Economics – Page 25 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Category: Economics

‘The Covenant with Black America’ – Ten Years Later

Posted on January 14, 2016 in Economics, Social

Go Lean Commentary

In 2006, [writer-commentator] Tavis Smiley — along with a team of esteemed contributors — laid out a national plan of action to address the ten most crucial issues facing African Americans. The Covenant, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller, ran the gamut from health care to criminal justice, affordable housing to education, voting rights to racial divides. But a decade later, Black men still fall to police bullets and brutality, Black women still die from preventable diseases, Black children still struggle to get a high quality education, the digital divide and environmental inequality persist, and American cities from Ferguson to Baltimore burn with frustration. In short, the last decade has seen the evaporation of Black wealth, with Black fellow citizens having lost ground in nearly every leading economic category.

And so in these pages Smiley calls for a renewal of The Covenant, presenting the original action plan alongside new data from the Indiana University School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA) to underscore missed opportunities and the work that remains to be done. While life for far too many African Americans remains a struggle, the great freedom fighter Frederick Douglass was right: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

Now is the time to finally convert the trials and tribulations of Black America into the progress that all of America yearns for.
The Covenant with Black America – Ten Years Later (Retrieved 01/14/2016) –
Hay House, Inc, January 5, 2016 – Social Science – 296 pages
https://books.google.com/books?id=VIk1CwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_similarbooks

With descriptors like the foregoing, it would be understandable if Black people from other countries are dissuaded from emigrating to the United States. Yet, the opposite is happening! The book Go Lean … Caribbean relates that people in the Caribbean – mostly Black and Brown – are beating down the doors to get out of their Caribbean homelands, to seek refuge in places like the US; (a smaller faction emigrate to Canada and Western Europe). This really conveys the sad state of affairs for the Caribbean eco-system. While things are bad for Blacks in America, according to the foregoing, more Black people want to come in, instead of working to remediate the problems in their own homelands.

Black America has some work to do. Travis Smiley – the eloquent social-political commentator, and his band of experts – provided a blueprint-roadmap to effect change in their communities. See here:

Book Title: Covenant with Black America
By: Tavis Smiley
Third World Press, 2006 – Political Science – 254 pages

Six years’ worth of symposiums come together in this rich collection of essays that plot a course for African Americans, explaining how individuals and households can make changes that will immediately improve their circumstances in areas ranging from health and education to crime reduction and financial well-being. Addressing these pressing concerns are contributors Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. surgeon general; Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Angela Glover Blackwell, founder of the research think tank PolicyLink; and Cornell West, professor of Religion at PrincetonUniversity. Each chapter outlines one key issue and provides a list of resources, suggestions for action, and a checklist for what concerned citizens can do to keep their communities progressing socially, politically, and economically. Though the African American community faces devastating social disparities—in which more than 8 million people live in poverty—this celebration of possibility, hope, and strength will help leaders and citizens keep Black America moving forward.

What is the Covenant with Black America?

The Covenant with Black America is a national plan of action to address the primary concerns of African Americans today—from health to housing, from crime to criminal justice, from education to economic parity.

Why A Covenant and Why Now?

As we witnessed in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, Americans are deeply divided between race, class, gender, political ideology and moral values. A divide so extreme, that in order to bridge it, we must speak openly, freely, without judgment and work together. It is imperative that we take this opportunity to consider the issues of particular interest to African Americans and to establish a national plan of action to address them. No longer can we sit back and expect one political party, one segment of the population or one religious denomination to speak for us or to act on our behalf. It is our responsibility as an entire community to no longer be left behind politically, socially, or economically and to bridge the economic and social divides ourselves, by encouraging a conversation and a commitment that will inevitably benefit all Americans.

State of the Black Union: Defining the African American Agenda Part I & II

For the last ten years, the country’s visionaries, educators, public policy makers, religious leaders, opinion makers, and community organizers have come together to weigh in on the most challenging issues facing Black America. This symposium—The State of the Black Union—has always encouraged dialogue and the exchange of ideas about issues and factors that gauge the progress of America’s promise for African Americans; however, last year’s gathering marked a turning point.

On the heels of the 2004 presidential election, a sour economy, a rising death toll in Iraq, a growing prison population, and deepening disparities in healthcare and public education, collectively “we the people” decided that it was time to shift the conversation from talking about our “pain” to talking about our “plan”. It is a plan that moves our critique of America to a construction of America—a country that is as good as its promise. At the close of the 2005 State of the Black Union, the public was invited to share what they wanted from this plan. African Americans across the country let us know what their concerns were once we put out the call for them to do so at our website. In short, take control of their own destiny. We believe that The Covenant has the power to do this and more.

Less than one year later, that plan, roadmap, blueprint was published as the Covenant with Black America. On the recommendation of Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, co-founder with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, we decided to call this document a “covenant” and not a “contract” because it speaks to the spiritual dimension of the Black struggle for progress in America.

We are especially pleased with the thought-leaders and opinion-makers who have contributed introductory essays to each of the 10 covenant chapters in the book. Each is nationally recognized for contributions in their various fields of interest and each donated his/her time and expertise to make this project possible.

It was important for us to maintain the integrity of this project by guaranteeing that from conception to birth, this project would be imbued with the spirit and soul of Black people. We made the plea over the nationally-syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show and Black folk everywhere responded. The name of each donor is listed in the text of the book. It’s a wonderful thing to peruse the list and to see the names of individual Black family members who supported this effort. It is even more empowering to know that these citizens are serious about their future and that of our country.

The rise of the Covenant with Black America to #1 on the New York Times best-seller list proved that there was tremendous interest in a plan of action that addressed the concerns of Black Americans. Tavis Smiley, the visionary responsible for creating and building the momentum around the book, embarked on a five-month, 20-city national tour, holding sessions in churches in cities such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, Memphis, New York, Baltimore, and Cleveland.

To build on the excitement and discussion around the book, Tavis Smiley invited people around the country to host Covenant Celebrations as part of the Covenant Conversation and Celebration Weekend. The first 1,000 party hosts who sent Smiley an invitation to their celebration received a special covenant gift pack. One lucky party hosted Smiley and PrincetonUniversity professor Cornel West as their guests, where they discussed issues in The Covenant.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that the nettlesome task of Black Americans is to bear the burden of redeeming the soul of America. Without question, Black folk have always been the conscience of the country. It is our hope that we can yet again help our beloved nation live up to the promise of her ideals. The political paradigm has shifted; it’s time to build a new construct, and the Covenant with Black America is the tool for the task.

The Back Story of The Covenant Cover Photo

The background image on the cover of The Covenant book is an original photograph by world renowned photographer Chester Higgins, Jr. The photograph features eight year old Sojourner from New York.

In the face of this young girl, the cover of The Covenant represents our family histories. The image of the child’s face is composed of over three hundred smaller images of our ancestors submitted by African Americans across the country.

The Covenant is about the future. About the hope of Black youth yet unborn. About our past and the courage of our ancestors. About the present—right here and right now. The Covenant will reflect our independence, our interdependence and our interconnectedness.
Source: http://www.covenantwithblackamerica.com/background.htm; posted 2006; retrieved January 14, 2016

The Caribbean also has some work to do. The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for effecting change in the Caribbean; it introduces the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) as a vehicle to bring about desired change in the region’s economics, security and governing engines.

The Covenant with Black America addresses Income Inequality in the US, identifying the Black population versus the full general population. The book reveals that the Black Population is not just failing to keep pace with other communities, but also falling behind; going backwards, in the last 10 years.

This is bad! This corresponds with much of the time period for the focus of the Go Lean book. Go Lean was composed in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008 – a frequent topic for the Go Lean book and accompanying blogs. The desire to eliminate or reduce Income Inequality is a practical argument to enhance social cohesion and reduce social unrest. Social eruptions can weaken society and start the slide down the “slippery slope” to Failed-State status. It is important for Caribbean society to be “on guard” for encroachments in this regard.

This Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to provide better economic stewardship (governance), to ensure that the economic failures of the past, in the Caribbean and other regions – like the US – do not re-occur here in the Caribbean homeland. The book posits that we must NOT fashion ourselves as parasites of the US, but rather pursue a status as a protégé, benefiting from their lessons-learned but molding a better society.

The Go Lean book cites the example of the American Dream and the failings to execute on that promise, as demonstrated with the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, with these quotations:

The Bottom Line on the American Dream – Page 223
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. This idea of the American Dream is rooted in the US Declaration of Independence which proclaims that “all men are created equal… endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The meaning of the “American Dream” has changed over history, and includes components as home-ownership and upward mobility. A lot of people followed the American Dream to achieve a greater chance of becoming rich. For example, the discovery of gold in California in 1849 brought in 100,000 men looking for their fortune overnight—and a few did find it. Thus was born the California Dream of instant success. Historian H. W. Brands noted that in the years after the Gold Rush, the California Dream spread across the nation: “The old American Dream . . . was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard” . . . of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck. [This] golden dream . . . became a prominent part of the American psyche”. Today, some posit that the ease of achieving this Dream changes with technological advances, available infrastructure, regulations, state of the economy, and the evolving cultural values of the US demographics.

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

The Go Lean book does not cast judgment on all of the American people. It is the position of this commentary that for the most part, the people of the United States are good-natured and mean well in their pursuits of the Greater Good. But this commentary frequently relates that the continued institutional racism in America sets a barrier for progress for Black Americans, in terms of education and career opportunities. In addition, there is a Shadow Influence in the US financial eco-system that undermines a lot of policies for the Greater Good. Therefore the inequalities between Black society and general society are merely a reflection of the societal defects in the US in total. This land (America), despite the actuality, should not be so alluring to foreign Black people. See a related VIDEO here:

VIDEO – https://youtu.be/qIc014b491Y – Tavis Smiley: Obama Failed Black Americans as President

Published on Jan 11, 2016 – Radio show host Tavis Smiley tells Fox News’ Megyn Kelly that Barack Obama failed Black Americans as President.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean posits that America is plagued with institutional racism and Crony-Capitalism. It is therefore not the eco-system for the Caribbean to model. Rather the roadmap designs more empowerments for the Caribbean Middle Class – as in creating 2.2 million new jobs – and less to the Rich – One Percent. (Though there is no plan to penalize success and to forcibly redistribute any wealth).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6563	Lessons from Iceland – Model of Recovery
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6531	A Lesson in History – Book Review of the ‘Exigency of 2008’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6399	Book Review on ‘Mitigating Income Inequality’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6286	Managing the ‘Invisible Hand of the Market’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733	Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5597	Economic Principle: Market Forces -vs- Collective Bargaining
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3582	For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090	Introduction to Europe – All Grown Up
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2930	‘Too Big To Fail’ – Caribbean Version
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=782	Open the Time Capsule: The Great Recession of 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353	Book Review: ‘Wrong – 9 Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’

The Go Lean book reports that the Caribbean is in crisis. Too many people leave! The region is suffering a debilitating brain-drain estimated at 70% with some countries reporting up to 81%. This is due to “push-and-pull” factors. We must lower these factors. The “push” refers to the overbearing deficiencies in the homeland that people need refuge from; the “pull” refers to the lure from distant shores, as if the “grass is greener on the other side”. But look here at the 10 issues of concern for Black America. So while all is not well in the Caribbean, neither is all well in America.

The Go Lean roadmap declares that “enough is enough”. It is easier for the average person to remediate and mitigate defects in their Caribbean homeland than to try and fix America. It is akin to “jumping from the frying pan to the fire”.

This message must be enunciated, more stridently.

It is time for more empowerments in the Caribbean! It is time for us to build a better society. The strategies, tactics and implementations proposed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean are conceivable, believable and achievable. We can do these! We can be better; yes, we can!

Everyone in the Caribbean is hereby urged to lean-in for this Go Lean roadmap. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean Now!

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Civil Rights, Diaspora, Foreign Policy, History, Model

Crime Specialist Urging: ‘Change Leaders in Crime Fight’

Posted on January 6, 2016 in Economics, Government, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

While we all want to live in a society free of crime, we all recognize that this goal is easier said than done!

Since remediating and mitigating crime is both an “Art” and a “Science”, we have to rely on professionals and Subject Matter Experts (SME) – Police – to do this job. And when these SME’s succeed in their “art and science”, we hardly notice; but when they fail we cannot ignore the failures, as we are all impacted.

Right now, there is no way to ignore what is going on in the Caribbean member-state of the Bahamas; they have an alarming crime problem, one that has the attention of local, regional and international stakeholders. According to the below news article, these numbers highlight the problem:

In 2010, there were 94 murders recorded in the country, a record at the time. The next year there were 127 murders and in 2012 there were 111. There were 120 murders in 2013, 123 in 2014 and a record 149 last year [2015].

For a country of 320,000 people, these numbers are alarmingly high. (This blogger is Bahamas-bred).

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that to elevate Caribbean society there must be a focus on elevating the region’s economic, security and governing engines. While the book primarily targets economic empowerments (jobs, investments, education, entrepreneurship, etc.), it posits that security concerns must be front-and-center along with these economic efforts.

The book directly relates (Page 23) that with the emergence of new economic drivers that “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent. This is a historical fact, and is bound to be repeated again and again. The following news article and related VIDEO convey this point:

Title: ‘Change leaders in crime fight’
Source: BahamasLocal.com – Local Online News Portal; retrieved January 6, 2016 from:
http://www.bahamaslocal.com/newsitem/142707/Change_leaders_in_crime_fight.html

January 04, 2016 – Former Deputy Commissioner of Police Quinn McCartney is renewing his call for a change in leadership in the crime fight following the setting of a new murder record in The Bahamas in 2015, and several serious crimes already recorded for 2016, including two murders and multiple shootings. While McCartney did not identify anyone in his post, his comments are widely viewed as a critique of Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade.

