate Caribbean society, and create 2.2 million new jobs.

The Go Lean roadmap provides the turn-by-turn directions for accomplishing this goal for new jobs. Based on the foregoing article, we need to lean-in now, more than ever if we want to “prosper where we are planted” here in the Caribbean. While the future always has an amount of uncertainty, there are preparations that must always be made for seasonal change; a “winter” season is coming to the Caribbean; ignorance is no excuse.

A Bible proverb says to look to the “ants” (insect) for a lesson. They do not know exactly when the weather will change, so they forage in the summer to prepare food storehouses for the winter. These lowly creatures teach us so much:

Holman Christian Standard Bible – Proverbs 6:6
Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.

Now is not the time to be a slacker nor to flee. We must stand up and be counted, fight the good fight and elevate our community. We too can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix – VIDEO: Commission revises down economic forecast – http://youtu.be/JJimIOHy2C0

The European Commission has projected weak economic growth for the rest of this year in the Eurozone.

Unveiling its autumn economic forecast on Tuesday, the EU’s executive said that the 18-nation bloc will only grow 0.8%, a forecast below what was estimated earlier in the year. Growth is expected to rise slowly in 2015

“There is no single, and no simple answer. The economic recovery is clearly struggling to gather momentum in much of Europe. We believe that it is essential that all levels of government assume their responsibility and mobilise both demand- and supply-side policies to boost growth and employment,” EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici said.

“Country-specific factors are contributing to the weakness of economic activity in the EU, and the euro area in particular. Such factors include the deep-seated structural problems that were already well-known before the crisis, the public and private debt overhang; ongoing financial fragmentation related to the sovereign debt crisis and unfinished and uncertain reform agenda in some of our member states,” Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen stated.

According to the newly appointed commissioner, the EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukrainian conflict, and a weaker global economy, are damaging business confidence.

Eurozone leaders are relying on a 300 billion euro investment fund to kick-start economic recovery, after newly elected Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker promised to unveil the plan in December.

“Our first priority now is to boost investment, to kick-start growth, and sustain it over time. We will be working at full speed, under the coordination by Vice-President Katainen, to put in place the 300bn investment plan announced by President Juncker,” Moscovici said.

The EU’s unemployment rate is likely to fall to 10%, the Commission said. But as for the eurozone, it will be significantly higher.

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CariCom, Jobs, Model

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Plea to Detroit: Less Tech, Please

Posted on December 13, 2014 in Ethos, Industries, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

It’s competition time for the cockpits of today’s automobiles.

The appeal here is being made to Detroit. In this case the city is referenced as a metonym for the Automaker Planners and Decision-makers. Metonyms are frequent references in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, with the following considerations:

Silicon Valley – Page 30 – American High Tech Center
Wall Street – Page 155 – Big Banks/Financial Centers
Hollywood – Page 203 – US Movie/TV/Media Producers

This book Go Lean… Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This effort will marshal the region to avail the opportunities associated with technology and automobiles – there is a plan to foster a local automotive industry. In fact The CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Automakers are competing in a “space race” for more and more technology in the cockpits (Car decks and Heads-Up Display) of cars. This is not always good; as related by the following news/opinion writer:

By: John C. Abell, Senior Editor
Title: My Plea to Detroit: Less Tech, Please

I once ranted that the only thing I wanted in a “smart” TV was Bluetooth. I was only half kidding. But car-markers are going down the same road as some TV set manufacturers by bloating their products with too much of the wrong tech, adding expense and complexity that we do not need. “We took a look from the ground up of what a self-driving car would look like,” Brin said.

“Smart” has become an overused modifier for devices that are better off dumb. Do you really need a connected refrigerator that tells you to buy milk and streams music?

You aren’t going to be forced to buy a smart fridge. There are too many other choices. But if automakers aren’t stopped they will install useless, redundant technology as standard equipment for you will have to buy, maintain and even keep paying subscription fees to justify the existence of something you didn’t need in the first place.

Consider today’s news of Ford’s latest attempt to market an in-dash tech system. Let’s leave aside the safety discussion about whether the driver should be messing around with pinch-to-zoom multitouch screens and looking for entertainment while operating a massive vehicle at highway speeds. Let’s also concede that voice control addresses much of the safety concern and that the quiet, serene environment that is a car interior is made for that kind of interface.

I’m still stuck on a basic question: What cabin technology can an automaker build into a car that I can’t bring myself, more cheaply? What I need, still, only, is Bluetooth and a comfortable seat for my smartphone, which is as smart as can be and always with me.

There’s ample history to push back against so-called tech advancement in cars.

In the year 2000 President Clinton opened up the satellite GPS tracking system to anybody at a resolution of down to 10 meters. That 10-fold improvement suddenly made military-grade tech practical for your family car. Companies like Garmin and Magellan, which had been catering to sporting folk, found a new market. And newcomers like TomTom and Dash got into the game.

As a chronic early adopter I have owned several stand-alone GPS units and have always resisted buying $2,000 in-dash GPS because I could always get $200 on-dash equivalents. And then smartphones became the only GPS device you needed, reducing the cost to about zero while also making the device infinitely portable. Goodbye Garmin.

