Month: October 2018

Good Governance: Good Corporate Compliance

Posted on October 30, 2018 in Ethos, Government, Industries, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

(Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Private business versus public government …

Business is to the East, while government is to the West. … East is East and West is West – never the twain shall meet.

Not quite!

Governments many times place restrictions and regulations on private businesses; think:

  • Workers Compensation
  • Child Labor Restrictions
  • Occupational Hazards
  • Social Security / National Security
  • Family Leave / Pregnancy Job Guarantees

So we accept that in a modern society, corporate entities may be required to comply with intrusive government mandates that go above and beyond basic consumer protections; and we call it Good Governance …

… then in 2002, considering an American example, along came an even more intrusive government mandate on corporate enterprises (publicly-traded corporations) and the repercussion has been:

Crickets!

… no one complains; in fact, all the qualifying companies comply and buy into the notion that these sets of intrusive laws are good for the overall society. Whew! How did this happen?

This is the drama of the Sarbanes-Oxley law in the US. See the encyclopedic details here:

Title: Sarbanes–Oxley Act
The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, also known as the “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act” (in the Senate) and “Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act” (in the House) and more commonly called Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, is a United States federal law that set new or expanded requirements for all U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms. A number of provisions of the Act also apply to privately held companies, such as the willful destruction of evidence to impede a federal investigation.

The bill, which contains eleven sections, was enacted as a reaction to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals, including Enron and WorldCom. The sections of the bill cover responsibilities of a public corporation’s board of directors, adds criminal penalties for certain misconduct, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to create regulations to define how public corporations are to comply with the law.

5.0 Implementation of key provisions

Source: Retrieved October 30, 2018 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes%E2%80%93Oxley_Act

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VIDEO 1 – Enron Scandal Explained in One Minute: Corporate Recklessness, Lies and Bankruptcy – https://youtu.be/jrEf8uabe7E

One Minute Economics

Published on Aug 9, 2016 – Enron represents perhaps the most popular example of how a corporation can go from hero to zero or in their case, from a stock price of $90.75 and a market capitalization which made it the 7th largest US corporation to bankruptcy. Enron’s bankruptcy made it clear just how far corporate recklesness can go and represented a warning signal that should have been taken a lot more seriously, as the Great Recession has proven.

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VIDEO 2 – WorldCom – What Went Wrong – https://youtu.be/7g_d-phoUrU

Published on Nov 28, 2008 – A brief documentary dealing with the largest corporate scandal in history. Created for a second year college accounting class.

The historicity of those events that spurred the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is most incredible. Those two companies – Enron and WorldCom – flouted the presumption of integrity in American business; even the external auditors – Arthur Anderson – was complicit in the wrong-doing. Reform became inevitable. Something had to be done to ensure Good Corporate Governance.

Sarbanes-Oxley became the Good Governance solution. It details roles and responsibilities for firms and auditors alike!

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), as a technocratic federal government among the 30 member-states in the region. The goal is for expressions of Good Governance in all of Caribbean life; two role models are presented for the Caribbean to emulate: Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) for Corporate Compliance and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) for computer-based data processing. These assert Good Corporate Governance models. The Go Lean book specifically quotes these references “10 Ways to Grow the Economy” (Page 151) and “Appendix ZN – ITIL Supplement” (Page 338) respectively:

  1. Better Corporate Governance and Financial Markets Oversight
    Learning from the experiences of the US and Europe, provisions embedded in legislation like Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Dodd-Frank Act would be in place from the beginning. The CU will apply the lessons-learned proactively, rather than wait for the economies to implode before instituting reform, like common sense lending standards, transparency, full disclosure, “sunshine” laws. The CU will also implement controls on automated trading systems, ensuring the proper safety valves, monitoring and metering oversight. These measures equal security, a secondary mandate for the CU.
  2. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
    A set of practices for IT Service Management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of business. …
    History
    Responding to growing dependence on IT, the UK Government’s Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) in the 1980s developed a set of recommendations. It recognized that without standard practices, government agencies and private sector contracts had started independently creating their own IT management practices.
    The IT Infrastructure Library originated as a collection of books, each covering a specific practice within IT service management. ITIL was built around a process-model based view of controlling and managing operations. [From among the many, the Go Lean book details these 2 practices:]
    o  IT Service Continuity Management
    o  Availability Management

Good Governance is important in the government realms – member-states, federal and non-governmental organization (NGO’s) – but also in the private-corporate sector. Implementing these practices and compliance may be Too Big for Any One Caribbean country alone to introduce and implement; but together – with some interdependence – a leveraged roll-out is viable. Notice this theme, as pronounced in these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 12):

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

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 interest 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.

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 & 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.

While the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is an American law, that is not the only country that needs to ensure Good Corporate Governance. As related in a recent blog-commentary, the Caribbean specifically, and the whole world in general, is still reeling from the dire effects of the Great Recession of 2008. This crisis was spurned by bad corporate governance: over-leveraged banks, mis-stated credit ratings, and NINJA home mortgage-holders.  We cannot afford a repeat of these mistakes … ever.

This commentary concludes a 5-part series from the movement behind the Go Lean book in consideration of the Good Governance needs for a new Caribbean regime. The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

  1. Good Governance: … Versus Partisan Politics
  2. Good Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency
  3. Good Governance: The Kind of Society We Want
  4. Good Governance: Getting ‘Out of the Way’ of Local Economic Empowerment
  5. Good Governance: Good Corporate Compliance

The Go Lean book was written in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, reflecting all of the lessons learned from the earlier 2002 crises of Enron and WorldCom referenced in the foregoing encyclopedic reference.

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.