“I promised not to say too much this year, but looks like 2016 is starting off much like 2015 ended, and therefore I feel compelled to say something brief right now,” McCartney wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday night.

“Obviously what we are doing right now is not working. There is, in my humble opinion, a need for drastic changes to be made. Perhaps we should take our cues from sports teams. I am not a sports fanatic, but I do know that when a team continues to lose, sooner or later there is a leadership change [and] the manager/coach is fired.

“Most of the team members stay but new leadership is brought in to hopefully chart a new course for what should be a talented team. With six successive years of unprecedented records, are we at the point where we need to honestly look at a change of the leadership for the team?”

McCartney’s call for new leadership comes exactly six years after Greenslade assumed command of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and one year after he, McCartney, retired as deputy.

In 2010, there were 94 murders recorded in the country, a record at the time. The next year there were 127 murders and in 2012 there were 111. There were 120 murders in 2013, 123 in 2014 and a record 149 last year.

McCartney’s post attracted widespread attention and in response to a comment under his post, McCartney promised to expand on his thoughts later in the week.

“We can only be manipulated to the extent that we allow persons to manipulate us,” he wrote. “The political directorate can only get us to do what they want if we allow them to. We need to de-politicize our institutions or at least the perception that they are politicized. Unfortunately we have allowed them in when it has been expedient for our professional success or advancement. We are to blame.”

Fresh off a record-setting year, a man was shot and killed outside a bar at the intersection of Kemp Road and Wulff Road early Saturday morning, police said. Hours later, Michael Deangelo Bethel, a well-known businessman, was shot and killed after he was ambushed at the traffic light near Montagu Beach early Sunday morning. His wife and two others were injured in the shooting, police said.

This is not first time McCartney has been critical of the leadership in the crime fight. Last November, he said if those charged with addressing the problem are failing to do their jobs, they should be removed.

McCartney left the force after more than 30 years of service. His relationship with the commissioner was reportedly strained in the time leading to his exit. McCartney holds a first degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in forensics from the University of Scotland. He has had extensive professional training since then.

As deputy commissioner, he was responsible for complaints and discipline, fire services and the force’s inspection and review branch, which was reportedly dismantled in 2012.

———-

VIDEO – MAN STABBED AND KILLED IN YELLOW ELDER – https://youtu.be/pRYNzSaGzSw

Published on Dec 29, 2015 – NB12 DECEMBER 29TH, NEWSCAST.
Pardon the opening Advertisement/Commercial.

The foregoing news resources relate the dire status quo in the Bahamas. A similar review in other Caribbean member-states shows similar challenges. So crime is a regional problem. The Go Lean book therefore presents a regional solution. The book features details of mitigations designed from world-class best-practices to remediate crime in the Caribbean region. All of which the current regimes of the 30 separate member-states would be unable to pursue on their own. As the commentator relates in the foregoing article, there is a need for a new regime, as the current structures are failing. The Go Lean book therefore relates “the new Sheriff in Town” – a regional one – with these strategies:

Caribbean Police (CariPol)
Regional Security Intelligence Bureau
Enhanced Witness Protection Solutions
Regionally-regulated Private/Commercial First Responders
Youth Crime Awareness and Prevention
Prison Industrial Complex

This last entry – Prison Industrial Complex – is the focus of this commentary. There is much to learn from the “art and science” of penology and criminology in implementing change in the new Caribbean.

The Go Lean book posits that the Caribbean is in dire straits – society-wise and crime-wise – due fundamentally to one factor: societal abandonment. Evidence is provided when the best-of-the-best flees a community, the consequence is more-and-more turmoil among the remnant.

Consider this: What happens in prisons where/when felons and “bad actors” are all warehoused together?

The fields of penology and criminology are all consistent in their conclusions: Criminals, felons and “bad actors” all learn to become better criminals, felons and “bad actors” in prison. This is why recidivism – the propensity to return to the bad practice – is so high.

Per Psychiatry: Recidivism = the chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns.

This commentary – in support of the book Go Lean…Caribbean – has previously established that the societal abandonment rate among the educated classes of the Caribbean average 70%, with some communities experiencing even higher rates; (Jamaica at 85% and Guyana at 89%). This consideration details the “push and pull” reasons why Caribbean citizens flee.

The Go Lean book and this entire movement hereby asserts that the problem of crime in the Bahamas – as related in the foregoing news article, though not exclusive there – is a vicious cycle of cause-and effect that is common and tragic throughout the entire Caribbean region. Imagine this cycle:

The Caribbean Remnant – lower skilled and more prone to violence – learn more effective lawlessness
Innocent people leave the Caribbean region for refuge abroad
The Caribbean Remnant – lower skilled and more prone to violence – learn more effective lawlessness
Innocent people leave the Caribbean region for refuge abroad
… pattern continues …

This presumed pattern is based on the premise that foreign governments disallow immigrants with criminal records. So these ones – bad actors – are comprised in the remnant population left behind in the Caribbean. This means that every iteration of the above pattern changes the statistics of felons/non-felons in society; more and more felons, percentage-wise.

So then, what hope is there for the future?

“Do what you’ve always done, get what you’ve always got” – Old Adage.

The declaration of the policing SME in the foregoing article is to “change the leadership in the crime fight”. (Though the quoted article appears to be more political in its indictment).

This is the quest of the Go Lean movement, to change the leadership, stewardship and oversight of the Caribbean eco-system. (This commentary makes no judgments on the actual Commissioner of Police of the Royal Bahamas Police Force; this public servant seems to be an honorable man with only good intentions for his homeland). The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate the region’s economic, security and governing engines beyond their status quo. The roadmap has 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 provide public safety and protect the resultant economic engines from economic crimes and cross-border threats.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The goal of this roadmap is to confederate all of the Caribbean – all 30 member-states – under a unified entity to provide these societal solutions for the region. But ‘Security’ for the Caribbean has a different meaning than for many of the countries the Caribbean Diaspora flee to, like North America and Europe. The CU security goal is for public safety! The goal of the CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, and also the security dynamics of the region, since these are inextricably linked to this same endeavor.

The end result of the successful execution of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is improvement of Caribbean society, minimizing the “push-pull” factors that led to more emigration, and incentivizing the return of many Diaspora that have left over the years and decades.

The cause-and-effect of failing economics lead to increasing criminality. The cause-and-effect of improved economics lead to lesser criminal activities. The motivation of this Go Lean/CU roadmap is the basic economic principle, described in the Go Lean book (Page 21), that “Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices and Incentives”. So the advanced field of economics hereby posits that Economic Systems, more so than political systems influence people’s choices and incentives. So the Go Lean/CU seeks to optimize the region’s economic systems to better deliver on the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap.

This roadmap fully envisions the integration of shepherding – leadership – for the Caribbean region’s economic and security initiatives under the same governance: The Caribbean Union Trade Federation. This point is pronounced early in the Go Lean book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:

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

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

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

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.

The Caribbean appointing “new guards”, or a security apparatus to ensure justice and public safety will include many strategies, tactics and implementations deemed “best-practice” over the years, including an advanced Intelligence Gathering & Analysis effort to mitigate and remediate crime in the region, and also to optimize the “art and science” of crime, including prison reform; (see Page 211 of the Go Lean book). This represents “top-down” and “bottom up” optimization of the security process to better protect the homeland. This comprehensive Homeland Security focus is “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap, covering the approach for adequate funding, accountability and control. The Go Lean book details the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to provide increased public safety & security in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Tactical – Vision – Forge a Single Market economy	Page 45
Tactical – Confederating a non-sovereign union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – CariPol: Marshals & Investigations	Page 75
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – Security Assistance	Page 115
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Mitigate Organized Crime	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Law & Order Lessons	Page 142
Planning – Lessons from Egypt – Lackluster Law & Order affects Economy	Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Gun Control	Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering and Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Prison Industrial Complex	Page 211
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220

Other subjects related to crime and security empowerments for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6693	Ten Puerto Rico Police Accused of Criminal Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6385	Wi-Fi Hot Spots Run By Hackers Are Targeting Tourists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5307	8th Violent Crime Warning to Bahamas Tourists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5435	China Internet Policing – Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5304	Mitigating the Eventual ‘Abuse of Power’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5238	#ManifestJustice – Lessons for the Prison Eco-System
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4863	A Picture is worth a thousand words; a video … a million to expose corruption
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360	Dreading the ‘CaribbeanBasin Security Initiative’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308	911 – Emergency Response: System in Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881	Intelligence Agencies to Up Cyber Security Cooperation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2994	Justice Strategy: Special Prosecutors and Commissions of Inquiry
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2684	Role Model for Justice, Anti-Crime & Security: The Pinkertons
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554	Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1143	White Collar fraud in America; criminals take $272 billion a year in healthcare
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=960	NSA records all phone calls in Bahamas, according to Snowden
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=535	Remembering and learning from the Boston Marathon Terrorist Attacks
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=392	Jamaica to receive World Bank funds to help in crime fight
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – #6: Criminal Organizations

The vision of the Go Lean roadmap is to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play. This means measurable reduction (mitigation and remediation) of crime in the region.

The premise is that “bad actors” will always emerge, from internal and external origins. We must be prepared and on-guard to defend our homeland against all threats, foreign and domestic, including crime. Plus, we must accomplish this goal with maximum transparency, accountability, and commitment to due-process and the rule-of-law.

An additional mission is to lower the “push” factors (from “push-and-pull” reference) so that our citizens are not led to flee their homeland for foreign (North American and European) shores. Among the many reasons people emigrate, is victimization or fear of crime. There is “good, bad and ugly” in every society. We must not allow all our “good” citizens to leave and the only remaining – the remnant – would be the “bad and the ugly”.

So all stakeholders in the Caribbean – people and institutions – are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap for the elevation of the Caribbean’s societal engine: economy, security and governance. The roadmap calls for the heavy-lifting so as to impact the Greater Good. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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ENCORE: Concussion – The Movie; The Cause

Posted on December 28, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Industries, Social

Nassau, Bahamas – This is a re-distribution of the blog-commentary published on August 31, 2015, now that the movie has been released on Christmas Day. The movie is in fact all that it purported to be.

Go Lean Commentary

“Are you ready for some football?” – Promotional song by Hank Williams, Jr. for Monday Night Football on ABC & ESPN networks for 22 years (1989 – 2011).

This iconic song (see Appendix) and catch-phrase is reflective of exactly how popular the National Football League (NFL) is in the US:

“They own an entire day of the week”.

So says the new movie ‘Concussions’, starring Will Smith, referring to the media domination of NFL Football on Sundays during the Autumn season. The movie’s script is along a line that resonates well in Hollywood’s Academy Award balloting: “David versus Goliath”; “a small man speaking truth to power”.

In the case of the NFL, it is not just about power, it is about money, prestige and protecting the status quo; the NFL is responsible for the livelihood of so many people. The book Go Lean … Caribbean recognized the importance of the NFL in the American lexicon of “live, work and play”; it featured a case study (Page 32) of the NFL and it’s collective bargaining successes (and failures) in 2011. An excerpt from the book is quoted as follows:

Football is big business in the US, $9 billion in revenue, and more than a business; emotions – civic pride, rivalries, and fanaticism – run high on both sides.

Previous Go Lean commentaries presents the socio-economic realities of much of the American football eco-system. Consider a sample here:

Socio-Economic Impact Analysis of [Football] Sports Stadiums

Watch the Super Bowl … Commercials

Levi’s® NFL Stadium: A Team Effort

Sports Role Model – College Football – Playing For Pride … And More

Sports Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network

Collegiate Sports in the Caribbean – Model of NCAA

10 Things We Want from the US: #10 – Sports Professionalism

10 Things We Don’t Want from the US: #10 – ‘Win At All Costs’ Ethos

While football plays a big role in American life, so do movies. Their role is more unique; they are able to change society. In a previous blog / commentary regarding Caribbean Diaspora member and Hollywood great, Sidney Poitier, it was declared that …

“Movies are an amazing business model. People give money to spend a couple of hours watching someone else’s creation and then leave the theater with nothing to show for the investment; except perhaps a different perspective”.

Yes, movies help us to glean a better view of ourselves … and our failings; and many times, show us a way-forward.

These descriptors actually describe the latest production from Hollywood icon Will Smith (the former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). This movie, the film “Concussion”, in the following news article, relates the real life drama of one man, Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born medical doctor – a pathologist – who prepared autopsies of former players that suffered from football-related concussions. He did not buckle under the acute pressure to maintain the status quo, and now, he is celebrated for forging change in his adopted homeland. This one man made a difference. (The NFL is now credited for a Concussion awareness and prevention protocol so advanced that other levels of the sport – college, high schools and Youth – are being urged to emulate).

See news article here on the release of the movie:

Title: ‘Concussion’: 5 Take-a-ways From Will Smith’s New Film

Will Smith, 46, is definitely going to get a ton of Oscar buzz portraying Dr. Bennet Omalu in the new film “Concussion.” NFL columnist Peter King of Sports Illustrated got an exclusive first peek at the trailer and it has been widely shared on social media since. And it’s very chilling.

Here are five take-aways and background you need to know before checking out the clip:

1 – It’s Based on a True Story

Omalu is the forensic pathologist and neuropathologist who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players who got hit in the head over and over again, according to the Washington Post.

In the clip, he says repetitive “head trauma chokes the brain.”