Carmakers merely co-opted a good idea, charging us a stiff premium for what it presented as essentially style choice. Remember that theme …

Several automakers tout that their cars are “Pandora ready.” Who cares? Pandora is only one of more than 100 streaming music services, has fewer than half the subscribers of Spotify and about a million fewer songs than major rivals. And — oh yeah — Apple recently got into the game with a native iPhone service that oddly enough looks and feels exactly like its more established predecessors.

Detroit has also discovered hotspots and thinks it’s doing you a favor building that into your next car. GM and Ford, the Wall Street Journal reports, are convinced “technology offerings are increasingly important to new car buyers. A total of 38% of those buying domestic vehicles cite the latest technology features as a reason for their purchase, according to a recent survey by automotive consultants J.D. Power and Associates.”

Sigh. Here’s an opportunity for you to pay for yet another data plan, in addition to the one you use at home and the one you use on your phone. Or, instead, you can remember that your phone is a 4G hotspot, and that some plans don’t charge you more to use it. Want something even more robust? Get a MiFi for a hotspot that you also don’t have to leave in your car and has excellent battery life.

I’m a little less sure that OnStar has outlived its usefulness. This service — which pre-dates the GPS and mobile phone revolution — is a uniquely human-powered concierge service that many will find valuable for that kind of piece of mind. But if a panic button is all you need, it’s probably overkill. Plus, they are serious boosters of Bluetooth, so good for them.

Instead of adding to sticker shock with shiny things Detroit should take a look at what appliance companies like GE and Whirlpool are doing. Connected appliances leverage the smartphone their designers very safely assume you already have. So your smart oven won’t remind you that it’s your anniversary, but it will respond to a command to pre-heat that you might send as you leave the supermarket.

Like appliance makers, automaker need to realize that the smartphone has become the ultimate universal remote and gateway that they cannot and should not try to improve upon. Save the innovation for under the hood — and for making the cabin as smartphone friendly as possible.
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Are you among the 38% J.D. Powers say are enticed by “technology offerings” or does your car still have roll-up windows? Are you in the auto industry and convinced that in-cabin tech is the future?
Linked-In Blogger: John C Abell (Posted 12-12-2014) –
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-plea-detroit-less-tech-john-c-abell?trk=hp-feed-article-title

This assessment on Detroit is being made from … Detroit. In addition to the automotive industry, there is a lot of economic lessons to learn from the city itself. This once great industrial center has endured a failed-city status – 18 months under Bankruptcy Court oversight – and is now strategizing a turn-around. There is a lot of parallel with Caribbean communities, except for the lack of core competence in the automotive industry space. (The Go Lean book describes other core competencies related to the Caribbean – Page 58).

The Caribbean region cannot ignore technological advances and industrial developments. This means jobs; for today and tomorrow. The automotive industry have always been a source of high-paying jobs that transformed society. The Go Lean book relates the factor of high-job multipliers, where each direct job in a community creates multiple indirect jobs – the automotive industry is #1 for job multipliers. The roadmap’s quest to increase the regional economy and create 2.2 million new jobs, must consider all dimensions of this industry. We can learn so much about job creation from Detroit.

This is the declaration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This purports that a new industrial revolution is emerging and Caribbean society must engage. This is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14), with these opening statements:

xxvii. 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, pre-fabricated 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.

xxviii. 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.

There is a lot at stake for the Caribbean in considering this subject area. One Caribbean icon/artist, Bob Marley, wrote not to be a “stock on the shelf” (“Pimpers Paradise” Uprising Album 1980). The region’s 42 million people demand a supply of innovative automobiles – real innovation, not just fluff to increase the sticker price as reported in the foregoing article. We do not only want to consume, we want to supply!

Producing and not only consuming has been a consistent theme in prior Go Lean blog/commentaries, sampled here:

Role Model Shaking Up the World of Cancer Research & Innovation

Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market

Where the Jobs Are – One Scenario: Ship-breaking

STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly; Despite High Demand

Google conducting research for highway safety innovations

Ghost ships – Autonomous cargo vessels without a crew

The Go Lean book provides a roadmap for developing and fostering a domestic automotive industry. The process starts with a spirit/attitude to not tolerate the status quo. This spirit is described in the book as a community ethos for research-and-development. The book details other ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to forge innovation and industrial growth in Caribbean communities:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
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 Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 48
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – How to Calculate GDP	Page 67
Tactical – Growing Economy – New High Multiplier Industries	Page 68
Separation of Powers – Public Works & Infrastructure	Page 82
Separation of Powers – Department of Transportation	Page 84
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas	Page 127
Planning – Lessons from Detroit	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry	Page 206
Appendix – Job Multipliers – Detroit 11.0 Rate #1 of all industries	Page 260

The laws of supply and demand is the bedrock of economics. This roadmap to elevate Caribbean society must lead first with a strong economic plan. The goal is to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), so this means more domestic consumption and less imports. This is possible in the automotive industry space if the new domestic automotive product offerings are appealing and innovative. The Caribbean region has historically been slow at adopting technological innovation. But change has now come to the Caribbean! This is bigger than just being the first to adopt new innovation; we want to be the innovators.