The book featured Good Corporate Governance practices; this is best described in this one chapter entitled “10 Ways to Impact Wall Street“. The goal of this chapter was to look, listen and learn about best-practices by studying the American eco-system of Wall Street. We do not want to be America; we want to be better! See the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from the book on Page 200 entitled:

10 Ways to Impact Wall Street

1 Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market
This treaty allows for the unification of the region into one market, thereby expanding to an economy of 30 countries, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion. The CU’s single market and currency union will allow for the emergence of viable capital markets for stocks, public/private bonds, and securities to create the economic engines needed to fuel growth, expansion and development. The CU will fill in the missing piece of the equation for successful international financial centers by providing the “whole institutional infrastructure of laws, regulations, contracts, trust and disclosure”.
2 Ensure Corporate Governance
The CU adoption of a “Good Governance” principle in its charter extends to its oversight of corporations and other publicly-held institutions. The CU regulatory agencies will oversee under a laissez-faire policy (minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society), yet be vigilant against systemic risks to the monetary and economic engines. So provisions like full disclosure, certifiable accounting integrity and risk-best-practices will maintain public confidence. The CU’s initiatives allows for more separating of duties versus the state regulators.
3 Protect Public Financing Vehicles
4 Adopt Advanced Products
5 Apply Common Sense – Derivatives – Lessons Learned

The use of derivatives helped cause the 2008 Financial Crisis in the US. Though these have the potential of being beneficial products, the compliance, leverage limits, and reserve requirements will not be abandoned as in the US.
6 Ensure Quality and Limits on Electronic Trading systems
These computer programs will have to be certified by CU Independent Auditors before coming online. The process for Quality Assurance (QA) will be assumed by the CU for maintenance of these systems. Before program changes can be implemented the CU will conduct the Test Plan to certify compliance and rollback strategies are in place.
7 Downplay Lawless Impressions – Offshore Banking
8 Protect Against Foreign Currency Manipulators
9 Protect Against Insider Trading and Securities Fraud

Economic crimes involving the securities industry can have far reaching consequences beyond normal felonies. As such, the CU will maintain jurisdiction and marshal the investigations, prosecutions and sentencing of these crimes.
10 Learn from Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement

This Go Lean book presents that the expansion of the 9 stock exchanges in the Caribbean region …

Bahamas (BISX), Barbados (BSE), Bermuda (BSX), Cayman Islands (CSX), Eastern Caribbean (ECSE), Guyana (GASCI), Haiti (HSE), Jamaica (JSE) and Trinidad (TTSE).

… will provide many opportunities to implement Good Corporate Governance standards and practices. But it is conceivable, believable and achievable that we can provide good stewardship to this financial eco-system, for the betterment of all Caribbean society.

The roll-out of these Financial-Watchdog duties for CU agencies will be Day One / Step One of the Go Lean/CU roadmap.

There have been many glimpses of economic governance for a new Caribbean in previous blog-commentaries; consider:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15923 Industrial Reboot – Payment Cards 101
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15787 Lessons Learned from 2008: Too Big to Fail –vs- Too Small to Thrive
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14834 Counter-culture: Monetizing the Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14596 Change! Forging Change – Corporate Vigilantism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13677 Model: Economics of ‘South Beach’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11184 JPMorganChase spent $10 billion on ‘Fintech’ for 1 year
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10585 Two Pies: Economic Plan for a New Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839 Alibaba Cloud stretches global reach with four new Data Center facilities

It is the assertion of the Go Lean book and the many previous blog-commentaries that Good Governance is a requirement to reform and transform Caribbean society. Reforming and transforming the homeland is our quest, our prime directive. This intent has been proclaimed with the following statements:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

This is the vision of a new regime for governments and corporate institutions. We want and need Good Governance. We must have this future. While it may be heavy-lifting, it is worth every effort. This is how we make our society a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Good Governance: Getting ‘Out of the Way’ of Local Economic Empowerment

Posted on October 29, 2018 in Ethos, Government, Industries, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

“I am from the Government and I am here to help” – Ronald Reagan tongue-in-cheek Campaign Attack against excessive government regulation; 1980.

When it comes to government regulations, there could be too much … and too little.

Good Government is the art-and-science of finding the “just right” balance – remember Goldilocks. In some countries this is a big challenge as there are so many different levels of government; think the US where there is the federal government (plus regulations), State, County (a subset of the State) and local city. In the Caribbean, on the other hand, for many member-states, there is only one level of administration, the National government.

All in all, finding the right mix of stewardship is a reflection of best-practices. This is because of one basic fact:

Smart people have a tendency to think that they are the only smart people. – Dunning-Kruger Effect – See Appendix A

If only we can weed-out this bad trend and assume that local people may bring some value to the governing equations for their communities. This conclusion is hard-wrought, a product of research and study by noted economists; who actually won a Nobel Prize for this effort. This is relayed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean within the advocacy of Better Managing Natural Resources. The book (Page 183) states:

The Bottom Line on Common Pool Resources
The 2009 Nobel Prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom (1933 – 2012), a Political Science Professor at Indiana University, received the award for her landmark work on the management of common pool resources. Her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons, showed how groups work together to manage common resources such as water supplies, fish and lobster stocks, and pastures through collective property rights. She showed that common pool resources can be effectively managed collectively, even without government or private control, as long as those using the resource are physically close to it and have a relationship with each other. Because outsiders and government agencies don’t understand local conditions or norms, and lack relationships with the community, they may manage common resources poorly. By contrast, insiders who are given a say in resource management will self-police to insure that all participants follow the community’s rules.

So outsiders and remote government agencies may not fully understand local conditions or norms so their oversight may be prone to error. This may not reflect Good Governance. We have seen this manifested many times. Remember overseas masters making decisions about local conditions – think tropical hurricane building standards in the Caribbean being decided by stakeholders in Northern Europe. That was the dreaded history of colonialism!