Omalu was one of the founding members of the Brain Injury Research Institute in 2002. He conducted the autopsy of Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, played by David Morse in the film, which led to this discovery.

2 – Smith’s Version of Omalu’s Accent Is Spot On

Omalu is from Nigeria and Smith has been known to transform completely for a role. He was nominated for an Oscar for 2011’s “Ali,” playing the legendary Muhammad Ali.

For comparison, here’s Omalu’s PBS interview from 2013.

3 – Smith Is a Reluctant Hero

“If you don’t speak for them, who will,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays Prema Mutiso in the film, tells Smith’s character.

He admits he idolized America growing up and “was the wrong person to have discovered this.”

4 – Alec Baldwin and Luke Wilson

“Concussion” brought in some heavyweights for this movie. Baldwin plays Dr. Julian Bailes, who advises Omalu, and Wilson, who will reportedly play NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, according to IMDB. There’s no official word on this. He’s seen at a podium in the trailer, but doesn’t speak.

5 – “Tell the Truth”

Smith captures Omalu’s passion to have the truth told about this injury and disease.

“I was afraid of letting Mike [Webster] down. I was afraid. I don’t know. I was afraid I was going to fail,” Omalu told PBS a couple years back.

———-

VIDEO Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322364/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Will Smith stars in the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player.

The subject of concussions is serious – life and death. Just a few weeks ago (August 8), an NFL Hall-of-Fame inductee was honored for his play on the field during his 20-year professional career, but his family, his daughter in particular, is the one that made his acceptance / induction speech. He had died, in 2012; he committed suicide after apparently suffering from a brain disorder – chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a type of chronic brain damage that has also been found in other deceased former NFL players^[4] – sustained from his years of brutal head contacts in organized football in high school, college and in his NFL career. This player was Junior Seau.

Why would there be a need for “David versus Goliath”; “a small man speaking truth to power”? Is not the actuality of an acclaimed football player committing suicide in this manner – he shot himself in the chest so as to preserve his brain for research – telling enough to drive home the message for reform?

No. Hardly. As previously discussed, there is too much money at stake.

These stakes bring out the Crony-capitalism in American society.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean (and subsequent blog/commentaries) relates many examples of cronyism in the American eco-system. There is a lot of money at stake. Those who want to preserve the status quo or not invest in the required mitigations to remediate concussions will fight back against any Advocate promoting the Greater Good. The profit motive is powerful. There are doubters and those who want to spurn doubt. “Concussions in Football” is not the first issue these “actors” have promoted doubt on. The efforts to downplay concussion alarmists are from a familiar playbook, used previously by Climate Change deniers, Big Tobacco, Toxic Waste, Acid Rain, and other dangerous chemicals.

This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Sports are integral to the Go Lean/CU roadmap. While sports can be good and promote positives in society, even economically, the safety issues must be addressed upfront. This is a matter of community security. Thusly, the prime directives of the CU are described as:

Optimize the economic engines of the Caribbean to elevate the regional economy to grow to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs, including sports-related industries with a projection of 21,000 direct jobs at Fairgrounds and sports enterprises.
Establish a security apparatus to protect the people and economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these economic and security engines.

The CU/Go Lean sports mission is to harness the individual abilities of athletes to not just elevate their performance, but also to harness the economic impact for their communities. So modern sports endeavors cannot be analyzed without considering the impact on “dollars and cents” for stakeholders. This is a fact and should never be ignored. There is therefore the need to carefully assess and be on guard for crony-capitalistic influences entering the decision-making of sports stakeholders. The Go Lean book posits that with the emergence of new economic engines, “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent”. These points were pronounced early in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 &14):

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

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

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interests of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … 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.

xxxi. Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism …

The Go Lean book envisions the CU – a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean chartered to do the heavy-lifting of empowering and elevating the Caribbean economy – as the landlord of many sports facilities (within the Self-Governing Entities design), and the regulator for inter-state sport federations. The book details the economic principles and community ethos to adopt, plus the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to optimize sports enterprises in the Caribbean:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices / Incentives	Page 21
Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Economic Principles – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Light-Up the Dark Places	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness – Mitigate Suicide Threats	Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederating 30 Member-States into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Vision – Foster Local Economic Engines for Basic Needs	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Prepare for Natural Disasters	Page 45
Strategic – Staffing – Sporting Events at Fairgrounds	Page 55
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Administration	Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration	Page 83
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Health Department – Disease Management	Page 86
Implementation – Assemble Regional Organs into a Single Market Economy	Page 96
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – Sports Stadia	Page 105
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Unified Command & Control	Page 103
Implementation – Industrial Policy for CU Self Governing Entities	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver – Project Management/Accountabilities	Page 109
Anatomy of Advocacies – Examples of Individuals Who Made Impact	Page 122
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management – Trauma Arts & Sciences	Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Sports	Page 229
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Sports Leagues	Page 234

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs declare that the Caribbean needs to learn lessons from other communities, especially when big money is involved in pursuits like sports. These activities should be beneficial to health, not detrimental. So the admonition is to be “on guard” against the “cronies”; they will always try to sacrifice public policy – the Greater Good – for private gain: profit.

Let’s do better. Yes, the Caribbean can be better than the American experiences.

The design of Self-Governing Entities allow for greater protections from Crony-Capitalistic abuses. While this roadmap is committed to availing the economic opportunities of sports and accompanying infrastructure, as demonstrated in the foregoing movie trailer, sport teams and owners can be plutocratic “animals” in their greed. We must learn to mitigate plutocratic abuses. While an optimized eco-system is good, there is always the need for an Advocate, one person to step up, blow the whistle and transform society. The Go Lean roadmap encourages these role models.

Bravo Dr. Bennet Omalu. Thank you for this example … and for being a role model for all of the Caribbean.

RIP Junior Seau.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This roadmap will result in more positive socio-economic changes throughout the region; it will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

——-

Appendix VIDEO: Hank Williams Jr. – Are You Ready for Some Football – https://youtu.be/K8LLKO0-PAE

Uploaded on May 28, 2011 – Official Music Video

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Azerbaijan sets its currency on free float

Posted on December 21, 2015 in Economics, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Imagine one day you have $100 in your wallet. You put the wallet down at night, and then pick it up the next morning and now that money is only worth $70.

Depressing, isn’t it?!

This is not just “make believe”. This is real! This has happened a number of times in the Caribbean past, and just happened today in an Eastern European/Western Asian country, and former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan; with their manat currency; see Appendix. This is not “Economics 101”, but rather “Economics 901”.

This is a commentary on the frailties of the modern banking system, and the need for mastery in this field of endeavor. The banking community, in the Caribbean and elsewhere, have to master the agents-of-change in this troubling world. Factors such as: Globalization, Technology, and Climate Change. But, we will see that it’s not just banks, but consumers – the man on Main Street – as well that needs to better understand and manage these dynamics.

This introduction vividly demonstrates how banking fortunes, and misfortunes, easily affect people, all around the world. This point aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean; and the underlying movement by the publishers SFE Foundation; these were launched as a direct result of the banking crisis referred to as the Great Recession of 2008. One purpose of the book was to apply lessons learned from the 2008 experience in the quest to empower and optimize Caribbean life and society. In addition to the banking dysfunctions that year, global petroleum prices also wreaked havoc on the world’s economy. (The demand for crude oil is now a “wild card” with the new thrust to adapt Green Energy solutions to arrest Climate Change).

There is now a new set of challenges facing the international (central) banking community. This time with currency valuations, as in this case of Azerbaijan; see the news article here and the Appendix below for detailed definitions:

Title: Azerbaijan sets its currency on free float

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Oil-rich Azerbaijan has let its currency float freely, leading to its sharp depreciation as global oil prices hit new lows.

Azerbaijan’s Central Bank said Monday’s move to let the manat fluctuate was made to “preserve hard currency reserves … and ensure the national economy’s competitiveness on the international arena.”

Following the move, the manat fell by 32 percent. One manat, which was worth around $0.95 Friday, was now trading at $0.65.

The ex-Soviet nation has spent more than half of its hard currency reserves so far this year in an attempt to shore up the embattled currency.

Financial analyst Oqtay Akhverdiyev said the decision to let the manta float was “a necessary measure … what we’re now seeing is the real value of the manta.”

———-

AUDIO-VIDEO – Azerbaijan unpegs currency from dollar devalues 30% – https://youtu.be/dr1yLn_lBvI

Published on Dec 21, 2015
SUBSCRIBE TO “EYES OPEN MEDIA” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnLq…
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While this foregoing article relates to international currencies and central banking, this is more than just a Wall Street issue; this is a Main Street issue. This relates fully to the laws of Supply-and-Demand. A central bank must constantly buy-and-sell foreign currencies to regulate the supply in the general market so as to stabilize the “home” currency. As economic drivers for foreign currency become challenged – such as the decline in crude oil prices for Azerbaijan – it’s takes more and more foreign “cash” reserves to regulate the international prices for “home” currencies.

This foregoing article is in consideration of the Go Lean book; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to provide better stewardship, to ensure that the economic/currency failures of the past, in the Caribbean and other regions (like Azerbaijan), do not re-occur here … again in the homeland. This all relates to foreign currency exchange (fx), an advanced subject in the field of Economics.

Economics 901 also asserts that there is now interconnectivity of the financial systems; bank/currency troubles in foreign countries easily become trouble for the Caribbean region. The assumption embedded in the Go Lean roadmap is that while there could be elasticity from these foreign financial contagions, the Caribbean is big enough (42 million people in 30 member-states, as opposed to 9.6 million in Azerbaijan alone) so as to streamline its own viable currency/financial/securities market.

There are lessons to apply from the foregoing news story. In a previous blog-commentary, these fx technical points were detailed:

Capital Controls – This is a necessary responsibility of Central Banks. The Go Lean book dives deeply into the discussion for Capital Controls; consider this direct quotation from Page 315 of the book:

Capital controls are residency-based measures such as transaction taxes, other limits, or outright prohibitions that a nation’s government can use to regulate flows from capital markets into and out of the country’s capital account. Types of capital control include exchange controls that prevent or limit the buying and selling of a national currency at the market rate, caps on the allowed volume for the international sale or purchase of various financial assets, transaction taxes, minimum stay requirements, requirements for mandatory approval, or even limits on the amount of money a private citizen is allowed to remove from the country.

Currency Manipulations – The Central Bank of Azerbaijan has the heavy-lifting tasks of manipulating the supply-and-demand equations to try and keep their currency fixed, against an international standard, like the US dollar. Most Central Banks must undertake this strategy to prevent other parties, “bad actors”, from manipulating the currency themselves. Currency manipulators can inflict harm on a country’s resources for their own personal financial gain.

Human & Capital Flight – When a country’s currency is in distress, there is the threat that citizens may flee with their capital so as to secure the value of their savings and investments. This normally means a loss of future economic activity for the educated and productive segments of society; this results in negatives on the national economy in the short-term and in the long-term. The Caribbean has been plagued with this occurrence again and again. Even now, the region has an alarming 70% brain drain rate among the college education populations of Caribbean heritage.

These lessons must be applied in the technocratic administration of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, and the Caribbean Central Bank’s (CCB) oversight of the Caribbean Dollar (C$). The Go Lean roadmap calls for the CCB to be a cooperative entity of the existing Central Banks in the region; this will foster interdependence from the political entities allowing the motivation of the regional Greater Good. This need for regional stewardship of Caribbean currencies was pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13) with these statements:

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 member-states.

So the planners of the new Caribbean sympathizes with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. We have learned hard lessons on the issue of currency, as many CU member-states have had to endure painful currency fluctuations over the past decades – on more than one occasion. So we now understand that any attempt to reboot the Caribbean economic landscape must first start with a strenuous oversight of the proposed regional C$ currency.

The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to establish a strong Caribbean financial eco-systems and strong currency. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Count on the Greedy to be Greedy	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the Stability of the Securities Markets	Page 45
Strategy – Provide Proper Oversight and Support for the Depository Institutions	Page 46
Strategy – e-Payments and Card-based Transactions	Page 49
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Minimizing Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Depository Insurance & Regulatory Agency	Page 73
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Effects of 2008 Financial Crisis	Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank as a Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt – Optimizing Wall Street Role	Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Single Market / Currency Union	Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from New York City – Wall Street	Page 137
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress	Page 147
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation	Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange (fx)	Page 154
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Appendix – Tool-kits for Capital Controls	Page 315
Appendix – Lessons Learned from Floating the Trinidad & Tobago Dollar	Page 316
Appendix – Controlling Inflation – Technical Details	Page 318
Appendix – e-Government and e-Payments Example: EBT	Page 353

As related in previous blog commentaries, there is an ebb-and-flow associated with national/regional economic stewardship. This stewardship constitutes the prime directives of the CU/Go Lean roadmap:

Optimization of the economic engines – “Economics 901” – in order to grow the economy and create 2.2 million jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant regional economic engines.
Improvement of Caribbean governance/administration/oversight to support these engines.

The best practice for effective stewardship of an economy’s ebb-and-flow is agile management, the ability to “plan, do and review”, adjust course, then “plan, do and review” again. The points of effective, technocratic banking/economic stewardship, were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6800	Venezuela sues black market currency website in US
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6563	Lessons from Iceland – Model of Recovery
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4166	A Lesson in History – Panamanian Balboa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3858	European Central Banks unveils 1 trillion stimulus program
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3814	Lessons from the Swiss unpegging the franc
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3743	Trinidad cuts 2015 budget as oil prices tumble
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3213	Understanding Global Crude Oil Prices – Why Gas Prices Drop Below $2
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3028	Why India is doing better than most emerging markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2930	‘Too Big To Fail’ – Caribbean Version
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2090	The Depth & Breadth of Remediating 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	One currency, divergent economies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=518	Analyzing the Data – What Banks learn about financial risks

The Go Lean quest is to elevate our society and economy from the parasite role we have assumed in the world trading cycles. We want to be a protégé not a parasite! This mastery of “Economics 901” is not easy; it is heavy-lifting. Yet still, success is conceivable, believable and achievable.