The focus is automotive and yet the topic featured in the foregoing article include phrases like Internet Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, music streaming (Pandora & Spotify) and satellite concierge. This is not your “grandfather’s Chevrolet”; yet this is not even the future; this is the present state of “Detroit”!

The insights from the foregoing article and the embedded VIDEO below, help us to appreciate that the future is now! We, the Caribbean region, want to be consequential in that future, not just “a stock on the shelf”. With the proper planning, preparation and participation, we help to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Appendix VIDEO: CNET On Cars – Car Tech 101: The future of head-up displays – http://youtu.be/KWs9ucwO4Vo

Published on Nov 24, 2014 – Head-up displays are starting to show up everywhere. Brian Cooley tells you why HUDs may be the next revolution in car tech.

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M-1 Rail: Alternative Motion in the Motor City

Posted on December 11, 2014 in Government, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

Buy local!

This is the first mandate for any economic empowerment plan. Applying this logic would influence the City of Detroit to deploy public transportation options utilizing products and services of their local home-grown industries: The Big 3 auto makers.

And yet, Detroit is celebrating their initiation of a streetcar system – with no Ford, General Motors (GM) or Chrysler contributions; (they do no produce streetcars).

Yet, this is indisputably wise!

Streetcars were a common mode of transportation in many American cities, then something villainous happened: most systems were dismantled in the 1950’s & 1960’s as part of a switch to bus service. Detroit ceased their service in 1956, while Philadelphia never stopped and still continue to operate the same streetcars, even today. (The buses were manufactured by the Michigan-area auto companies; the Big 3). This plutocratic behavior proved a “greedy monster that ultimately ate itself”.^[1](In 2008 GM & Chrysler had to file for Bankruptcy Protection; 5 years later Detroit filed for Bankruptcy Protection as well).

The once great City of Detroit has to re-boot, remake and revive its metropolitan area, and streetcars are now part of the solution. There is the need to efficiently move people forward to facilitate live, work and play activities. See the M-1 Rail story here:

M-1 RAIL is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to lead the design, construction, and future operation of a 3.3-mile circulating streetcar along Woodward Avenue between Congress Street and West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. M-1 RAIL is an unprecedented public-private partnership and model for regional collaboration Notably, the first major transit project being led and funded by both private businesses, philanthropic organizations, in partnership with local government, the State of Michigan, and U.S. Department of Transportation.

Mission
The mission of M-1 RAIL is to create a catalyst for investment, economic development and urban renewal that positively impacts the entire region through the construction of a streetcar circulator system running along and connecting Woodward Avenue from the Riverfront to the NewCenter and North End neighborhoods.

Vision
The M-1 RAIL Woodward Avenue Streetcar project is envisioned to be one element of a future modern, world-class regional transit system where all forms of transportation, including rail, bus, vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian, are considered and utilized to build a vibrant, walkable region that includes a thriving Downtown Detroit. This city center is envisioned by supporters of M-1 RAIL to become a foundation for growth and prosperity throughout the surrounding neighborhoods adjacent to the Central Business District, Midtown, NewCenter and North End.

———-

Video: M-1 Rail: Moving Forward Together – http://vimeo.com/106327746

M-1 RAIL: Moving Forward Together from M-1 Rail on Vimeo.

Dallas, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, and soon Detroit. All home to modern streetcar lines that serve as connectors throughout their respective regions, as well as economic catalysts, spurring investment and growth along their routes.

Construction will soon be underway for the M-1 RAIL streetcar connecting 20 stations serving 12 locations between Congress Street in Detroit’s Central Business District up to West Grand Boulevard at the North End.

Stretching 3.3 miles along Detroit’s famed, Woodward Avenue, A National Byway®, the modern streetcar will travel between Congress Street in Downtown to West Grand Boulevard, in the North End, providing access to hundreds of businesses and connecting neighborhoods and points of interest along the way including major cultural landmarks, sports stadiums, entertainment venues, restaurants, hospitals and universities.

When completed, whether going to work, going to lunch, or going to a game, visitors and residents alike will have the option to ride the M-1 RAIL Streetcar.
M-1 RAIL Project – Website; About Us – Retrieved December 11, 2014
http://m-1rail.com/about-m-1-rail/

This consideration by the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean, a roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), is part-and-parcel of the effort to “observe and report” on the turn-around of the once great City of Detroit. Previous commentaries alluded that streetcars are also being considered for Caribbean deployment, especially since these member-states report very high fuel costs. In addition to streetcars, light-rail, natural-gas powered vehicles and toll roads are all part of the effort to empower the region through mass transit (Page 205).

It is the conclusion that the American auto industry played a key role is dissuading cities from streetcar deployments, but now that the dynamics have changed (oil price inflation, declining city residential populations/tax base, and re-gentrification to repatriate a middle class back to the inner city); this mode of transit is now “all the rage”. This is the consensus despite any objections or lobbying on behalf of auto manufacturers. After careful analysis, this commentary asserts that Detroit has been very kind to the Big 3 auto makers, but these companies have not reciprocated to Detroit. The references show that GM, Ford and Chrysler have grown their manufacturing footprint, many times globally, while decreasing their presence in Michigan^[2][3][4].