It is obvious and self-evident that Good Governance must reflect shepherding and oversight with an eye towards local needs. Imagine the imagery of a “Watchman in a high tower in an medieval walled city”, scanning and monitoring the threats that face his community. While such a concern may be security-minded, the other spheres of society – think economics – must also be addressed for local versus national deliberations:

  • Can economic empowerment efforts be spurred locally, or must they always originate in the Capitol?
  • Should Direct Foreign Investors all be vetted by the Foreign Affairs Office (State Department, etc.)?
  • Can a local farmer increase his yield by plowing addition plots of land?
  • Can a local fisherman add additional boats and “hands on deck”?
  • Can a local chicken farmer add additional coops?

These are important questions, as communities struggle with the challenge of growth. This brings to mind the strategy of whether growth must be Top-Down or can it be Bottoms-up.

  • Pull yourself up by the bootstrap…
  • Give me a job … or create my own job …

This is not just an academic discussion; there are real world implications. In one drama, in the Bahamas, friends and enemies are choosing sides right now, as a local project by the global media and hospitality conglomerate Walt Disney Company (Disney Cruise Lines) is being debated.

Actually, the debate is over, but the fall-out and “weeping-gnashing of teeth” continues. See the full news story and VIDEO in the Appendices B & C below.

This commentary continues this discussion on Good Governance. If Good Governance is to be the norm in Caribbean society, we must decide – in advance – how we want to grow our economies and what role local economic empowerment will have in the equation to transform society. In the foregoing Bahamian drama, the locals want the job multipliers from the Disney project while the opposition, remote people in metropolitan Nassau, do not want any projects that may impact the environment.

This is a familiar consideration for the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free. The book asserts that the problems of the Caribbean are too big for any one member-state to assuage alone; so there must be cooperation, collaboration and confederation. But does this mean that we must confer on everything, big and small? No! Just the opposite.

Surely, everyone can be expected “to take care of their own business” … first.

This is a mark of maturity, that we can provide for our own basic needs: food, clothing and shelter.

In fact, the Go Lean movement posits that for reform to succeed in the region, we must start by transforming neighborhoods, then elevate cities, then for whole member-states and lastly for the entire region. In fact, the book asserts the tactic of a Separation-of-Powers, in which certain duties-responsibilities are expected to be addressed locally while others will be within scope for a federal government.

The purpose of the Go Lean book is the introduction and implementation of that federal government, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The book serves as a roadmap for a new technocratic regime for Good Governance. Notice these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 12):

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

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

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

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

This commentary is the fourth of this 5-part series – 4 of 5 – from the movement behind the Go Lean book in consideration of the Good Governance needs for a new Caribbean regime. The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

  1. Good Governance: … Versus Partisan Politics
  2. Good Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency
  3. Good Governance: The Kind of Society We Want
  4. Good Governance: Getting ‘Out of the Way’ of Local Economic Empowerment
  5. Good Governance: Good Corporate Compliance

No doubt there is the need for Good Governance for the Caribbean; we need better stewardship and shepherding of the 30 member-states to ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. We need to value independence, resiliency and vigilance, not stymie progress because it may not have originated in some Capitol. This is the lesson from the opening anecdote about Common Pool Resources.

The best chance for success is for those who work with a local resource to participate in managing the local resource. So at times, we may need national government – or even federal governments – to get ‘Out of the Way’ and allow local economic empowerments.

In fact, the Go Lean roadmap introduces the concept of Self-Government Entities (SGE), an ideal concept for a job-creation engine, with its exclusive federal regulation/promotion activities. Imagine bordered campuses – exclusive resorts, industrial labs, educational facilities, R&D parks – with separate (local) arrangements to provision basic needs. This local empowerment accelerates the job multiplier factor – how certain industries are better than others for generating multiple indirect jobs down the line (off-campus) for each direct job on the SGE’s payroll.

This is how the Go Lean roadmap seeks to reform or transform the societal engines for all the Caribbean. This is our quest, our prime directive, as related in the following statements:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Good Governance based on best-practices, especially as recognized by a Nobel Prize, is a good starting point to transform a society. This is why Common Pool Resources are so frequently highlighted in the Go Lean book. Within the 370-pages of the book are details of Common Pool Resource management, urged for adoption within the new Caribbean regime. Here is a sample of the references to Common Pool Resources and how it relates to Good Governance through-out the book:

Tactical – Separation of Powers

F – Interior Department
The CU initiates its charter with a petition to the United Nations for a designation of an Exclusive Economic Zone for the spaces (seas) between the islands. This Department manages the oversight of this “common” territory. In addition, this Agency will have to work with foreign entities in the management of common pool resources, like water rights, river ecosystems in Guyana, Suriname and Belize where they are bordered by other (bigger) countries.

 Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers

J – Agriculture and Fisheries Department
This Department in the Executive Branch coordinates the region efforts in agriculture, agri-business and fisheries. … this office is to be managed like a Project Management Office, coordinating one region-wide project after another. This department will also oversee the common pool resources for the region. This will include fish stock and common grazing lands. This effort will have to be coordinated and collaborated with the Department of the Interior agencies and resources.

 Page 88
Advocacy – 10 Lessons from the American West

# 5 – Common Pool Resources: Water / Public Works

There were many environmental deterrents to conquering the West. There is actually a continental divide in North America in which minimal rain falls west of that divide; the western states were not sustainable for large populations.

Over the years, the US Army Corps of Engineers created canals, dams, reservoirs, irrigation, water pipelines and other measures, in multi-state compacts. The CU must also engineer multi-state public works projects to improve economies.