We have so many lessons to learn from this case study in Azerbaijan. Let’s pay more than the usual attention to this, and other case studies in “Economics 901”.

The Caribbean’s 30 member-states are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap for the CU, CCB and C$. This roadmap applies the best-of-the-best in terms of best-practices. It serves as turn-by-turn directions to move the region to its new destination: a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Appendix – Azerbaijani manat

The manat (code: AZN) is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 qəpik. The word manat is borrowed from the Russian word “moneta” (coin) which is pronounced as “maneta”. Manat was also the designation of the Soviet ruble in both the Azerbaijani and Turkmen languages.

The Azerbaijani manat symbol, , was assigned to Unicode U+20BC in 2013. A lowercase m. or man. can be used as a substitute for the manat symbol.

History

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its successor the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic issued their own currency between 1919 and 1923. The manat replaced the first Transcaucasian ruble at par and was replaced by the second Transcaucasian ruble after Azerbaijan became part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic.

The second manat was introduced on 15 August 1992^[1], following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it had the ISO 4217 code AZM and replaced the Soviet ruble at a rate of 10 rubles to 1 manat.

From early 2002 to early 2005, the exchange rate was fairly stable (varying within a band of 4770–4990 manat per US dollar). Starting in the spring of 2005 there was a slight but steady increase in the value of the manat against the US dollar; the reason most likely being the increased flow of petrodollars (US dollars earned through exports of petroleum crude oil) into the country, together with the generally high price of oil on the world market. At the end of 2005, one dollar was worth 4591 manat. Banknotes below 100 manat had effectively disappeared by 2005, as had the qəpik coins.

On 1 January 2006, a new manat (ISO 4217 code AZN, also called the “manat (national currency)”) was introduced at a value of 5,000 old manat. [Thus the .95 US Dollar exchange rate as of late].

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijani_manat retrieved December 21, 2015.

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Electric Cars: ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’

Posted on December 10, 2015 in Economics, Implementation, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

Today, gas prices have remained consistently low in the US for the past year; even dropping below $2 per gallon in many places.

This was not always the case. Just recently, in 2008, many of these same places – like California – featured gas prices near $5 per gallon. How amazing? What a change! How did the prices drop so low and what effect did those prior high prices have on the American, or more specifically, the Californian psyche?

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” …

… so says the book Go Lean… Caribbean quoting noted Economist Paul Romer (Page 8). A crisis brings an opportunity to forge change in the economic, security and governing engines of communities. An industry did this in the US, in response to the 2008 crisis. This is the industry of Electric Cars (Vehicles) or EV.

EV = No Gas … at all.

Overall, gas prices dropped due to macro-economic factors in both supply and demand. But on the micro-level, the need to mitigate the acute rise in gas prices truly proved to be the ‘mother of invention’. This is well documented in the historicity of one company NRG Energy and their eVgo® electric car charging initiative – see here the encyclopedic information on this enterprise:

NRG Energy and eVgo®

NRG Energy, Inc. is a large American energy company – focusing primarily on power generation. They are dually headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey,^[3][4] and Houston, Texas.^[1][5][6] It was formerly the wholesale arm of Xcel Energy, and was spun off in bankruptcy in 2004.^[7]

Beginning in 2009, NRG began a major initiative to become the leading green energy producer in the United States and started investing very large amounts of money in clean energy projects.^[18][19] They include onshore and offshore wind power, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic, and distributed solar power facilities, and repowering of some of their traditional coal plants with biomass.^[18]

In late 2010, NRG made news by launching the “eVgo” network, the first completely private public car charging station network for electric power vehicles.^[20] – Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRG_Energy

… and now in 2015 …

eVgo® leads America’s electric vehicle (EV) revolution.

eVgo® provides charging solutions and stations directly to electric car owners as well as businesses looking to serve the EV charging needs of their residents, tenants, employees, or customers.

Combining desired tier of service with home, multi-family, and workplace charging solutions in conjunction with the largest number of DC fast charging stations across the nation, EVgo provides EV drivers a truly unique level of freedom—and a whole new world of possible destinations.

The eVgo® network is the largest public DC fast charging network in the nation. From April 2014 to October 2015 their chargers provided enough kWh of electricity to power 12,323,090 EV miles. EVgo’s forward-looking infrastructure is invested across the country right now in more than 25 markets with a target of 40 by the end of 2016. EVgo drivers can access more than 1,000 fast charging locations, along with individual charging stations at homes, schools, offices, multi-family communities and hospitals across our growing network. – Source: https://www.nrgevgo.com/about/

NRG Energy and their eVgo® subsidiary is therefore a role model for the Caribbean to emulate. This enterprise has proven to be a technocratic organization that has championed the cause of providing the societal structures for EV’s. They do not manufacture the cars – that is the sphere of the giant car makers like General Motors, Ford, Nissan, BMW, Tesla, SMART and others – but they facilitate all the attendant functions to charge the vehicles and keep them powered. This structure aligns with the book Go Lean… Caribbean, a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This calls for the confederation, collaboration and convention of 30 member-states into one intergovernmental organization. The same as NRG Energy/eVgo® facilitates EV’s in the US, the CU seeks to facilitate EV’s in the Caribbean region. This is part-and-parcel of the prime directives (3) of the CU/Go Lean roadmap:

Optimization of the economic engines – accepting that energy is as basic a need as food, clothing and shelter – in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus, including energy security, to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

This writer lived in California in 2008 … and paid $5 prices for gas. But now just visited the old residential neighborhoods of Tustin in Orange County – see Appendix B – and noticed something different:

Wow, change, innovation, necessity = the ‘mother of invention’.

See Appendix A for Charging locations/options in Tustin California today.

The goal of the CU is to optimize Caribbean society in kind. We need to foster innovation at home as well. We need to change in response to our own crises and not waste them. In many Caribbean locales, gas is still priced near $5.00 per gallon.

See the VIDEO here relating the story of an Uber driver and glean the comment of the Jamaican visitor longing for this solution in his Caribbean homeland:

VIDEO: EVs and Uber- Sasha’s Story of Charging and Driving his Electric Car – https://youtu.be/dj6NyUv_WkQ

Published on Nov 12, 2015 – Category: Autos & Vehicles; License: Standard YouTube License

This is also a matter of competition. The Caribbean homeland must better compete globally and hopefully present more favorable options for our youth to want to stay here in the homeland, and not copy the model of their previous generations who sought refuge abroad. We are failing miserably at this now!

We are also failing to create innovative energy options. There is the need to optimize our energy policies – from top to bottom. The Go Lean book directs this energy policy directive: the Caribbean region must lower crude oil demands. Success in this area will result in lower fuel and retail gasoline prices. The economic principles are sound: lower the demand, as the supply increases and prices will drop.

Thusly the book proposes many solutions for the region to optimize energy generation, distribution and consumption. No “stone is left unturned”. Go Lean posits that the average costs of energy can be decreased from an average of US$0.35/kWh to US$0.088/kWh in the course of the 5-year term of this roadmap. (Page 100).

Primarily in this strategy in lowering the demand for crude oil is increasing options with alternative energy sources: natural gas, solar, wind and tidal. Thereby lowering the demand on crude oil. As for the supply, the roadmap advocates for Electric Vehicles (EV’s) – just like in Tustin California – and hybrids and other energy mixes like natural gas and hydrogen. In fact, the roadmap calls for the development of a homegrown Automotive Industry in the Caribbean (Page 206). The overriding need for cheaper energy options would be the ‘Mother of Invention’ for these solutions.

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the progress in the wide fields of energy generation, distribution, consumption and automobile efficiencies. The following list applies:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Regional Taxi Commissions	Page 25
Community Ethos – Non-Government Organizations	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Anecdote – Pipeline Transport – Strategies, Tactics & Implementations	Page 43
Strategy – Harness the power of the sun/winds	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Energy Commission	Page 82
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government – Energy Permits	Page 93
Anecdote – Caribbean Energy Grid Implementation	Page 100
Implementation – Ways to Develop Pipeline Industry	Page 107
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage	Page 113
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works	Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Monopolies	Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry	Page 206

This commentary asserts that energy needs are undeniable. Options abound; the biggest ingredient is the “community will”. Here comes the “will”! If the old adage is true: “where there’s a will, there’s a way”, then the CU/Go Lean roadmap is the way. This is the “heavy-lifting” for the lean, agile operations of the CU technocracy.

There are many Go Lean blog commentaries that have echoed this point, addressing the need to mitigate high prices in energy and the overall cost-of-living in the Caribbean. See sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6867	How to address high consumer prices
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5396	‘Significant’ oil deposit found offshore Guyana
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5155	Tesla unveils super-battery to power homes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4587	Burlington, Vermont: First city to be powered 100% by renewables
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3743	Trinidad cuts 2015 budget as oil prices tumble
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3213	Gas Prices Drop Below $2; due to “Supply and Demand” Factors
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915	Go Green Caribbean – Renewable energy pursuits in the region
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US – American Innovation

So the message to the people of the Caribbean region is straight-forward: Help is on the way!

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governments, to lean-in for the optimizations and opportunities described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Appendix A – EV Charging Locations

The Ultimate Guide to Electric Car Charging Networks In Tustin California

Source: http://evcharging.xyz/free-electric-car-charging-stations-in-tustin-ca-looking-for-a-free-ev-charge-station-in-california.html

When it comes to refueling a car, drivers of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles have it easy. They roll up to any one of about 100,000-plus gas stations in CA, pump in liquid fuel in a matter of minutes, and pay either in cash or with a credit card. Unfortunately, it is a little more complicated with public charging for electric vehicles although remember that almost all EV charging takes place at home, which usually requires about 30 seconds to plug in each night.

For EV drivers who want to regularly charge in public, it is important to know about the handful of charging networks offering access to electric fuel on the go. Each network works a little differently. It is a good idea for EV owners to have a basic understanding of how they compare with one another. That is why we put together this basic guide on EV charging networks.

Cost Considerations

The three primary approaches are:

(1) pay-as-you-go,

(2) monthly subscriptions

(3) free.

Obviously, if given the opportunity, it makes sense to grab a free charge, even for a relatively short period of time. But the pay models, depending on the cost for a charge, need to be studied to determine which network makes the most sense for you; if it is best to collect a wallet-full of membership cards; or if proper planning will allow you to avoid public charging unless you are running very low on charge.

There are a few gotchas. Keep in mind that the amount of range you add per hour depends on the power capabilities of your cars onboard charger. As Marc Geller, a director at Plug In America, an EV advocacy organization, told me: If the car comes with a smaller charger, the cost is relatively higher than if you have a faster charger. It is a weird fact. Other oddities include credit card transactions and costs associated with leaving a car plugged in, even if the battery if fully charged and the electrons have stopped flowing.

Networks, such as eVgo, operated by NRG Energy, avoid some of these issues by using an all-encompassing all-you-can-charge subscription service. That brings clarity, but usually at a higher overall cost. As of July 2014, the majority of public chargers are still available for free (although not every system makes it absolutely clear how much EV drivers are paying to charge).

High-Level Recommendations

First, think about your regular routes and favorite destinations in Tustin CA. Then use PlugShare or another station finding tool to see which charging networks are along the way. Be prepared to use any of them.
ChargePoint is the biggest charging network, so it is a must for nearly all EV drivers.
If you live in Pacific Northwest, get a key fob from Aerovironment for its AV Subscription Network.
In Texas, it’s generally better to pay as you go with ChargePoint and Blink, rather than opting for multi-year expensive contracts with eVgo unless you want to splurge for the convenience of an all-you-can-charge plan and, at this time, the ability to access DC fast charging.
On the east coast, SemaConnect is the best backup to ChargePoint.
Who doesn’t like free? There are about 2,000 stations, mostly free, not associated with any of the networks listed below. Use PlugShare or other tools to find these stations.

One last caveat: The terminology of ”station” can be confusing and misleading. Some services call each individual charger a station, when the term station usually refers to a single public site with the capability to charge more than one car at a time.

List of Top EV Charging Networks In Tustin 92780

AEROVIRONMENT

Background: Aerovironment, known as AV, is a pioneer in the development of electric vehicle charging technologies. The company sells a range of Level 2 and Quick Charge equipment, but also operates its own network of chargers.

Approximate Number of Sites: 60

Coverage: AV chargers, many of which are DC Quick Chargers, are primarily located in Oregon, and to a lesser extent, in Washington State as part of the West Coast Electric Highway. AV also has a handful of charging locations in California.

Access: Unlimited monthly access is provided for $19.99 per month. Subscribing to the AV network starts with calling 888-833-2148 or filling out a form on the AV website. The company will send a key fob that activates the chargers. If you are a current subscriber there is no activation fee. If you are a new subscriber, there will be a one-time activation fee of $15.

Cost per charge: As an alternative to the flat monthly access fee, there is the option of paying per session: $7.50/session for DC Fast Charger; and $4.00/session for a Level 2 charging station.