There is a matter of self-interest. Though there is some interdependence, the Big 3 auto makers must execute strategies and tactics for their best interest while Detroit must execute strategies and tactics for its best interest; though these may not align. The ethos, the Greater Good was missing in prior iterations of city administrations, but it is hoped now that this lesson is learned; and if not in Detroit, then surely we must practice this ethos in the Caribbean.

The Go Lean roadmap anticipates the challenges that communities like Detroit – failed-states/failed cities – have had to endure and pledges to pursue a course of action for better outcomes on our end. These points were pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 14), with these statements:

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.

xiv.    Whereas government services cannot be delivered without the appropriate funding mechanisms, “new guards” must be incorporated to assess, accrue, calculate and collect revenues, fees and other income sources for the Federation and member-states. The Federation can spur government revenues directly through cross-border services and indirectly by fostering industries and economic activities not possible without this Union.

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.

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.

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 communities like … Detroit…

The CU mission is to implement the complete eco-system to deliver on market opportunities of streetcars, as related in the foregoing article/website. There are many strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that will facilitate this readiness; a sample is detailed here:

Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Choose because Resources are Limited	Page 21
Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of State – SGE’s	Page 80
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Transportation	Page 84
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Command-and-Control	Page 103
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage – Electrified Buses/Trains	Page 113
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry	Page 206
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Transit Options	Page 234

The world, including Detroit (for 2016), is preparing for the change to more efficient mass transit options to make transit to urban areas more appealing to live, work and play. This ethos of adapting to change has also now come to the Caribbean.

This blog commentary touches on many related issues and subjects that affect planning for Caribbean empowerment in this transportation industry-space. Many of these issues were elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

DC Streetcars – Model For Caribbean Re-development

Mitigating the Dreaded ‘Plutocracy’, as GM practiced in the US in the past to quash Streetcar enterprises

The Criminalization/Abuses of American Business – Applying Lessons Learned

Preparing for the automotive future – Google self-driving cars to mitigate highway safety concerns

Go Green Caribbean – Streetcars are electric, less carbon footprint

Trains and Trucks play well together

The Go Lean book relates that the “greatest good to the greatest number of people is the measure of right and wrong”. This Greater Good mandate has a different charter for a city-community versus a for-profit corporation. This logic was lost during the modern history of Detroit; but we must ensure this principle is adhered to in the Caribbean future.

The Caribbean needs help…with transportation, jobs, urban renewal, growing the economy, and motivating our youth to impact their future here at home… in the Caribbean; as opposed to the recent history of societal abandonment. We have much to learn from Detroit.

Let’s pay more than the usual attention to these lessons; too much is dependent on our efforts.

The people of the region are urged to “lean-in” for the Caribbean empowerments as described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are very alluring: emergence of an $800 Billion single market economy and 2.2 million new jobs. That is a great destination in which we need the right vehicle to get the whole community there. Like the M-1 Rail in the foregoing article, let’s Move Forward Together.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Appendix:
1.   Erysichthon – The monster that devoured everything and then itself. Retrieved December 11, 2014 from: http://sonjablignaut.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/a-monster-that-devours-itself-a-capitalists-parable/
2. List of General Motors factories. Retrieved December 11, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_General_Motors_factories
3.  List of Ford Motors factories. Retrieved December 11, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_factories
4.  List of Chrysler factories. Retrieved December 11, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chrysler_factories

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Michigan Unemployment – Then and Now

Posted on December 2, 2014 in Economics, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

The tagline “a better place to live, work and play” is the focus for empowering the Caribbean, placing equal emphasis on all 3 spheres of activity. But the focus of work is easier said than done. Without work, the Caribbean will continue to suffer societal abandonment – our good people would simply leave to go elsewhere to find the missing work element. They will do this despite how pleasant the “live” and “play” elements may be in our society.

This is a lesson learned from Detroit, Michigan USA.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap to elevate the Caribbean “work” environment. It analyses the regional disposition and then seeks solutions by studying the performances of other global cities, especially in the US.

The following chart highlights 50 cities, 2 of which were studied for the Go Lean book, a good example, Number 1 on the chart: Omaha, Nebraska and Number 50 on the chart: Detroit, Michigan, the once great industrial city.

The lessons from Omaha have already been a subject of this commentary. Now we focus on the other end of the chart, Detroit; this city specifically and the overall State of Michigan in general.

The entire eco-system of jobs was crippled in Michigan during the recent Great Recession (2007 – 2009). In response to the crisis throughout the country, the US federal government began extending unemployment benefits as a safety-net. There was a federal program to provide additional weeks of unemployment benefits to people starting in 2008.^[2] The program was then extended again and again; the most recent extension was provided by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which continued the supplemental unemployment benefits until the end of 2013.^[2] Only then was the comfort level established that the “recession was over”, and the recovery was well enough in hand.

The United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in November 2013 the average (mean) duration of unemployment was 37.2 weeks.^[3] The median duration was 17.0 weeks. 22.6% of people who were unemployed found a new job in less than 5 weeks, while 37.3% had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more.^[3]

These numbers were very bad during the throes of the Great Recession. In line with the following article, which quotes statistics, the impact on the streets of Michigan were 1 million unemployed. See article here:

Michigan unemployment tops 15% – July 2009
Sub-title: Government says jobless rate is the highest for a state since 1984. Rate tops 10% in 15 states and District of Columbia.
By: Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Michigan became the first state in 25 years to suffer an unemployment rate exceeding 15%, according to a report released Friday by the Labor Department.