 Page 142
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources
# 2 – Lean in for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) treaty.
This treaty allows for the unification of the region into one market, thereby integrating to a single economy of 30 member-states, 42 million people and GDP of over $800 Billion in (2010). The region needs joint management of the common pool of natural resources, and this one of the foremost reasons for confederating the CU. First it garners international support for the UN petition for an Exclusive Economic Zone in and near the Caribbean Seas. The CU’s representation of a single market allows for effective negotiations with foreign parties – the islands will no longer be viewed as inconsequential. The CU’s separation of powers mandate is germane for managing the local needs of the region’s common resources; it allows for closer oversight of local regulators, but with CU principles.		 Page 183
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Improve Fisheries
# 3 – Common Pool Resources (Lobster, Conch, Grouper, Flying Fish)
Though the waters between the islands may be uninhabited, their resources can still be depleted. The CU will govern the common pool resources to promote the sustainability of fish stock. Fishing for lobster, conch, grouper, “flying fish” and other species must be controlled, with limited harvesting seasons, otherwise there will be none for future generations.		 Page 210
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact Rural Living
# 3 – Common Pool Resources Oversight and Management
The CU will exercise eminent domain to buy a lot of “crown” land, and the Exclusive Economic Zone, to promote as common pool resources (farming, fishing, and mining). This ownership allows for the implementation of proper oversight rules, with local coordination, and best practices. This is the “golden rule” – the one with the “gold”, makes the rule!		 Page 235
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact The Guianas
# 1 – Lean in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy
The CU will allow for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states for 42 million, including the independent states of Guyana and Suriname. Other territories that made up The Guianas region include French Guiana, Spanish Guiana (today, the Guayana Region comprises three of the federal States of Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro), and Portuguese Guiana (Brazil’s State of Amapa). On the CU roadmap, annexations will be explored in Year 5; French Guiana is ideal candidate, but not the Venezuelan and Brazilian regions. But there is the immediate need for foreign policy synchronizations with these other states for common pool resources and regional threats.		 Page 241

Consider how this vision of a rebooted economic landscape – with the technocratic management of Common Pool Resources – have been portrayed in these previous blog-commentaries; see this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15359 Industrial Reboot – Fisheries 101
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15907 Industrial Reboot – Navy Pier 101
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14911 Would Less People Mean More Resources For the Remnant? No!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12724 Lessons from Colorado: Water Management Arts & Sciences
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1092 Managing the Airwaves as a Common Pool Resource

The Go Lean book was very clear in its conclusion, the problem with the Caribbean is not the land/sea – it is the greatest address on the planet – it is not the people – we have a unique mix of African, Amer-Indian, Asian and European cultures, it is the stewardship. We must abandon bad ineffectual governing practices and embrace best-practices anew. We need to employ good ideas, even if they do not come from the Capitol. So we must be willing to accept local economic empowerment initiatives.

Our past roads are littered with failure; let’s do better going forward. Let’s embrace Good Governance. Let’s start aright with the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies as prescribed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. We urge everyone to lean-in to this roadmap. This is how we can make our homeland better places to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix A – What Is the Dunning-Kruger Effect?

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias in which people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. …

The term lends a scientific name and explanation to a problem that many people immediately recognize—that fools are blind to their own foolishness. …

An Overview of the Dunning-Kruger Effect

This phenomenon is something you have likely experienced in real life, perhaps around the dinner table at a holiday family gathering. Throughout the course of the meal, a member of your extended family begins spouting off on a topic at length, boldly proclaiming that he is correct and that everyone else’s opinion is stupid, uninformed, and just plain wrong. It may be plainly evident to everyone in the room that this person has no idea what he is talking about, yet he prattles on, blithely oblivious to his own ignorance.

The effect is named after researchers David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the two social psychologists who first described it. …

A Little Knowledge Can Lead to Overconfidence

Another contributing factor is that sometimes a tiny bit of knowledge on a subject can lead people to mistakenly believe that they know all there is to know about it. As the old saying goes, a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. A person might have the slimmest bit of awareness about a subject, yet thanks to the Dunning-Kruger effect, believe that he or she is an expert. …

See the remaining article here …

Source: Posted April 9, 2018; retrieved October 29, 2018 from: https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-the-dunning-kruger-effect-4160740

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Appendix B – Title: Disney’s Lighthouse Point: Bahamian Government Approves Sale of Lighthouse Point to Disney Cruise Line

Disney is one step closer to calling Lighthouse Point, Disney’s Lighthouse Point after Bahamian Prime Minister announced the government is choosing The Walt Disney Company’s proposal. Today’s approval gives Disney Cruise Line a green light to move ahead plans to purchase the 700 to 800-acre Lighthouse Point property at the tip of South Eleuthera for a second private cruise destination. EyeWitness News reported the decision just before the 3 o’clock hour.

Below is a copy of the press statement issued by The Bahamas Cabinet:

Press Statement
Cabinet Office
19 October 2018

The Lighthouse Point Development has been the subject of considerable public discussion, particularly in recent months.

The National Economic Council considered the matter today, 19 October, and approved the proposal submitted by Disney Cruise Line Island Development Ltd.

Negotiations will now begin on a Heads of Agreement, which will detail the scope of the project, the obligations of the Disney Cruise Lines Island Development Ltd. and the obligations of the Government of The Bahamas.

The negotiation of the Heads of Agreement will commence immediately. When concluded, it will be presented to Parliament in keeping with the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

The Cabinet Office wishes to emphasize that the land which is the subject of the proposal is privately owned. It has been on the real estate market for a long period.

The land is not Crown Land and is not owned by the Government of The Bahamas.