Website: http://evsolutions.avinc.com/services/subscriber_network

——-

BLINK NETWORK

Background: The assets of Blink Network were purchased by CarCharging Group in October 2013. Ecotality had received a $114.8 million federal stimulus grant to oversee The EV Project. The goal of The EV Project is to deploy 8,300 private and public chargers. There have been several reported problems associated with Blink chargers, and the Blink Network, such as insufficient customer support, and incompatibility of the equipment with certain vehicles.

Approximate Number of Sites: 1,680

Coverage: Blink Network chargers are located in approximately 25 states, with the largest concentration in California, California, Arizona, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee and Washington.

Access: Start by registering a credit card with a Blink account. There are no required annual or monthly membership fees, or minimum credit card balance. Members who register will receive an InCard and can initiate a charge using the card. Guests can initiate a charge with Blinks mobile application.

Cost Per Charge: In the states that permit kilowatt-hour pricing, fees for Level 2 EV charging stations owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network range from $0.39 to $0.79 per kWh, depending on the state and individuals membership status. Blink is a proponent of kWh pricing because it is usage-based and EV drivers pay fees based on the actual amount of power consumed during the charging session rather than the amount of time that the car is plugged into the station.Fees for DCFC chargers owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in kWh eligible state range from $0.49 to $0.69 per kWh, depending on the state and individuals membership status.

These states currently permit fees by the kilowatt-hour: California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

In states where pricing by kWh is not permitted, time-based charging fees for Level 2 charging stations owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network range from $0.04 to $0.06 per minute, depending on membership status. Time-based charging fees are rounded up to the nearest 30-second interval. Fees for DCFC chargers owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in non-kWh eligible states will range from $6.99 – $9.99 per session, depending on membership status.

Website: http://www.blinknetwork.com .

——-

CHARGEPOINT

Background: Chargepoint, previously Coulomb Technologies, describes itself as the largest online network of independently owned EV charging stations operating in 14 countries. The company provides a turnkey EV charging solutions for property owners who can determine the terms for offering charging to EV drivers.

Approximate Number of Sites: 3,084

Coverage: While one-quarter of ChargePoint stations are in California, the network is the most widely distributed with at least one station in California.

Access: There is no cost to sign up and receive a ChargePoint card. After submitting your credit card information as part of the sign-up, you will be charged an initial deposit of $25 only when you first visit a charging station that requires a fee. (Many stations on the network are free.) Your account provides access to all public stations on ChargePoint. Charging stations are activated with the ChargePoint card, or a contactless credit card. The stations can also be activated by calling a toll-free customer service number on the ChargePoint station, or by using the associated mobile app. Account balances automatically replenish when the balance gets low. Cost Per Charge: Prices are determined by the property owner. Many ChargePoint stations are currently free.

Website: http://www.chargepoint.com.

——-

EVGO

Background: eVgo is subsidiary of NRG, a Fortune 300 and S&P 500 company. It Is one of the countrys largest power generation and retail electricity businesses, with power plants producing about 47,000 megawatts of generation capacity. eVgo is part of NRGs clean energy portfolio, which includes solar, thermal, and carbon capture technology.

Approximate Number of Stations: Approximately 150, each with Level 2 and DC quick charging options.

Coverage: Currently, eVgo operates stations in Tustin CA, Texas, in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth markets, as well as Tennessee, California and the greater Washington, DC area.

Access: NRG network is only available to its monthly subscribers using an eVgo card, but as its website states, the company will always take care of an EV driver in need of a charge.

Cost Per Charge: eVgo offers various plans based on the needs of an EV driver and the electric vehicle they have chosen. This is an overview of their three most popular all-you-can-charge plans. Starting at $30 a month, with a one-year service agreement, EV drivers have access to unlimited charging at the companys so-called Freedom Station sites, which includes Level 2 and DC fast charging. The $40 a month Home plan, with a three-year service agreement, adds installation of your own home charging equipment but not the cost of electricity that is separately metered. The Workplace plan is $30 a month. See the pricing structure, which is unique to each region.

Website: http://www.evgonetwork.com/

——-

GE WATTSTATIONS

Approximate Number of Sites: 270

Coverage: 32 states, California, DC and Puerto Rico.

Access: WattStations require an RFID card, even when non-networked and free.

Cost Per Charge: Prices vary, as established by owners.

——-

GREENLOTS

Background: Greenlots is not formally a network, but rather a provider of open standards-based technology solutions for various stations and other networks. Designed to answer the needs of site hosts offering workplace, utility and public charging applications, Greenlots SKY platform utilizes Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), the largest open standard for charger-to-network communications.

Access: Users have many access options, including: (1) Download the free Greenlots app from iTunes or Google Play. Next, enter your credit card information. Once your information is saved, select “Charge” from the menu and enter the Station ID or scan the QR code displayed on the front of the station; (2) Swipe your Greenlots RFID card; (3) Call the customer care number listed on the station to have the charge session started remotely; and (4) Some stations have a credit card swiper. Users can also create a driver account at www.charge.greenlots.com to track electricity usage, update information, or order an RFID card.

Coverage: No specific region. Charging stations in Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, South, and Southwest, as well as Hawaii, Canada and Singapore.

Cost Per Charge: Site hosts determine the fee for use. Greenlots does not charge a membership fee.

Website: http://greenlots.com/

——-

SEMACONNECT

Background: Maryland-based SemaConnect offers Level 2 commercial grade EV charging station equipment and management software called SemaCharge. Their focus is on making charging as easy as possible for EV drivers and station owners. The company says it is the fastest growing network on the east coast. SemaConnect is the third largest supplier of commercial grade Level 2 charging stations based on number of stations deployed.

Approximate Number of Sites: 450

Coverage: SemaConnect stations are located in about 20 states, with the greatest concentration in California, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, Georgia, California and the Pacific Northwest. It also has a presence in Puerto Rico.

Access: To sign up, log on to the SemaConnect website, and open a new account with a $20 balance charged to a major credit card. You will receive a SemaCharge RFID card that can be used to initiate charging at any SemaConnect location. If the balance drops below $0.00, the associated credit card will add another $20 to your account. SemaConnect also offers mobile payments via its smartphone application, toll-free number, or via a QR code scan.

Cost per charge: The cost varies, as determined by the property owner.

Website: http://www.semaconnect.com

——-

SHOREPOWER CONNECT

Background: Shorepower Technologies manufactures, sells and operates equipment for truck stop electricity services, as well as electric vehicle charging equipment. Most of the truck stop sites have standard charging outlets (e.g., NEMA 5-20, NEMA 14-30 and NEMA TT-30), accessible to EV drivers with the appropriated adapter cords. Relatively few of the locations also have charging stations with standard J1772 connectors.

Approximate Number of Sites: Shorepower has about 425 locations, with more than 2,000 individual connection points.

Coverage: Charging locations, mostly at truck stops, are spread widely across the U.S. in approximately 30 states and can be found in Tustin CA.

Access: Use the toll-free hotline, kiosk or web browser to activate service via a credit card. There is a $1 activation fee. Cost per charge: For paid stations at Level and Level 2, the fee is $1 per hour. Locations with J1772 equipment, mostly on west coast, are free.

Website: www.shorepowerconnect.com

——-

TESLA SUPERCHARGERS

Background: In fall 2012, Tesla Motors, the makers of the Model S sedan, rolled out its first so-called Superchargers, in order to make road trips available for free to owners of its sporty luxury sedan.

Approximate Number of Sites: As of August 2015, there are 502 Supercharger stations with 2,832 Superchargers.

Coverage: Supercharger stations are situated throughout the United States and can be found in Tustin 92780.

Access: Tesla Superchargers do not require a card to initiate. Model S owners simply drive up and plug in. The chargers are available to owners of Model S models with the 85 kWh battery pack, or cars with the 60 kWh pack that have been configured to use Superchargers.

Cost Per Charge: Free. No sign up and no cost for electricity.

Website: http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

——-

Appendix B – Tustin Information

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The Future of Money

Posted on December 9, 2015 in Economics, Industries, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Surely the Caribbean can offer more than the African country of Kenya does. Surely?!

… and yet Kenya is providing a role model for the Caribbean to emulate, that of mobile money payment systems.

Let’s play catch-up.

Benefits await the Caribbean, more so than just playing catch-up. We can empower and elevate our economy and society. Notice here how this elevation benefits Kenya – an iconic and typical Third World country – in these news VIDEOs here:

VIDEO 1 – CBS 60 Minutes Story: The Future of Money – http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-future-of-money

… requires CBS All Access Subscription…

VIDEO 2 – Financial Times: Mobile money keeps Kenya economy moving – https://youtu.be/ayo-rgayDJE

Published on Mar 11, 2013 – Kenya has led Africa’s innovative and revolutionary embrace of mobile telephones, and the country’s technology sector has grown faster than all others in east Africa’s regional economic hub. Bob Collymore, chief executive of Safaricom, parent company of the mobile payment system M-Pesa, talks to Katrina Manson, east Africa correspondent.

This is a familiar advocacy for these Go Lean commentaries. The full width and breadth of electronic payments schemes have been examined, dissected and debated. The benefits are undeniable:

Instant access
Safer transactions
Expanded networks
Mitigating fees
Expanded money supply
Availing credit

Previous blog-commentaries have promoted the following as advocacies integrating technology and money:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6635	New Security Chip in Credit Cards Unveiled
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5668	Move over Mastercard/Visa… here comes a Caribbean Solution
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425	Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889	Caribbean regional banks are ready to accept electronic payments transactions
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2074	MetroCard – Model for the Caribbean Dollar
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350	PayPal expands payment services to 10 markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906	Bitcoin needs regulatory framework to change ‘risky’ image of payments
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528	Facebook plans to provide mobile payment services

The world is moving forward with electronic payment systems; the standard of cash registers with cash drawers have passed. Many times, establishments do not even want to accept “cash”. They want the money, but only want it electronically. Consider this photo here, it demonstrates how United Airlines – the 3^rd largest airline in the world – will not even accept “cash” for travelling passengers to pay for baggage when they check-in for their flights. They want electronic money only (credit and debit cards). This photo depicts a cash-accepting kiosk to load the cash onto a pre-paid credit card … on the spot at the terminal … at the Metropolitan Detroit International Airport (DTW) in November 2015.

Those involved in tourism commerce must now adapt or perish.

What’s more, even the standard of magnetic stripe credit cards and debit cards have passed. As depicted in the foregoing VIDEO and previously Go Lean blog-commentaries, those involved in retail commerce – in general – must now adapt (or perish) to credit and debit cards … without the card!

This means you, Caribbean merchants (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, retailers, and business establishments). The environment must now change for tourism commerce and ordinary domestic commerce. The stewardship of Caribbean economics must improve to adapt to this changing world. This is a consistent advocacy of these Go Lean blogs: to “lean-in” to better economic stewardship as detailed in the book Go Lean … Caribbean.

The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). This Go Lean roadmap depicts that these entities will drive change in payment systems, to includes options depicted in the foregoing VIDEO and beyond. Their role will include facilitating and settling transactions for new payment systems: new cards and telephony apps. The Go Lean roadmap calls for a regional currency for the Caribbean Single Market, the Caribbean Dollar (C$), to be used primarily as an electronic currency. These schemes will impact the growth of the regional economy in both the domestic and tourist markets. Consider the real scenario of Cruise Ship passenger-commerce; the solutions must be delivered here and now.

The CU/CCB roadmap anticipates these electronic payment systems from the outset of the Go Lean book; covering more than commerce, but the security and governing issues as well. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has 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.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

As depicted in the foregoing VIDEO, there abound many security benefits with electronic payment schemes, mobile money in this case. In the field of Economics, the “cash currency” is referred to as M0. No doubt, changes for electronic payment system will reduce M0. The greatest benefit though of deploying these electronic payment scheme is the acceleration of M1 in the regional economy. While M0 refers to “cash: paper & coins”, M1 refers to the measurement of “cash” in circulation (the M0) plus overnight bank deposits. As depicted in the Go Lean book, and subsequent blog-commentaries, M1 increases allow central banks – in this case, the CCB – to create money “from thin-air”; referring to the money multiplier principle.

A final feature of M1 is that it normally does not include any Black Market activities. But with electronic payment systems, M0 reduces and M1 increases, thusly nullifying the Black Markets.

The Go Lean book posits that to adapt and thrive in the new global marketplace there must be more strenuous management and technocratic oversight of the region’s currencies. This is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap; it opened with these pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

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.

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

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the proper controls for electronic/mobile payments in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier Principle	Page 22
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Privacy versus Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the monetary needs through a Currency Union	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Central Banking	Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Central Bank Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Regional Organs	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #2: Currency Union / Single Currency	Page 127
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Black Markets	Page 165
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cruise Tourism – Smartcard scheme	Page 193
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations – Central Banking Efficiencies	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street – Downtown Wi-Fi – Time and Place	Page 201
Appendix – Assembling the Caribbean Telecommunications Union	Page 256

The world of electronic payment systems now includes smart cards, mobile payments (like “M-Pesa” in the foregoing VIDEO and apps on Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone devices). To those in the Caribbean, we admonish you:

Try and keep up!

The benefits of this new “regime” are too enticing to ignore: fostering more e-Commerce, increasing regional M1, mitigation of Black Markets, more cruise tourism spending, growing the economy, creating jobs, enhancing security and optimizing governance.

Now is the time for all stakeholders of the Caribbean, (residents, visitors, merchants, vendors, bankers, and governing institutions), to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. These empowerments can help to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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ENCORE: Art Basel Miami – A Testament to the Spread of Culture

Posted on December 1, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This commentary – from December 9, 2014 – is hereby re-distributed on the occasion of the Art Basel Miami 2015. This year’s events are planned for December 3 – 6, with peripheral events starting from December 1.