The state’s unemployment rate rose to 15.2% in June (2009). It was the highest of any state since March 1984, when West Virginia’s unemployment rate exceeded 15%.

Michigan, which has been battered by the collapse of the auto industry and the housing crisis, has had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for 12 months in a row.

Rhode Island had the second highest unemployment rate at 12.4%, followed by Oregon at 12.2%.

A total of 15 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rates of at least 10%.

Friday’s report from the U.S. Labor Department also showed that six states recorded record-high unemployment rates in June.

Over the month, jobless rates increased in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Michigan’s 1.1 percentage point increase from May to June was the highest in the nation, followed by Wyoming’s 0.9 point increase.

On an annual basis, jobless rates where higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Michigan also recorded the highest yearly increase at 7.1 percentage points. Oregon came in second with a year-over-year increase of 6.3 percentage points in its unemployment rate.

The national unemployment rate rose for the ninth straight month in June, climbing to 9.5% from 9.4%, and hitting another 26-year high. Nearly 3.4 million jobs have been lost during the first half of 2009, more than the 3.1 million lost in all of 2008.

Unemployment rates decreased in five states, and seven states had no rate change.

North Dakota’s 4.2% jobless rate was the lowest in the nation, followed by Nebraska at 5%.

The Midwest and West both had jobless rates of 10.2%. The jobless rate in the Northeast rose to 8.6% from 8.3% but was the lowest of any U.S. region. In the South, unemployment rose to 9.2%.

Non-farm payroll employment fell in 39 states and the District of Columbia in June. California had the largest month-over-month decrease in jobs.

Payrolls increased in 10 states and were unchanged in one state. The largest over-the-month increase occurred in North Carolina.

Source: CNN Money Online Financial News Site (Posted July 17, 2009; retrieved 12-02-2014)http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/17/news/economy/state_unemployment_report/

The Great Recession was truly a crisis. That was then; this is now.

Detroit still has the highest unemployment rate of the 50 largest cities in the U.S., at more than three times the national average for May, which was 6.3%. The unemployment rate for Detroit hovered at 23%, six percentage points ahead of the nearest on the list — Oakland City, Calif., at 16.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in June 24, 2014.^[4]

Once the metrics fall so low, there is no place to go but up.

In the past year Michigan is starting to finally feel the beneficial effects of the recovery. From those ghastly numbers of 1 million in 2009, the numbers petitioning for the Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) at December 19, 2013 were slightly “over 43,000 people in Michigan”. (The extension measure failed in the US Congress – the economy was a victim of its own success).

The Go Lean publishers are here to observe and report. Detroit in specific and Michigan is general is starting now to experience a turn-around. While there may be an ongoing hardship for those 43,000 people, the overall economy of Michigan has greatly improved since 2009, as the foregoing article relates, when the state “recorded the highest yearly unemployment increase of 7.1 percentage points”.

Michigan unemployment rate edges toward pre-recession numbers
Sub-title: …but employment hasn’t recovered
By: Emily Lawler – elawler@mlive.com MLive.com

LANSING, MI – Michigan’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate dropped to 7.1 percent in October, according to data released by the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

October’s 7.1 number is a .1 percent decline from September and the third monthly decline in a row. A year ago, in October 2013, unemployment was more than a point higher at 8.6 percent.

That’s the lowest rate this year and in fact the lowest since January through March of 2008.

“October’s 7.1 percent jobless rate was the lowest in Michigan since the January thorugh March 2008 period, and close matched pre-recession rates from 2003 to 2007. However, Michigan employment remains far below pre-recession levels,” noted the Department in a press release.

In October 2007, total employment in the state was 4.6 million. In October 2014, total employment in the state was 4.4 million.

Gov. Rick Snyder issued a statement on the unemployment:

“There is optimism and opportunity in Michigan as our state’s economy continues to move forward. More people are working and our labor force is growing as companies create more and better jobs. Our reinvention is helping working families and we are seeing results.

“But while we can recognize this accomplishment, there is more to do to fulfill our goal of the brightest possible future. We need to continue creating an environment for success, and that includes building a workforce with in-demand skills – and making sure a pathway to those skills is available for Michigan students and adults.”

Emily Lawler is a Capitol/Lansing business reporter for MLive Media Group.
Source: http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2014/11/michigan_unemployment_rate_edg.html

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society, not Detroit, starting with economic empowerment. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has 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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The CU will foster the right climate for Direct Foreign Investments, entrepreneurial initiatives, industrial development, and preparation for a ready, willing and able work force.

These points are pronounced early in the Go Lean book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14) with many statements that demonstrate the need to empower the Caribbean labor force:

xx. 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.

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.

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, pre-fabricated 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.