The Disney Cruise Lines Development Ltd. has a sales agreement with the land owner to purchase the land.

The Cabinet Office notes that both the Disney Cruise Lines Island Development Ltd. and the One Eleuthera Foundation and its partners have been publicly noting their plans for the development of Lighthouse Point.

It is also noted that recent polling revealed that more than 60 percent of Bahamians “very much” or “somewhat” support Disney’s proposal for Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera.

The Cabinet Office is also aware of meetings held in the communities of Central and South Eleuthera by respective groups, and live radio broadcasts, which have allowed individuals to express their views.

During one of his regular town hall meetings, this one held at the Green Castle Primary School on 10 October 2018, the Prime Minister informed the people of Central and South Eleuthera of the Government’s plans for the nation and listened to their concerns.

During this meeting overwhelming support was expressed for the Disney Cruise Lines Development Ltd. proposal.

The Cabinet Office notes that prior to that town meeting, the One Eleuthera Foundation and its partners held several community meetings in Central and South Eleuthera to promote their proposal.

This included meetings at Wemyss Bight on 27 July, Deep Creek on 10 August, Tarpum Bay on 17 August, Rock Sound on 31 August and Bannerman Town on 7 September 2018.

Some of the core elements of the Disney Cruise Lines Island Development Ltd. proposal which are of fundamental importance and to which Disney is committed, include: low density development and sustainable design, public access, and the restoration of various historical and cultural sites.

The development will create approximately 150 new jobs and an array of entrepreneurial opportunities for residents of Eleuthera and Bahamians in general.

Disney will convey approximately 190 acres of the land purchased from the private seller to the Government of The Bahamas for conservation and a national park.

Other elements of the project include: the integration of Bahamian cultural and artistic expression into the design of the site and experiences offered, and partnership with the community to develop training and professional development programs.

The Disney Cruise Lines began its cruises to The Bahamas in 1998.

Since that time, the economic impact on the Bahamian economy has been significant. With the development of the Eleuthera project an increase in port calls to Nassau is also projected.

The Government notes Disney’s record of environmental stewardship and will ensure that the project is implemented in a manner which safeguards our environment and the interests of the people of The Bahamas.

The Government of The Bahamas having taken into consideration the views of the majority of the people of Central and South Eleuthera is satisfied that it has made the best decision in the interest of the Bahamian people, a sustainable future for the people of Central and South Eleuthera and the economic development of the country.

I think one of the key factors in the Cabinet’s decision aside from the revenue stream that will be generated by Disney Cruise Line is that the Lighthouse Point property is privately owned. The property has been on the market for a long period. The land is not Crown Land, therefore, is not owned by the Government of The Bahamas. Disney Cruise Line has a sales agreement with the land owner to purchase the land.

What’s next? Disney and The Bahamas will negotiate a Heads of Agreement that will then be presented to Parliament. One Eleuthera’s press release claims there will not be an economic impact until at least 2023.

“We are excited to reach this important milestone and look forward to working with Government and the people of The Bahamas to create new economic opportunities while preserving the natural beauty of Lighthouse Point. We are grateful for the warm welcome and support we have received from so many in Eleuthera and look forward to further developing relationships that will endure for many years to come. In the short term, we are focused on reaching an agreement that is mutually beneficial for The Bahamas and our company, as well as moving forward with an environmental impact assessment and environmental management plan. Our team also looks forward to working with local artists, historians and others as we ensure that the stories and culture of The Bahamas shine through when Disney guests and Bahamians alike visit this special place.” — Jeff Vahle

Disney Cruise Line’s Vice President of Public Affairs, Kim Prunty, told Tribune 242 an environmental impact study (EIA) could take months which Disney will work with the government on this effort. The Bahamas Planning and Subdivisions Act from 2010 requires complete EIA for proposed projects such as Disney’s Lighthouse Point development. The required EIA would be submitted to the Department of Physical Planning as part of the proposed development which is either likely to give rise to significant affects on the environment, of national importance, proposed for sensitive lands, significant in terms of size or complexity, of a nature that may have potentially adverse environmental effects or is considered a development of regional impact.

For more, here is a look at Disney Cruise Line’s proposal and plans for Disney’s Lighthouse Point.

Source: Posted on October 19, 2018; retrieved October 28, 2018 from:

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2018/10/disneys-lighthouse-point-bahamian-government-approves-sale-of-lighthouse-point-to-disney-cruise-line/

——————

Appendix C VIDEO – DISNEYS PROPOSAL FOR LIGHTHOUSE POINT APPROVED – https://youtu.be/xHlA-AM9HGY

ZNSNetwork

Published on Oct 19, 2018 – Local Bahamas Nightly Newscast

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Good Governance: The Kind of Society We Want

Posted on October 27, 2018 in Ethos, Government, Planning, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

What kind of society do you want to live in?

This is important to consider. As a democracy – of the people, by the people, for the people – what is done by the government is done on the people’s behalf, in our name.

“This is on us”.

Frankly, I would not want to live in a society where the strong abuses the weak.

To the contrast, I would want to live in a society, where we protect the vulnerable ones among us. This is also a Biblical concept …

The form of worship* that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans+ and widows+ in their tribulation,+ and to keep oneself without spot from the world.+ – James 1:27 NWT

This is a discussion about the modern plague of Human Trafficking.

Modern? Yes, there is “nothing new under the sun”. Human trafficking has always been a plight in the Caribbean; (see Appendix VIDEO below). Surely you recognize the parallels of this old practice of another name:

Slave Trade

Yes, Human Trafficking is the new brand for the old abominable practice of the slave trade. The Caribbean has a sad history with this practice – ancient and modern. Stories continue to emerge of contemporary occurrences. See this one here:

Title: Suspected Human Trafficking Victim Rescued In Castries

Crying young woman

A sixteen year old female, suspected to be a victim of human trafficking, was rescued Sunday in Castries and handed over to Saint Lucia Police, a senior law enforcement source has confirmed.