Bienvenido a Miami!

———

There’s no business like ‘show business’. – Age Old Adage.

There is money in the ‘Arts’. – Go Lean…Caribbean precept.

And now, the subsequent news article posits: “the community rallies around art creating a unique energy. And art ‘dynamises’ the community, in a very unique way”.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean has a simple purpose: enable the Caribbean to be a better place to live, work and play. The book recognizes that the ‘genius qualifier’ is shown in different fields of endeavor, including the arts (fine, visual, performing, music, etc.). While the Go Lean roadmap has a focus on STEM^[1] fields, it is accepted that not everyone possesses STEM skills, and yet many others can still contribute to society. Then when these other skills/talents are “gifted” beyond the extraordinary, they can truly impact their community, and maybe even the world.

The book relates that the arts can have a positive influence on the Caribbean. And that one man, or woman, can make a difference in this quest. We want to foster the next generation of “stars” in the arts and other fields of endeavor.

According to the following news article, the arts can truly ‘dynamise’ the community. The article relates to Art Basel, the movement to stage art shows for Modern and Contemporary works, sited annually in Basel (Switzerland), Hong Kong and Miami Beach. The focus of this article is Miami Beach:

Title: 13th Art Basel Miami Beach (December 4 – 7, 2014), a testament to the spread of culture
By: Jane Wooldridge, and contributed Ricardo Mor

If “more” equals better, the 13th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach and the surrounding art week events may go down as the best ever. More new art fairs and just-to-see shows. More record-breaking sales at Art Basel Miami Beach. More CEOs — from watchmakers Hublot and Omega, luggage brand Rimowa, hotel companies Starwood and Marriott — opening luxury properties. And if not more — who can keep track? — then certainly plenty of celebrities, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio, James Marden and Owen Wilson; musicians Usher, Miley Cyrus, Russell Simmons and Joe Jonas; supermodel Heidi Klum and the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt.

There was another kind of “more” as well — more spillovers, touch points and art for all manner of South Floridians, from entrepreneurs to pre-teen fashion designers, stretching from Pinecrest to Coconut Grove, Overtown to Fort Lauderdale.

If the aim is “to make art general,” as Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen told attendees Monday at the foundation’s annual announcement of Knight Art Challenge awards, this year’s art week put South Florida well on its way. Proclaimed National Endowment for the Arts chairman Jane Chu on a whiplash art tour to downtown, Miami Beach and Opa-locka, “Art is entwined in Miami’s DNA.”

Even as the Pérez Art Museum Miami celebrated its first year anniversary, a new permanent museum building for the Institute for Contemporary Art Miami was announced for the Design District.

Overtown [historical Black neighborhood] hosted its first Art Africa fair of works created by artists from the African Diaspora. Joining it on the list of first-year events are an impressive exhibition of monumental works in the vast Mana-Miami Wynwood space on NW 23rd Street and Pinta, a fair focusing on Latin American art that moved from New York to Midtown.

The festivities reach far, far beyond the traditional art crowd. On the Mana campus, the Savannah College of Art and Design is presenting “i feel ya,” an exhibition that includes jumpsuits designed by André 3000 for Outkast’s reunion tour. The nearby ArtHaus tent is surrounded by food trucks and a sound program where Beethoven is definitely not on the playlist.

This year, more than a half-dozen student exhibits are on the art agenda. At FusionMIA, student photographs hang near works by masters Rashid Johnson and Al Loving; all were curated by Miami’s N’Namdi Contemporary gallery. A few blocks north, at Wynwood’s House of Art, a dozen students ages 5 to 15 from the DesignLab program showed off their creations at a Friday night “vernissage.”

Among them was 13-year-old Yael Bloom, wearing a flounced party dress she made from shrink wrap. No matter that the first-time event was a little-known spinoff. “Art Basel is pretty hard for adults to get into,” Bloom said. “For kids to get into it is very cool.”

As in years past, free events abound, from performances by Chinese artist Shen Wei at Miami-Dade College and artist Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest demonstrations on the sand to official Art Basel events, including films on the New World Center Wallcast and the Art Public sculptures in Collins Park. New is free Art Week shuttle service between Midtown and Miami Beach — a government cooperative effort — that dovetails with trolley service to art venues on both sides of Biscayne Bay.

In institutional quarters, Art Basel Miami Beach global sponsor UBS announced the creation of a $5 million loan fund for existing Florida small business owners. Sponsor BMW USA announced it would fund an “art journey” open to emerging artists exhibiting at Art Basel Miami Beach. And the City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County put out a call to artists, encouraging them to propose projects for the $4.33 million public art program associated with the Miami Beach Convention Center renovation. South Floridians are eligible to apply for all three initiatives.

Clearly, art week isn’t just about aesthetics, personal enrichment and community building. It is also about enterprise — which explains all those luxury CEOs, the ground-breaking of the Zaha Hadid-designed One Thousand Museum, and the announcement at Miami Ironside that designer Ron Arad will create the interiors for the revamped Watergate Hotel in Washington. (And no, there’s no real connection to Miami.)

Said Michael Spring, Miami-Dade’s cultural affairs director, “There’s a certain deepening, a realization not just that the Art Basel event but arts in general have a phenomenal effect on the image and economy of our entire region. We’ve talked about it before, but there seems to be more focus this year. It’s not an interesting footnote anymore; it’s the theme.”

That, says Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon, was the thinking behind the city’s $50,000 grant supporting the Art Africa fair. “We need to encourage people to come now to Overtown. The cultural aspect helps them realize they can safely come here now. And then maybe they’ll come back later and spend money in the community, in our restaurants and stores,” he said.

In Miami, with commerce inevitably comes glamor, which is proving as glossy as ever. Hennessey V.S.O.P., Dom Perignon, Paper Magazine, Interview and B.E.T. have staged events all around town, at private “locations,” hotels, restaurants, the 1111 Lincoln Road garage and the ICA temporary space in the Moore Building. Developer Alan Faena threw a breezy beachside asado. Jeffrey Deitch, Tommy Hilfiger and V Magazine hosted a glitzy bash at the Raleigh featuring a performance by Miley Cyrus.

In the Design District, developer Craig Robins hosted a dinner honoring architect Peter Marino at a single, 142-yard candlelit table for 380 guests on a closed-off street amid the district’s luxury brand storefronts. Sculptor Jaume Plensa was the guest of honor at another long candlelit table — this one for 60 — in the Coconut Grove sales offices of Park Grove, which recently installed a series of his works along South Bayshore Drive.

Alas, once again, manners were not de rigueur among the glossy set. At some parties, guests of guests turned up with entirely uninvited guests. For other tony soirees, publicists emailed out “disinvitations” to previously invited guests, obliquely sending the message that someone more glamorous would be taking those seats.

Decorous or not, during art week, the energy all emanates from the week’s namesake fair, said Dennis Scholl, VP/Arts at the Knight Foundation. “The most important thing to remember is why this week exists, and that’s Art Basel in the Convention Center. If that wasn’t the core of what’s going on — if it weren’t a world-class event — nobody else would be interested in being involved. It continues to be the raison d’être of this week.”

In the Convention Center, at what Scholl called “the core of the nuclear reactor,” many gallerists were quite happy, thank you very much.

Veteran Art Basel Miami Beach gallerist Sean Kelly said Wednesday was his best first day ever at the fair. Newcomer Michael Jon Gallery also sold almost all of its available work — by rising stars like Sayre Gomez and JPW3 — on the first day.

For most dealers, sales remained lively, day after day. At Galerie Gmurzynska, co-CEO Mathias Rastorfer proclaimed it “successful indeed … . In terms of reception, it was an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from collectors and colleagues alike. In terms of sales, we did several over $1 million sales and many within the $100,000 to $500,000 range, with a Picasso’s Venus and Love selling at near the asking price of $1.2 million.

Said Art Basel Director Marc Spiegler on Saturday, “I’ve gotten nothing but positive response from galleries,” not only because of strong sales, but also because new hours for VIPs gave gallerists more time to meet new collectors. “A lot of people were here and buying for the first time. Many galleries said they had their best fair ever.”

But like this week’s weather, the upbeat atmosphere suffered from uncharacteristic clouds. In Wynwood, a police car hit and critically injured a street artist. An $87,000 silver plate crafted by Pablo Picasso was reported stolen from the Art Miami satellite fair in Midtown. A partygoer at PAMM’s first anniversary fête on Thursday accidentally damaged an artwork installed on the floor. And Friday night, would-be art goers were stymied by traffic shutdowns into art-centric areas of Wynwood, Midtown and Miami Beach by protests against nationwide police-involved killings.

Though unfortunate and sometimes tragic, Spring said, the unrelated events were “a product of the incredible level of activity.” At Saturday’s annual brunch at the art-rich Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach, the theft and damaged artwork uniformly were brushed off as inconsequential. Said one art insider, “s–t happens.”

Miami Art Week’s merry-go-round nature is surely born from Miami’s appreciation of a good time. And increasingly, perhaps from something deeper.

Said Miami gallerist Jumaane N’Namdi, “Art Basel has put art on everyone’s mind. Everyone wants to be involved somehow.”

And that’s not just about the parties, said N’Namdi, who had galleries in Chicago, New York and Detroit before opening in Miami. “I don’t think you could find a city that enjoys really looking at the art the way this city does. I came through the airport, and even the TSA guys were talking about it, asking each other if they got their Art Basel posters. Every level of art you want is here.”

Outsiders agree. “Miami is very special for its link between art and the community,” said Axelle de Buffévent, style director at champagne house Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët. “It goes both ways. The community rallies around art creating a unique energy. And art dynamises the community, in a very unique way.”
Miami Herald – Daily Newspaper – (Posted December 6, 2014) –
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/visual-arts/art-basel/article4313255.html

VIDEO: Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 – http://youtu.be/StkzLiBtDis

Published on Dec 4, 2014
The international art fair Art Basel returns to Miami Beach for its 13th edition, taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from December 4 to December 7, 2014. Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 features 267 leading international galleries from 31 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, which present artworks ranging from Modern masters to the latest contemporary art pieces. With this edition, the fair debuts Survey, a new sector dedicated to art-historical projects. In this video, we attend the Private View of Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 at the Miami Beach Convention Center on December 3.

This story aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean in stressing the economic impact of artistic endeavors. The book pledges that Caribbean society will be elevated by improving the eco-system to live, work and play; and that “play” covers vast areas of culture.

“Culture” has emerged as a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of human phenomena that cannot be directly attributed to genetic inheritance. Specifically, the term “culture” in North American anthropology has two meanings:

the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively; and
the distinct ways that people, who live differently, classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively.^[2]

Anthropologist Adamson Hoebel best describes culture as an integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which are not a result of biological inheritance.^[3]

The Go Lean book stresses economic benefits from classic cultural expressions and popular cultural productions, including Caribbean music, paintings/art, sketches, sculptures, books, fashion and food. All the “skilled phenomena” that makes Caribbean life unique and appealing.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). There is a lot involved in this vision; the prime directives are stated as follows:

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

The foregoing article relates the economic impact that the Greater Miami area is enjoying for hosting the Art Basel event, for the 13^th year now. At this point the benefits have spread throughout the community, (Art Fairs, museums, scholarships, foundations, etc.) not just one venue on Miami Beach. The spin-off benefit of art is a strong point of the Go Lean book, highlighting benefits as long as we keep the talent at home working in/for the community. This point is pronounced early in the following statements in the book’s opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14):

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

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

The economic, cultural and image considerations for “show business” on a society have been well-detailed in these previous Go Lean blogs:

Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP

How ‘The Lion King’ roared into history

Forging Change – The Fun Theory

Role Model Berry Gordy – No Town Like Motown

Book Review: ‘Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right’

The Music, Art, Culture and Legend of Bob Marley lives on!

The Go Lean roadmap posits that change will come to the Caribbean “show business” (Visual and Performing Arts, Music, Film). This is due mostly to the convergence of a Single Market for the Caribbean region. If “size matters”, then the integration of 42 million people (plus the 10 million Diaspora and 80 million visitors) for the 30 member-states will create the consumer markets to promote and foster Caribbean artistic creations for their full appreciation. The first requirement in this goal is the community ethos of valuing intellectual property; to recognize that other people’s creations are valuable. (Then we can enforce on others to value and appreciate our creations).

This would truly be new for the Caribbean.

The CU is designed to do the heavy-lifting of organizing Caribbean society for the new world of art appreciation and “consumerization”. The following list details the ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster regional artists and showcase their wares to the world stage:

Community Ethos – Forging Change	Page 20
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Strategy – Caribbean Vision: Single Market	Page 45
Separation of Powers – Central Bank – Electronic Payment Deployments	Page 73
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents – Copyrights	Page 78
Separation of Powers – Culture Administration	Page 81
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from New York City	Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Education – Performing Arts Schools	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Advocacy – Impact Urban Living – Art & Theaters	Page 234
Appendix – New York / Arts / Theater Jobs	Page 277
Appendix – Taos New Mexico Art Colony	Page 291
Appendix – Caribbean Music Genres	Page 347
Appendix – Protecting Music Copyrights	Page 351

There is BIG money in show business and in the world of the Arts. For the 10^th edition of Art Basel in Miami in 2011, there was a record number of fifty thousand collectors, artists, dealers, curators, critics and art enthusiasts – including 150 museum and institutions from across the globe – participating in the show.^[4]

This event requires a lot of community investments. Every year, Miami’s leading private collections – among them the Rubell Family Collection, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, the De la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, World Class Boxing, the Margulies Collection and the Dacra Collection – open their homes and warehouses to guests of Art Basel. Additionally, the museums of South Florida organize exhibitions including shows at the Miami Art Museum, Bass Museum of Art, Norton Museum, Wolfsonian-FIU and MOCA North Miami.