Despite the weaknesses of its current dilemma, Detroit does have strengths. The city is working hard to turn-around. See VIDEO here of a Job Fair for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) jobs peculiar to the Motor City:

Engineering Society of Detroit job fair on Monday – Posted November 9, 2014

Video – http://www.wxyz.com/money/job-finder/engineering-society-of-detroit-job-fair-on-monday#Job%20fair%20today:

We must learn from Detroit. The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact jobs in the Caribbean region, member-states, cities and communities. Below is a sample:

Assessment – Anecdote – Caribbean Single Market & Economy	Page 15
Assessment – Anecdote – Dutch Caribbean – Integration & Secessions	Page 16
Assessment – Anecdote – French Caribbean – Organization & Discord	Page 17
Assessment – Anecdote – Puerto Rico – The Greece of the Caribbean	Page 18
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrating Region in to a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Job-Creating Industries	Page 46
Strategic – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – High Multiplier Industries	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – State Department – Self-Governing Entities	Page 80
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cuba/Haiti	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons from Omaha	Page 138
Planning – Lessons from Detroit	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Battles in the War Against Poverty	Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Middle Class	Page 223
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

Other subjects related to the pros-and-cons of job empowerments for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here::

Making a Great Place to Work® – Detroit Employer Example

Where the Jobs Are – Entrepreneurism in Junk

The Geography of Joblessness

Continued Discriminationor Latins/Caribbeans in Job Markets

Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market

Where the Jobs Are – One Scenario: Shipbreaking

Casino Jobs – Changing/Failing Business Model

The Future of Golf; Vital for Tourism Jobs

STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly – High Demand, Low Supply

Where the Jobs Were – British public sector now strike over ‘poverty pay’

Where the Jobs Are – Fairgrounds as SGE & Landlords for Sports Leagues

Self-employment jobs on the rise in the Caribbean – World Bank

The purpose of this roadmap is to elevate Caribbean society. To succeed we must apply lessons from advanced economy countries like the US, and the cities there in; lessons from their good, bad and ugly experiences of the past.

The Go Lean movement (book and blog commentaries) posits that there is less effort to remediate the Caribbean homeland, than to flee to a city like Detroit and try to thrive as an alien in that land. So the book thusly advocates to “prosper where planted”. With the appropriate effort, as defined in the Go Lean book, the Caribbean can truly become a better place to live, work and play.

Download the book Go Lean…Caribbean now!

—————–

Source References:

http://www.michigan.gov/uia/0,4680,7-118–318402–s,00.html
Ayres, Sarah (20 November 2013). “Why Congress Must Extend Emergency Unemployment Benefits”. Center for American Progress. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
“Economic News Release: Table A-12 Unemployed person by duration of unemployment”. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-you-move-to-detroit-2014-06-24. Retrieved December 2, 2014.

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Blog # 200 – Ignorance is no excuse – Milestone in Enlightenment

Posted on November 28, 2014 in Government, Planning

Go Lean Commentary – Number 200

We have now reached a new milestone in the distribution of the blogs from the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, 200 submissions. That’s a lot of blogs and a lot of enlightenment, (see Appendix below); there is now no excuse for ignorance in the Caribbean region. (Enlightenment is defined here as the opposite of ignorance).

The Go Lean book stresses the subject of the “Age of Enlightenment” (Page 170); relating the cultural movement of intellectuals in the 17th and 18th centuries, (between 1650 to 1700). Enlightenment thinkers used logic and reason to challenge ideas grounded in nothing more than ignorance, superstition, arbitrary tradition and dogmatic faith. There is now a new need for an Age of Enlightenment for Caribbean society as ignorance, superstition, arbitrary tradition and dogmatic faith has re-emerged as a negative community ethos.

The Go Lean book posits that 2008 is the pivotal year for Caribbean enlightenment (Page 136) – see the VIDEO below. Our Age of Enlightenment unfurled since 2008. This acknowledgement is recognized at the outset of the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11) opening statement:

xxi. 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.

This roadmap was constructed with assessments, community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to mitigate the ignorance, superstitions, arbitrary traditions and dogmatic faith of the Caribbean status quo.

One example of dogmatic faith, the focus of this commentary, is the elevation of the view that the United States of America is the panacea of Caribbean ills. As a result, the book and aligned blog commentaries elaborate on how the countries of the Caribbean region emerged as parasites to American-ism, rather than protégés for an advanced society. (The assessment is that even the US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are dysfunctional in their societal engines).

The Go Lean book is not anti-American, on the contrary, we look to the US as a role model of democracy and seek to emulate provisions of the US Constitution (Page 145). The book simply asserts that the Caribbean member-states must “man up” and assume our own destiny, not look for someone else, the US, to solve our problems of economic, security and governing dysfunction. This theme has been a frequent topic for blogging by the Go Lean promoters, as sampled here:

American-ism – Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure

A Lesson in History: Deferred Gratification as a Community Ethos of WW II

Protégé Model for Caribbean/Latin America: Korean Example

Applying Lessons from 2008 – Depth and Breath of Crises

Sports Role Model – US versus the World

America’s Navy – 100 Percent – Model for Caribbean

American Self-Interest – Senate bill targets companies that move overseas

‘Prosper Where You Are Planted’ – Book Review and Community Ethos

Caribbean loses over 70% of tertiary educated citizens to the brain drain – Mostly to the US

Open the Time Capsule: The Great Recession of 2008

Caribbean Reality – Only at the precipice, do they change

Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes

Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’

10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US

Change has come to the Caribbean region; an upgrade to the Caribbean intelligentsia.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). This Caribbean empowerment roadmap has 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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book described both the CU and CCB as hallmarks of technocracy, a commitment to efficiency and effectiveness. The book itself is 370 pages and covers 144 different missions.