The teenager, originally from Venezuela but living in neighbouring Martinique for some time, ran to a complete stranger and begged for help, saying that she had been kidnapped and sexually abused, the source said.

According to the source, the young woman was partially naked and was complaining of intense pain.

“She said she was sedated by her captors and brought to Saint Lucia,” the source told St Lucia Times.

The stranger, a woman, to whom the teenager ran for help, took the girl to her home where she was given a meal and some clothing and later handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF), it was reported.

The law enforcement source told St Lucia Times that it appears that the teenager had been reported missing by officials in Martinique.

Investigations into the matter are continuing.

Source: Posted October 23, 2018; retrieved October 26, 2018 from https://stluciatimes.com/2018/10/23/suspected-human-trafficking-victim-rescued-in-castries/

As related here, this victim originated in Spanish-speaking Venezuela and has since been trafficked in the French Caribbean territory of Martinique and now the Anglophone country of St. Lucia.

This is more than just an academic discussion; this is a defining issue for the Caribbean and all of the New World territories in the Americas: What kind of society do we want to be?

My answer: one with Good Governance; one where we ensure that the strong do not abuse the weak and the vulnerable.

Human trafficking is a clear obvious violation of human rights of a weak subject; see the definition in the Appendix below.

In a previous Go Lean blog-commentary, the reference was made to a higher standard for governments and shepherds of society – the Code of Hammurabi – enacted within the ancient Babylonian Empire Super Power; it featured this statement:

“So that the strong should not harm the weak”
…

There is an obvious “ignorance or negligence of this [Old World] concept” in the New World. …

So the abuse of the “strong against the weak” is clearly an unabashed societal defect in the New World. History teaches that with the emergence of any new economic engines, “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities – the weak – with good, bad and evil intent.

The New World needs to apply this lesson-learned from the “Old World of 1754 BC” to protect the “poor, sick and huddled masses yearning to be free”.

This lesson from history aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean, which seeks to reform and transform the 30 member-states of the Caribbean region; the book describes empowerments to target the economic, security and governing engines of society to ensure an adherence to the principle of the Greater Good. While we can observe-and-report on the other countries, we can only effect change here in our Caribbean homeland.

For the strong to protect the weak, the minimum expectation is an assumption of Good Governance. It is expected that someone-somewhere will step-in and step-up to police against human trafficking …

… failing this, we would have a Failed-State.

Unfortunately, according to the foregoing news article, this is the reality and actuality in the Caribbean. A Failed-State emerges when the governmental entities are not able to deliver on the Social Contract as defined here in a previous blog-commentary:

“Citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights”.

When a State fails on the delivery of the Social Contract; the most common consequence in society is human flight in search of refuge. This aligns with the societal abandonment reasons of “Push and Pull“:

  • Push – refers to the reasons people who feel compelled to leave, to seek refuge in a foreign land. “Refuge” is an appropriate word; because of societal defects – like the “strong abusing the weak” – many from the Caribbean must leave as refugees – think Disability, Domestic-abuse, Medically-challenged and LGBT – for their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
  • Pull – refers to the lure of a more safer life abroad; many times our people are emigrating to communities where there are protections for the “weak against the abusive strong”.

The kind of society we want is one where Human Traffickers do not find safe haven in our communities. We want Good Governance not Failed-States.

This commentary is the third of a 5-part series (3 of 5) from the movement behind the Go Lean book in consideration of the Good Governance needs for a new Caribbean regime. The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

  1. Good Governance: … Versus Partisan Politics
  2. Good Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency
  3. Good Governance: The Kind of Society We Want
  4. Good Governance: Getting ‘Out of the Way’ of Local Economic Empowerment
  5. Good Governance: Good Corporate Compliance

This need for Good Governance and a Caribbean Regional Police – CariPol – is embedded in this plan to elevate Caribbean life, the Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The purpose of this roadmap is to transform the region’s societal engines, which includes economics, security and governance. This is stated as the prime directive of the CU/Go Lean roadmap, see here:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a regional security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Good Governance, CariPol and Homeland Security are all part of the Go Lean book’s emphasis on New Guards. Notice these references in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 13):

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. …

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.

xviii. Whereas all citizens in the Federation member-states may not have the same physical abilities, reasonable accommodations must be made so that individuals with physical and mental disabilities can still access public and governmental services so as to foster a satisfactory pursuit of life’s liberties and opportunities for happiness.

These  references to New Guards is a glimpse of a new Caribbean as envisioned in the Go Lean book. The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. We need to avoid Failed-State statuses. In addition, there is one advocacy in the book for mitigating the downward trend to Failed-State status. This includes considerations for the delivery of the Social Contract. Notice the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from the book on Page 134 entitled:

10 Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices

1 Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market
This will allow for the unification of the region into one market of 42 million people across 30 member-states, thereby creating an economic zone to protect the interest of the participant trading partner-member-states. The GDP of the region will amount to $800 Billion (circa 2010). In addition, the treaty calls for a collective security agreement of the member states so as to ensure homeland security and assuage against systemic threats. The CU will ensure that law-and-order persist during times of distress. When a member state declares a State of Emergency, due to natural disaster or civil unrest, this triggers an automatic CU response – this is equivalent to the governmental dialing 911.
2 Image and Defamation
3 Local Government and the Social Contract