The community investment has been there for Miami, and so has the returns ^[5].For 2014, the attendance figures were 75,000, with an increase in hotel occupancy of 30,000 rooms on the days the Art Fair is in progress. The conservative estimates are that the Art Fair brings close to $13 million a year in economic impact to the region. (This figure does not include the purchases of artworks, some of which fetch millions of dollars).

The subject of the Miami Metropolitan area is very relevant for a Caribbean empowerment discussion. A previous blog asserted that Miami’s success, in many regards, is attributable to Caribbean’s failures. Many of our populations (including artists) have fled their homelands and have taken refuge in the Miami area. Where at first this disposition was begrudged, eventually it transformed to tolerance, but now it is even celebrated.

Miami has been greatly impacted by both the Caribbean Diaspora and its assimilation of the “Arts”. Whole neighborhoods have been elevated due to this strategy of catering to the arts; (see photo here). This is a great role model for the Caribbean to emulate; our whole society can be elevated.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap represents the empowerment for the Caribbean communities to elevate – we now want to keep our artists at home. The people, institutions and governance of the region are therefore urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——-

Appendix – Source References:

1. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

2. “What is culture?”. Bodylanguagecards.com. Retreived 2013-03-29.

3. Hoebel, Adamson (1966). Anthropology: Study of Man. McGraw-Hill.

4. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/arts/design/art-basel-miami-beach-review.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

5. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/arts/international/art-fair-energizes-economy-of-region.html?_r=0

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ENCORE: Thanksgiving and American Commerce – Past, Present and Amazon

Posted on November 26, 2015 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

This commentary – from December 3, 2014 – was re-distributed on the occasion of the American Holiday Thanksgiving for 2015, as it is applicable for any Thanksgiving any year. Be thankful people; be festive and most important, be safe!

———

To understand American commerce, one must learn the BIG shopping “days of the week” – Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, as follows:

Black Friday – This is the Friday following the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the US (the fourth Thursday of November). Since the early 2000’s, it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and most major retailers open very early and offer promotional sales. Black Friday is not a public holiday, but some states observe “The Day After Thanksgiving” as a holiday for state government employees, sometimes in lieu of another federal holiday such as Columbus Day.^[5] Many non-retail employees and schools have both Thanksgiving and the day after off, followed by a weekend, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. In 2014, $50.9 billion was spent during the 4-day Black Friday weekend. While approximately 133 million U.S. consumers shopped during the same period.^[6]
Small Business Saturday – This refers to the Saturday after Thanksgiving during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. First observed in 2010, it is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick-and-mortar businesses that are small and local. Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express Corporation. Small Business Saturday UK began in the UK in 2013 after the success of Small Business Saturday in America.^[7]
Cyber Monday – This is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. The term was created by marketing companies to persuade people to shop online. The term made its debut on November 28, 2005, in a Shop.org press release entitled “‘Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year”.^[2] According to the Shop.org/Bizrate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, “77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year (2005)”. In 2014, Cyber Monday online sales grew to a record $2.68 billion, compared with last year’s $2.29 billion. However, the average order value was $124, down slightly from 2013’s $128.^[3] The deals on Cyber Monday are online-only and generally offered by smaller retailers that cannot compete with the big retailers. Black Friday generally offers better deals on technology; with nearly 85% more data storage deals than Cyber Monday. The past Black Fridays saw far more deals for small appliances, cutlery, and kitchen gadgets on average than Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is larger for fashion retail. On the past two Cyber Mondays, there was an average of 45% more clothing deals than on Black Friday. There were also 50% more shoe deals on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday.^[4] Cyber Monday has become an international marketing term used by online retailers in Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Uganda, Japan, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Giving Tuesday – refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It is a movement to create a national day of giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 by the “92nd Street Y” (Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association in New York, NY) and the United Nations Foundation as a response to commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving season (Black Friday and Cyber Monday).^[8][9] This occasion is often stylized as #GivingTuesday for purposes of hashtag activism.

That’s a lot of commerce … and philanthropy too!

This encyclopedic discussion is necessary for the Caribbean to model the best-practices of American commerce. The focus of this commentary is the role of one company in the pantheon of Cyber Monday, Amazon. This firm has previously been featured in a Go Lean blog, and is identified as a model for Caribbean logistics, our means for delivering the mail; this is the vision for the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU).

The focus of the book Go Lean…Caribbean and the CPU is not just postal mail, but rather logistics. Mail requires logistics, but logistics encompasses so much more than just mail. So we would want to model a successful enterprise in this industry space, like Amazon, not just another postal operation, like the US Postal Service (Page 99).

Amazon provides a good example of lean technocratic efficiency. So Amazon is a good model, not just for the CPU but the entire Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The Go Lean book, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic CU.

One reason why Amazon is modeled for their lean stature is their use of automation. This following VIDEO depicts the creative solution of using robots to facilitate logistics in a warehouse environment:

VIDEO: Robots help Amazon tackle Cyber Monday – http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/robots-help-amazon-tackle-cyber-monday/

December 1, 2014 – Cyber Monday is the biggest sales day of the year for online retail giant, Amazon. Last year, Amazon customers ordered 426 items every second on Cyber Monday, and this year that number is expected to grow. In addition to the 80-thousand seasonal workers they employ to fulfill orders, thousands of robots also crawl the warehouse floors. CNET.com’s KaraTsuboi takes us inside an Amazon fulfillment center to watch the robots in action. (VIDEO plays best in Internet Explorer).

Lean, automation, robotics, technocratic …

… welcome to the new Caribbean.

This is the mission of Go Lean roadmap, to elevate the economic engines of Caribbean society; industrial policy plays a key role in this roadmap. The region needs the jobs, so we need job creators: companies. These companies, or better stated, Direct Foreign Investors, need a pro-innovation environment to deploy their automated solutions. The Go Lean roadmap allows the structure of Self-Governing Entities (SGE) to incentivize industrial developments in the region. It is the expectation that robots and automated systems will flourish. The independence of the SGE structure neutralizes conflicts with “labor”.

Related issues have previously been detailed in these Go Lean commentaries listed here:

Disney World – Successful Role Model of a SGE

Using SGE’s to Welcome the Dreaded ‘Plutocracy’

Where the Jobs Are – Ship-breaking under SGE Structure

Fairgrounds as SGE and Landlords for Sports Leagues

Puerto Rico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center Project Breaks Ground – Model of Medical SGE

In addition to the roadmap encouraging robotic automation, the CU will directly employ such technologically innovative products and services to impact its own prime directives; the CPU is such a reflection; more automation and less labor. The CU’s prime directives are identified with the following 3 statements:

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

The CPU features economic, security and governing concerns.

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to change the entire eco-system of Caribbean logistics and resulting commerce – the interaction with postal operations. This vision is defined early in the book (Page 12 & 14) in the following pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

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

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

Amazon is not our only example. A previous blog/commentary identified Chinese company Alibaba as a fitting role model for Caribbean consideration. There are so many best-practices around the world for the region to study and glean insights and wisdom from. The successful application of this roadmap will foster such best-practices for the delivery of the CPU logistics in the Caribbean. The wisdom the Go Lean book gleans are presented as a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies; a detailed sample is listed as follows:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
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 – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Strategy – Customers – Citizens and Member-states Governmental	Page 47
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Postal Services	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration	Page 79
Implementation – Year 1 / Assemble Phase – Establish CPU	Page 96
Anecdote – Implementation Plan – Mail Services – US Dilemma	Page 99
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Improve Mail Services – Electronic Supplements	Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce	Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy –Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Call Centers	Page 212
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

Following the Amazon’s example (and Alibaba’s example) will spur the Caribbean to embrace more robotic technologies. This field is new, fresh and ready for innovation. There is a level-playing-field for any innovator to earn market share. The underlying company in the foregoing VIDEO is Kiva Systems – a Massachusetts based company that manufactures mobile robotic fulfillment systems.^[10][11] They rolled out a great product, then “Lo-and-behold”, they were acquired by a major e-Commerce company. Today, they are a subsidiary of Amazon, yet their material-handling systems are currently used by many other retailers including: The Gap, Walgreens, Staples, Gilt Groupe, Office Depot, Crate & Barrel, Saks 5th Avenue, and more.^[12]

This commentary therefore features the subjects of commerce, logistics and entrepreneurship. The Caribbean can emulate this model from Amazon. The biggest ingredient missing in the region is the ‘will’. But the ‘will’ can be fostered anew in the Caribbean. This is the heavy-lifting for the CU, instituting such new community ethos.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is a Big Idea for the region; that of a Cyber Caribbean, in which Cyber Mondays may become a big deal for our region – not only as consumers, but producers as well. Therefore, this roadmap is not just a plan for delivering the mail/packages, but rather a plan for delivering the future.

We must employ whatever tools and techniques, robotics included, to make the region a better homeland to live, work and play.

Does “play“include Robots? Yes, indeed. Consider this fun VIDEO here. 🙂

Supplemental VIDEO – The “Nutcracker” performed by Dancing Kiva Order Fulfillment Robots: http://youtu.be/Vdmtya8emMw

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix – Source References:

2. “‘Cyber Monday’ Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year”. Shop.org.
3. “Fundivo – Cyber Monday Statistics”. Fundivo.
4. “What’s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?”. Mirror.co.uk. Mirror.co.uk. Nov 28, 2013. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
5. “Pima County in Arizona Replaces Columbus Day with Black Friday”. BestBlackFriday.com. 2013-08-07.
6. “”Fundivo – Black Friday Statistics””. Fundivo.
7. Small Business Saturday Hailed as Success. The Telegraph. 8 December 2013″. Telegraph.co.uk. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
8. Fox, Zoe (October 23, 2012). “6 Inspiring Organizations Joining in #GivingTuesday”. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
9. “#GivingTuesday: About”. Giving Tuesday. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
10. http://www.kivasystems.com/about-us-the-kiva-approach/
11. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2012/03/amazon_buys_warehouse_robotics.html
12. http://www.kivasystems.com/about-us-the-kiva-approach/history/

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Forging Change: ‘Something to Lose’

Posted on November 18, 2015 in Economics, Implementation, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“You cannot miss something you never had” – Wise expression.

Not only is this expression thought-provoking, but also prophetic. The motives of the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean is to forge change in the Caribbean. Plain and simple! The people, policies and processes from the book wants to elevate Caribbean life to a level that the people may not now appreciate, because they cannot “miss something that they never had”.

The book presents a plan to …

reboot economic engines (create 2.2 million new jobs, improved healthcare, facilitate new educational and entrepreneurial opportunities, stabilize a regional currency),
optimize the security apparatus (anti-crime and public safety), and
facilitate accountable governance for all citizens (including minority factions).

The region has never had this before, not even in the days of colonialism. With this acknowledgement, it is understandable that many may not “buy-in” to these Go Lean empowerments – they may not know what they are missing. But they do know what a better life would look like. They get such a view from these sources:

There is the media penetration in the Caribbean, portraying life in optimized societies abroad.
There are students matriculating abroad, who then may NOT want to return to our shores after their studies.
There are the tourists/visitors who interact with our citizens and describe their lives in their homelands.
There is the Diaspora that have left, many times as the only hope for work, and then repatriate monies to support their family.

Caribbean residents may not have had certain features, like the advanced societies in the US, Canada and Western Europe, but they do know how other people thrive in those other lands. They want that for themselves. This constitutes the “pull” factors that contribute to the high abandonment rate (drawn from “push-and-pull” references): life abroad on foreign shores may appeal to them more so than their homeland.

The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) as a vehicle to make the region a better place to live, work and play. The vision is that of a Single Market of the 30 member-states, 4 language groups and 42 million people; this scope and leverage from this integration is such as has never actuated in the Caribbean before – the people cannot miss this vision because they have never seen it here.

So just how do we get the required buy-in? How do we get the populations to embrace, accept, commit and engage this vision of an elevated society that they may not have ever seen in their homeland before? How do we forge this change?

One approach to forging this change is to give the people something to lose.

This point was vocalized dramatically in the movie The Fast and the Furious Part Five with this dialogue:

VIDEO – Fast Five Joaquim de Almeida Speech – https://youtu.be/OucccI1pcFw

Uploaded on Jan 15, 2012 – Joaquim de Almeida talks about the Portuguese discoveries in Brazil …
This is art imitating life and life imitating art.

There is nothing nefarious or malevolent about the Go Lean roadmap. The efforts to forge change in the region are not intended for any one person or organization to wrestle power or the elevation of any one leader. The roadmap features only one objective: the Greater Good. This is defined in the book (Page 37) by Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832) a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer as …

… “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”.

This vision sounds good! What is there to lose?

The fact is that this vision is only on paper. The reality in the region is far different; the member-states are in crisis. In addition to the constant lure of foreign “pulls”, there is the definitive societal “push”. So many deficiencies in the Caribbean are driving people to abandon their beloved homeland and live in the Diaspora; one report asserts 70% for the college-educated classes have already left. The opportunity costs of NOT engaging the Go Lean roadmap is too great!

If we leave well enough alone, we will not be well enough!