The following is a sample of these specific details from the book related to this commentary:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Missions – 144 Advocacies	Page 457
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Appendix – Credit Ratings Agencies in 2008	Page 276

It is understandable that the reference to “parasite” is negative. The book describes positive community ethos that we advocate for adoption. But the “parasite” reference is appropriate; the disposition of the host, directly impacts the disposition of the parasite. The financial crisis of 2008, initiated by American financial defects, severely crippled Caribbean economies. Even now, despite the recovery in the US, Caribbean economic malaise lingers.

A protégé disposition is so much more preferred. We should apply the best practices of American society, and other cultures as well. (The Go Lean book directly refers to Canada – Page 146 – and the European Union – Page 130).

This quest for Go Lean…Caribbean is huge, making our homeland a better place to live, work and play. This is not easy, this is heavy-lifting!

It is time for enlightenment, Caribbean style – too much is at stake!

Yes, “Hope and Change” has come to the Caribbean; see the 2008 version of “Hope and Change” manifested in America, in the VIDEO below:

Video: 2008 Presidential Election Acceptance Speech – http://youtu.be/GNtJRPcPCcw

The new President-Elected Obama declared that night on November 4, 2008: “A new dawn of American leadership is at hand”…

For the Caribbean, we say: Ditto!

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———————————–

Appendix – Categories and Counts of all Go Lean Blogs (as of November 28, 2014); 1 Blog = Many Categories

Economics	76
Ethos	66
Government	63
Implementation	39
Industries	53
Locations	34
Planning	63
Social	58
Strategy	40
Tactical	29

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History, Milestone

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Why India is doing better than most emerging markets

Posted on November 19, 2014 in Economics, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

BRICS = Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa …

There are no “push-pull” factors luring Caribbean citizens to emigrate to these countries, (though Caribbean member-states Trinidad and Guyana have a majority population of Indian descent), but still it is very important for the stewards of the Caribbean economy to study the BRICS countries. We need to learn from their lessons, good-bad-and-ugly, and try hard to keep pace.

This global assessment is part of the technocratic activities needed in comparative analysis, essential and strategic in the effort to ensure the region remains competitive. This effort is inclusive of the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it urges the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book serves as a roadmap for the elevation of the region’s economy-security-governing engines; providing turn-by-turn directions to integrate the 30 member-states of the region and forge an $800 Billion economy.

A likely analogy would be navigating a vessel across a tumultuous ocean. As a humorous depiction, subject matter experts joke that “an economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today”.

All joking aside, the incremental progress of one BRICS country, India, is not to be lambasted or readily dismissed. See this recent news article:

By: JO’s

MUMBAI – Investors have fallen out of love with emerging markets. Since the start of last year emerging-market stocks has trailed their rich-world peers. Currencies are falling. Worst-hit is the Russian Rouble, which has fallen by 30% against the Dollar this year. The currencies of other biggish emerging markets, such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa, have also weakened. For such economies growth is harder to come by. The IMF recently cut its forecasts for emerging markets by more than for rich countries. But India is a notable exception to the general pessimism. Its stock market has touched new highs. The Rupee [currency] is stable. And the IMF nudged up its 2014 growth forecast for India to 5.8%. That figure is still quite low: growth rates of 8-9% have been more typical. But in comparison with others it is almost a boom. Why is India doing better than most emerging markets?

In part optimism about India owes to its newish government. In May Narendra Modi’s Baratiya Janata Party (BJP) won a thumping victory in elections on a pro-growth platform. Since then the BJP has strengthened its position in some key states. So far reform has been piecemeal. Procedures for government approvals have been streamlined. The powers of labour inspectors have been curbed. Civil servants now work harder. That has been enough to sustain hopes of further and bigger reforms. Yet much of the continued enthusiasm about India is down to luck. The currents that sway the global economy presently—the dollar’s strength; slowdown in China; aggressive money-printing in Japan; stagnation in the Euro Zone and falling oil prices—are less harmful to India than to most emerging markets.

Start with the dollar, which has been buoyed by a resilient American economy and the prospect of interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve. Past episodes of rising interest rates and dollar strength (for instance in the early 1980s or mid-1990s) have not been kind to emerging markets. Bond yields rise and currencies fall as capital is drawn back to America. India has a bit less to fear from such a rush to the exits; its bond markets are tricky for foreigners to enter in the first place. India is less harmed by slowdown in China, as only around 5% of its exports go there. It is not part of the China’s supply-chain that takes in much of Southeast Asia. Nor is it a big exporter of industrial commodities, like Brazil. Equally a weaker yen in response to quantitative easing by the Bank of Japan hurts Asia’s manufacturing exporters more than service-intensive India. The misery in the Euro Zone is of greater concern to its local trading partners in Turkey and Russia than to faraway India. And the fall in the crude prices that hurts oil exporters, such as Russia and Nigeria, is a boon to a big oil importer like India. Indeed the deflation that is stalking large parts of the world is helpful to India, which has suffered from high inflation.