The Social Contract is the concept that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of their remaining rights (natural and legal). People therefore expect their government (national or municipal) to provide public safety, health, education and other services. The CU will facilitate overhead services for local governments and access to financial markets to fund capital infrastructure investments. The member-states will therefore have more accountability and reporting to CU institutions.
4 Law Enforcement Oversight

The CU will maintain jurisdiction for economic crimes and regional threats. Plus, the CU will collaborate and facilitate

local law enforcement with grants of equipment and training to better fulfill their roles. Lastly, the regional security treaty will grant the CU the audit and compliance responsibility for “use of force” investigations and internal affairs.
5 Military and Political Monitoring

The CU will carefully monitor the activities of the military units (Army, Navy and Coast Guard) – this accountability will be the by-product of increased CU funding. The CU will assume the Judge Advocate General role for military justice affairs. For cross border engagements, the National armed forces will be marshaled by the CU’s Commander-in-Chief.
6 Crime/Homeland Intelligence
The CU will install advanced systems, processes, and personnel for intelligence gathering and analysis to assist public safety institutions. This includes terrestrial and satellite surveillance systems, phone eavesdropping, data mining and predictive modeling. The findings will be used to mitigate risks and threats (gangs, anarchy, and organized crime).
7 Minority and Human Rights

The CU will protect the minority and human rights for the region’s population; this includes ethnic mixes of African, European, Amerindian, and Asian heritage; 4 languages, various religions, and 5 colonial legacies. The CU strategizes this diversity as an asset, rather than a source of contention, to be exploited as cultural exchanges in music, festivals, events, and food services. This will have a positive effect on tourism (foreign & domestic) and media initiatives.
8 Election Outsourcing
9 War Against Poverty
10 Big Data

This Go Lean book presents that the function and responsibility of assuaging Failed-State indices will be a priority on Day One / Step One of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. The point of Failed-State downward spirals has been elaborated on in previous blog-commentaries; consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13391 After Maria, Failed-State Indicators: Destruction and Defection for PR
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12996 After Irma, Failed-State Indicators: Destruction and Defection
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12098 Inaction: A Recipe for ‘Failed-State’ Status in Venezuela
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547 Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure

We want the kind of society that looks after – protects – the vulnerable people in our community. This is what Good Governance should mean to us. So we must reform and transform our Caribbean governing engines to reach this goal. Let’s lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap to accomplish this.

A commitment for Good Governance is a commitment to fully deliver on the Social Contract. Succeeding, or trying to succeed is how to can make the Caribbean a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix – Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others.[1][2] This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage,[3][4][5] or the extraction of organs or tissues,[6][7] including for surrogacy and ova removal.[8] Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally. Human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim’s rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation.[9] Human trafficking is the trade in people, especially women and children, and does not necessarily involve the movement of the person from one place to another.[citation needed]

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), forced labor alone (one component of human trafficking) generates an estimated $150 billion in profits per annum as of 2014.[10] In 2012, the ILO estimated that 21 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery. Of these, 14.2 million (68%) were exploited for labor, 4.5 million (22%) were sexually exploited, and 2.2 million (10%) were exploited in state-imposed forced labor.[11]

Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest-growing activities of trans-national criminal organizations.[12]

Human trafficking is condemned as a violation of human rights by international conventions. In addition, human trafficking is subject to a directive in the European Union.[13] According to a report by the U.S. State Department, Belarus, Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan remain among the worst countries when it comes to providing protection against human trafficking and forced labor. [14]

…

Revenues

In 2014, the International Labour Organization estimated $150 billion in annual profit is generated from forced labor alone.[10]

The average cost of a human trafficking victim today is USD $90 whereas the average slave in 1800 America cost the equivalent of USD $40,000.[18]

(Human trafficking differs from people smuggling, which involves a person voluntarily requesting or hiring another individual to covertly transport them across an international border, usually because the smuggled person would be denied entry into a country by legal channels. )

Source: Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking

—————–

Appendix VIDEO – Human Trafficking – Short Documentary in the Caribbean – https://youtu.be/Hy0uA-srXig

UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Published on Sep 24, 2013 – A short film to inform the public about human trafficking in the Caribbean and to raise awareness of this modern form of slavery.

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Good Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency

Posted on October 25, 2018 in Ethos, Government, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

Do you know what SOS stands for?

Of course you know what it infers – “Emergency; Need Help” – but what does the letters stand for? There are a lot of lessons for us to learn with this encyclopedic consideration, here:

SOS
noun: SOS; plural noun: SOSs

  1. an international code signal of extreme distress, used especially by ships at sea.
    • an urgent appeal for help.
    • BRITISH: a message broadcast to an untraceable person in an emergency.
      i.e.: “here is an SOS message for Mr. Arthur Brown about his brother, who is dangerously ill”

Origin
Early 20th century (1905): letters chosen as being easily transmitted and recognized in Morse code; by folk etymology an abbreviation of “Save Our Souls“.
Translated to Morse code, SOS looks like this:

“. . . – – – . . .”

Source: Retrieved October 25, 2018 from: 1. https://www.google.com/search?q=Dictionary#dobs=SOS 2. https://www.rd.com/culture/sos-meaning/

SOS, plus 911 and other emergency outreach numbers, are all calls for help. In modern society, it is expected that someone-somewhere will respond.

That expectation is within the assumption of Good Governance. It is expected that someone-somewhere will step-up in the time of emergencies …

… failing this, we would have a Failed-State.