The book describes the CU as a hallmark of a technocracy. This relates to “doing the right things and getting things done”. The term technocracy was originally used to designate the application of the scientific method to solving social and economic problems. The CU will start as a technocratic confederation – a Trade Federation – rather than evolving to this eventuality.

The roadmap must bring benefits to the region … quickly: improved economics, improved healthcare, improved education, introduction of a stable currency, improved security, improved governance, etc.. This is a Big Deal. The book likens this quest to the American effort in the 1960’s to “put a man on the man” (Page 127). As explained by the then-President of the United States, John F. Kennedy:

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”. His justification for the Moon Race was both that it was vital to national security and that it would focus the nation’s energies in other scientific and social fields.

As depicted in the foregoing VIDEO, there must be something for the people of the Caribbean to lose; their hope must be on the continuation of the benefits flowing from the CU. The Go Lean book declares that before any permanent change can take root in the Caribbean that there must be an adoption of new community ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. We must therefore use effective and efficient drivers to forge this change.

The Go Lean book – published in November 2013 – presented a two-prong approach: Top-Down and Bottoms-Up. The Top-Down plan called for engaging the politicians and community leaders to capitulate to this roadmap; while the Bottoms-Up plan called for engaging the full universe of Caribbean people: residents (42 million), Diaspora (10 million), trading-partners and visitors (80 million) to demand the empowerments of the CU/Go Lean roadmap. The verb for all these stakeholders is to “lean-in”, that is to embrace the values, hopes and dreams of this optimization plan.

Over the years, the Go Lean blog-commentaries have previously identified a number of alternate strategies to effectively forge change in the region. These were presented as follows:

Forging Change – ‘Food’ for Thought (April 29, 2015)
Forging Change – Music Moves People (December 30, 2014)
Forging Change – The Sales Process (December 22, 2014)
Forging Change – The Fun Theory (September 9, 2014)

The book and accompanying blogs all accept that forging this change will be an up-hill battle. But this heavy-lifting will be worth it in the end, as the Caribbean empowerment roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

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

The roadmap was constructed with these motivations in mind: the community ethos to foster, plus the execution of strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to forge the identified permanent change in the region. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Stabilize and Fortify the Currency of the Region	Page 46
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 – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 136
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed	Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Community Messaging	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218

The quest to change the Caribbean will require convincing people; they must get the message: there is much to lose for not enacting this roadmap, and even more to lose to discontinuing, once started. The empowerments in this commentary and in the Go Lean book, must be permanent changes.

This is heavy-lifting, but worth all the effort. The end-result should be a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

We encourage all of the Caribbean to lean-in now, to Go Lean. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Live. Work. Play. Repeat.

Posted on November 12, 2015 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

It’s time to go back to school, advanced Business School that is, and glean some wisdom from the structured marketing strategy called Loyalty programs. These are designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of establishments associated with each program.^[1]

There are large numbers of such programs in existence covering most types of business, (airlines: frequent flyer, hotels: frequent guest, car rental: frequent renters, restaurants: frequent diners, etc.), each one having varying features, and reward schemes. See Appendix B for details on airlines’ frequent-flyer programs.

Taking a page from this retail marketing eco-system …

… there is a need for a frequent-flyer-style loyalty program in the Caribbean to incentivize repeat business-activity in almost all regional economic engines.

This commentary asserts that a frequent-flyer-miles-style program can be structured in the Caribbean to “spread the wealth” from peak to non-peak seasons. More points can be accumulated by consuming hospitality in the slow season and less points are accumulated for consuming hospitality in the peak/high season. (See Appendix C for Spirit Airlines Model).

This strategy can also be applied with locations …

… more points can be accumulated for hospitality in the lessor-known, lesser-frequented destinations. (See Appendix D for a glimpse of the Hotwire / HotDollars program).

The book Go Lean…Caribbean calls for the elevation of Caribbean society; to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize all the engines of commerce so as to make the Caribbean a better place for these categories of vital activities: live, work and play. Loyalty programs can be used to incentivize all of these aspects of this roadmap. The tourism industry is categorized as “play”. The book posits that the region can experience even more growth than the estimated 80 million people that visit our shores annually. This can also apply to more spending from the visitors as well.

The Go Lean book is written to employ the best-practices of economic principles. Therefore, these fundamental principles – as related in the book (Page 21) are paramount:

People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways: Incentives are actions, awards, or rewards that determine the choices people make. Incentives can be positive or negative. When incentives change, people change their behaviors in predictable ways.

Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices and Incentives: People cooperate and govern their actions through both written and unwritten rules that determine methods of allocating scarce resources. These rules determine what is produced, how it is produced, and for whom it is produced. As the rules change, so do individual choices, incentives, and behavior.

The Go Lean book considers the Agent of Change (Page 57) of technology and its effect on the Caribbean’s biggest economic driver “tourism”. The end-results of loyalty program will have far-reaching effects on this travel/tourism industry.

Technology, the Internet-Communications-Technology (ICT), social media account management & marketing …

… the stewardship of Caribbean tourism must truly adapt, evolve and transform to lead and keep pace with this dynamic world; see sample VIDEO in Appendix A.

This commentary relates to more than just tourism and the visiting tourists. Considering applications for “live”, “work”, and “play”, we see that there are also many opportunities to apply incentives for Caribbean citizens who live in the homeland.

The Go Lean book identifies an Agent of Change in the vast field of technology. The technological advances with cutting-edge financial products allow loyalty programs to be forged to incentivize a lot of good behavior and to dissuade bad behavior. Consider these “live” and “work” examples:

“Live” – Tax Payments – This is not a welcome activity for anyone, thusly taxing authorities provide range of dates for tax obligations to be paid; (in the US, the Federal Income Tax deadline is April 15; payments/refunds can start on February 1^st). A loyalty scheme can easily be introduced to award miles-points for early payers and refund recipients that purposefully claim their refunds later in the time window. This practice will maximize cash flow for the authorities while commending good behavior with preferable things they may want after completing obligation they must endure.

“Live” – Energy Efficiency – Positive activities like installing Green Energy alternatives (solar panels/water heaters, hybrid/electric automobiles, etc.) can be incentivized by awarding “double miles” or “eco-points”. Rather than acquiring some chattel goods, the rewards in this case could simply be privileges, like riding in carpool lanes alone.

“Live” – Education – e-Learning enrollment can result in immediate and deferred mileage credit for Caribbean students. (Thus discouraging further brain drain consequences).

“Work” – Taking jobs in rural/desolate communities or working from home is positive behavior that can be further incentivized with “double miles”-like promotions.

“Work” – Working or volunteering for Not-for-Profit agencies should also be encouraged, incentivized and rewarded.

“Work” – Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work Day is a good practice to instill career goals in young girls. Rewards should follow.

There are a lot of opportunities where loyalty program rules can transform society. Consider the practice of “gifting” miles. One person can earn the miles, but then share them with another party and even gift them to a charitable organization or a person directly. This strategy allows for a nimble, technocratic administration of loyalty programs to incentivize good behavior and dissuade bad practices.

Loyalty programs embedded in societal engines are transforming …

Could the current tourism administrations in the Caribbean master the complexities of this technology-bred strategy for elevating the region’s “play” economic engines? Hardly!

How about for regional administrators for the other activities, “live” and “work”? Again, hardly!

This “new-fangled” world requires “new-fangled” leaders. Visionaries. Technocrats.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the underlying movement seeks to re-boot the strategies and tactics of tourism marketing for the entire Caribbean region. The book asserts Caribbean member-states must expand and optimize their tourism outreach and use innovative products like excess inventory and loyalty rewards. However the requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state alone. So the Go Lean book campaigns to shift the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU.

The goal of the CU is to bring the proper tools and techniques – electronic commerce, Internet Communications Technologies (ICT), visionary marketing, agile management – to the Caribbean region to optimize the stewardship of the economic, security and governing engines. The book posits that the economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, with technocratic management and stewardship of a Single Market. This would be better than the status quo. As conveyed here in this commentary, and in previous commentaries, the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean convene the talents and skill-sets of movers-and-shakers in electronic commerce so as to forge the best tools and techniques for advanced product marketing like loyalty program.

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

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

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

xiv. 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.

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

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

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Literary, Art and Music in Graphic Design	Page 27
Community Ethos – Impact Research & Development – Including ICT	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing – Data / Social Network	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and Foster Local Economic Engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Exploit the Benefits of Globalization in Trade-Tourism	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Website *www.myCaribbean.gov* for Caribbean stakeholders – Tourists	Page 74
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Tourism Promotions and Administration	Page 78
Implementation – Integrate All Caribbean Websites to *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal	Page 97
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal	Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image – Digital Media Presence	Page 133
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Tourism & Economy Went Bust	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Egypt – Lack of Tourism Stewardship	Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Measure Progress – Mining *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal Data	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Internet & Social Media Marketing	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – Excess Inventory Marketing	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events – Sharing Economy	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Market Southern California	Page 194
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – Cyber-Caribbean Image/Media	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living	Page 235

The CU seeks to foster internet-communications-technologies (ICT) to aid-and-abet tourism and other economic activities. This includes all supporting functions before, during and after visitors come to our shores – accumulating reward miles-points creates an account-holder status – see Appendix D – with the need for monthly e-statements. This is a forceful example of how a technocratic effort by regional administrators can enhance the Caribbean product offerings online. This is heavy-lifting; but this hard-work is worth the effort. The Returns-on-Investment is assured!

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

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6385	Wi-Fi Hot Spots Run By Hackers Are Targeting Tourists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	Tourism Stewardship — What’s Next?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016	Hotter than July – Mitigating Excessive Heat with Systems
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5840	Computer Glitches Disrupt Business For United Airlines & Others
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210	Cruise Ship Commerce – Getting Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4793	Truth in Electronic Commerce – Learning from Yelp
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4639	Tobago: A Model for Cruise Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3225	The need to optimize Caribbean aviation policies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2571	Internet Commerce meets Sharing Economy: Airbnb
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1364	Uber’s Emergence Transforming Cities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US – # 2: Tourists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=235	Tourism’s changing profile

The Caribbean must lean-in to these new business models to incentivize good behavior, for tourism and other aspects of Caribbean affairs. People will respond with the proper inducements. So imagine the universe of 130 million people all tuned-in – to the www.myCaribbean.gov portal – and responding to the appropriate prodding.

This is referred to as “Unified Command-and-Control”. Caribbean benevolent stewards can “push a few buttons” and millions of people respond, for the Greater Good. This is an exciting perspective. Let’s do it!

This is the charge of the Go Lean roadmap: incentivize the people to do more of the right thing. With the empowerments and elevations portrayed in the roadmap we can succeed in making Caribbean region a better place for citizens and tourists alike to live, work, play and repeat. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix A – VIDEO – Capital One Venture® – Jennifer Garner – Ticked Off Traveler – https://youtu.be/7uwYGXqPguU

Published on Sep 15, 2015 – Trying to use your airline credit card miles shouldn’t be frustrating! With the Capital One Venture card, you can fly on any airline any time, then use your miles to cover the cost. Learn more: http://www.capitalone.com/credit-card

————

Appendix B – Frequent-Flyer Programs

A Frequent-Flyer Program (FFP) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program to accumulate points (also called miles, kilometers or segments) which may then be redeemed for air travel or other rewards. Points earned under FFPs may be based on the class of fare, distance flown on that airline or its partners, or the amount paid. There are other ways to earn points. For example, in recent years, more points have been earned by using co-branded credit and debit cards than by air travel. Another way to earn points is spending money at associated retail outlets, car hire companies, hotels or other associated businesses. Points can be redeemed for air travel, other goods or services, or for increased benefits, such as travel class upgrades, airport lounge access, or priority bookings.

Frequent-flyer programs can be seen as a certain type of virtual currency, one with unidirectional flow of money to purchase points, but no exchange back into money.^[1]

The very first modern frequent-flyer program was created in 1972 by Western Direct Marketing, for United Airlines. It gave plaques and promotional materials to members. In 1979, Texas International Airlines created the first frequent-flyer program that used mileage tracking to give ‘rewards’ to its passengers, while in 1980 Western Airlines created its Travel Bank, which ultimately became part of Delta Air Lines’ program upon their merger in 1987.^[2][3] American Airlines’ AAdvantage program launched in 1981 as a modification of a never-realized concept from 1979 that would have given special fares to frequent customers. It was quickly followed later that year by programs from United Airlines (Mileage Plus) and Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles), and in 1982 from British Airways (Executive Club).^[4]

Credit card purchases
Many credit card companies partner with airlines to offer a co-branded credit card or the ability to transfer points in their loyalty program to an airline’s program. Large sign-up bonuses and other incentives have been common. Accruing points via credit cards bonuses and spending allows infrequent travelers to benefit from the frequent flyer program.

With a non-affiliated travel rewards credit card a card-member can buy a positive-space ticket considered “revenue” class, which can earn the passenger points with the airline flown.^[11]

Redemption
After accumulating a certain number of points, members then use these points to obtain airline tickets. However, points only pay for the base fare, with the member still responsible for the payment of mandatory taxes and fees.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequent-flyer_program retrieved November 11, 2015.

———–

Appendix C – Spirit Airlines

———–

Appendix D – Hotwire / HotDollars

What are HotDollars?
HotDollars can be used for any hotel, flight, or Hotwire Hot Rate rental car booking on Hotwire. Each HotDollar is equivalent to one U.S. dollar and is available for one year from the date of issuance. For more information, please see the HotDollars section of our Hotwire Travel Products Rules and Restrictions.

To use your HotDollars, simply sign in by clicking, “My Account.” Then, during checkout, choose HotDollars as your payment method.

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