India is not impervious to bad news. Some of its recent economic data have looked a little soggy. Exports slumped in October. Car sales have fallen for two consecutive months and there is little sign yet of a meaningful recovery in business investment. This is in part why there have been growing calls (including from the finance minister) for the central bank to cut interest rates soon in response to a drop in consumer-price inflation. The troubles in other emerging markets ought to counsel caution. Any sign that policymakers might be ditching discipline in favour of quick fixes might see India crossed off the love list.
The Economist Magazine – Online Edition – November 18, 2014 –
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/11/economist-explains-11

Other BRICS countries are struggling with growth, at this moment; see story here:

As emerging economies hit hard times, Brazil and Russia look particularly weak.

Considering the realities of the emerging economies, the BRICS countries, it is obvious that there is an ebb-and-flow associated with economic stewardship. This stewardship constitutes the prime directives of the CU:

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.
Improve Caribbean governance/administration/oversight to support these engines.

The best practice for effective stewardship of an economy’s ebb-and-flow is the recovery; managing the ability to “bounce back” quickly. This fact is related in the Go Lean book (Page 69), chronicling the experiences in the US when the economy lost $11 Trillion in the 2008 Great Recession, but recovered $13.5 Trillion back a few years later, by December 2012. The US has 50 member-states and 320 million people. Shocks and dips can therefore be absorbed and leveraged across the entire region .The Go Lean roadmap is to integrate the Caribbean in such a structure with 30 member-states and 42 million people.

At the outset, the roadmap identified an urgent need to contend with, since the Caribbean is still in the throes of the financial crisis (commenced in 2008). This is pronounced in this clause in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

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 roadmap signals change for the region. It introduces new measures, new opportunities and new recoveries. Economies will rise and fall, ebb-and-flow; the recovery is key. Currencies and inflation issues also factor in the economic stewardship. The foregoing article relates:

“the dollar … has been buoyed by a resilient American economy and the prospect of interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve. Past episodes of rising interest rates and dollar strength … have not been kind to emerging (BRICS) markets”.

So the CU strategy also calls for the establishment of the allied Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to manage the regional monetary and currency affairs. The Go Lean book describes the breath-and-width of the CCB. This stewardship of monetary-currency was envisioned and pronounced 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 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 – Money Multiplier	Page 22
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 – Facilitating Currency Union, Caribbean Dollar	Page 45
Strategy – Collaborate for the Caribbean Central Bank	Page 45
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 64
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade	Page 67
Tactical – Recovering from Economic Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Caribbean Central Bank	Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Benefit Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
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 Control Inflation	Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange	Page 154
Advocacy – Foster Empowering Immigration – Indentured Indians	Page 174
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Trinidad & Tobago	Page 240

The Caribbean region needs to learn from the lessons of the BRICS countries, (see VIDEO below). and do the work, the heavy-lifting, to compete with them, and the rest of the world in trade and culture. The subject of trade empowerment has been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2887	Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Role Model Jack Ma brings Trade Marketplace Alibaba to America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2435	Latin America’s Dream and Trade Role-model: Korea
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2090	Elaborating on the CU and CCB as Hallmarks of a Technocracy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1869	US Senate Bill Targets Companies for Dishonorable Trade Practices
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1847	Caribbean Cigar Trade – Declared “Among the best in the World”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Amazon – Role Model for Trade Marketplace, Introduces New Tablet
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=994	Bahamas Rejects US Trade Demand
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – #3: De-Americanize World Money for Currency in Trade

The Caribbean is arguably the best address on the planet, but there are many deficiencies, as in jobs and economic empowerments. We have suffered as a result of these deficiencies, as a region losing a large share of human capital, one estimate of 70%, to the brain-drain.

No More! Change has now come to the Caribbean.

Shepherding the Caribbean economy is the job for technocrats, trained and accomplished from the battles of globalization and trade wars. This is the Go Lean roadmap. Everyone, the people and institutions are 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!

————

VIDEO: BRICS to change world economy – http://youtu.be/wmS11HnNbk0

Published on Mar 28, 2012 – The BRICS countries’ leaders were preparing for their annual meeting in 2012. These countries make up 42 percent of the world’s population and a quarter of its landmass. They are also responsible for 20 percent of the Global GDP and own a whopping 75 percent of the foreign reserve worldwide. In these tough times for world economics these countries are trying to find a solution for the situation. RT America’s Correspondent Priya Sridhar (the US based arm of Russia Today, a 24-hour English-language international broadcast news network based in Miscow) gave a sneak peak of the summit from India.

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Foreign Policy, India, Model, Transform

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Category: Planning

DEVELOPED NATIONS Birthright Citizenship – Caribbean Neighborhood Only

OTHER NATIONS Birthright Citizenship – Caribbean Neighborhood Only

DEVELOPED NATIONS
Birthright Citizenship – Caribbean Neighborhood Only

OTHER NATIONS
Birthright Citizenship – Caribbean Neighborhood Only