Unfortunately, this is the reality and actuality in the Caribbean. Consider these recent examples:

  • In January 2010, a 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake flattened large swaths of urban communities in Haiti. After 8 years, the people are still calling out for help. Some relief organizations – i.e. American Red Cross – that responded, fleeced the people more so than helped them.
  • In September 2017, Hurricane Irma devastated the twin island nation of Antigua & Barbuda. Rather than recovery and rebuilding on Barbuda, the government has just removed the people and made it a Ghost Town.
  • Later in September 2017, there was Hurricane Maria that devastated some Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico included. Power was out for parts of the island for 9 months; the PR government try to assert that the number of deaths were 64 people; and yet demographers and other social scientists counted the mortality rate for 4th Quarter 2017 and the 4th Quarters in previous years and the real [death] count is more like: 4600+.

  • In October 2018, there were heavy rains – not associated with a hurricane – over Trinidad & Tobago. The islands experienced severe flooding, at record levels. As days went by, conditions on the ground got worse and worse.

    See the VIDEO presentation of this news story in the Appendix below.

What is common about these true scenarios in recent history, is that the people sent out an SOS and it appears that no one responded – or too little response too late. Or worse still, only “pirates” responded and further exploited the victims.

Where is the expectation that someone-somewhere would step-up in these times of emergency? Someone honest, responsible, integral and accountable …

The Caribbean member-states are failing in their delivery of the implied Social Contract; defined in a previous blog-commentary, as follows:

“citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights”.

Failures in the delivery of the Social Contract is part-and-parcel of the crises afflicting the Caribbean. We suffer from an alarming societal abandonment rate because of the following 2 reasons:

  • Push – Deficient response, recovery and rebuilding after natural disasters have caused Caribbean people to seek refuge abroad; i.e. Puerto Rico may have lost 14% of their population after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
  • Pull – The perception is that other lands (North America and Europe) do better at delivering the basic needs – economics, security and governance – for their people.

All in all, other people do better in delivering on the Social Contract and responding to pleas of SOS. Assuaging this deficiency is the quest of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, to introduce and implement the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), to do better at addressing our Homeland Security needs. It is past time for someone to step-up in response to emergencies. The book asserts this on its opening page (Page 3):

The economy of the Caribbean is inextricably linked to the security of the region. Therefore the CU treaty includes a security pact to implement the mechanisms to ensure greater homeland security. These efforts will monitor and mitigate against economic crimes, systemic threats and also facilitate natural disaster planning and response agencies.

So when a Caribbean community puts out an SOS – on land, at sea or in the air – there will be someone there to respond.

When 911 calls 911, the CU responds … through its aligning agencies and institutions.

This is Good Governance. As reported in the previous submission in this series, Puerto Rico may have lost 470,000 people – 14% of the population – since Hurricanes Maria and Irma in September 2017 – Source posted February 20, 2018. We need to do better with our regional stewardship in the future.

This commentary is the second of a 5-part series (2 of 5) from the movement behind the Go Lean book in consideration of the Good Governance needs for a new Caribbean regime. The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

  1. Good Governance: … Versus Partisan Politics
  2. Good Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency
  3. Good Governance: The Kind of Society We Want
  4. Good Governance: Getting ‘Out of the Way’ of Local Economic Empowerment
  5. Good Governance: Good Corporate Compliance

This need for Good Governance is embedded in this plan to elevate Caribbean life. There is the need to reboot, reform and transform all societal engines including: economics, security and governance. The member-state governments is the only security offering in this region, notwithstanding Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s). We need to do better at coordinating all of these facets of Caribbean life. This is the prime directive of this CU/Go Lean roadmap, as declared in these 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 ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Good Governance … Emergency Operations … Homeland Security …

These are all part of the Go Lean book’s emphasis on New Guards. Notice these references in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 12):

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

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. …

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.

These statements provide a glimpse of a new Caribbean that is ready for these New Guards. These are not foreigners. These are fellow Caribbean brothers and sisters, representing the 30 member-states in the region. They have the desire to help; they only need Good Governance … (Good Governance fulfillment will allow for more funding).

The CU structure allows for an Emergency Management functionality within the Homeland Security Department. The CU‘s version is modeled after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the US. That agency’s emergency response is based on small, decentralized teams trained in such areas as the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT), Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), and Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS).

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. We need to be better at responding to the SOS calls in our region. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap proposes (Page 76) “the best practice of electronic notification for Emergency Management. This includes an Emergency Broadcasting-Alert system for TV & radio, plus advances in contact center technologies like Reverse 911, Automated-Robo calls to every active phone in a location – and text message blasting to every cell phone”.

In addition, there is one advocacy in the book for fostering a better Emergency Management eco-system. This includes Disaster Planning, Response & Recovery. Consider the specific plans, excerpts and headlines from the book on Page 196 entitled:

10 Ways to Improve Emergency Management

1 Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market
This treaty allows for the unification of the region into one market, thereby expanding to an economy of 30 countries, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion (according to 2010 metrics). This treaty calls for a collective security agreement for the Caribbean member-states so as to prepare-respond to natural disasters, emergency incidents and assuage against systemic threats against the homeland. The CU employs the professional arts and sciences of Emergency Management to spread the costs, risks and premium base across the entire region and refers to more  than  just medical scenarios, but rather any field of discipline that can impact the continuity of a community or an individual. The CU also has the direct responsibility for emergencies in the Exclusive Economic Zone and Self Governing Entities.
2 Trauma Centers
3 Airlift / Sealift – Getting there by Helicopters, Airplanes and Boats

In addition to Air Ambulances (helicopters & airplanes), the CU will deploy Water Ambulances to quickly convey the injured to trauma centers among the islands. The vessels will all be equipped with certified and trauma-trained EMTs.
4 Mobile Surgical Centers and Tele-Medicine

The CU will deploy specialized trailers that function as surgical operating theaters, recovery rooms and diagnostic laboratories. The mobile hospitals will include attendant functions for pharmaceuticals, power, and communications. The communications allow for tele-medicine tactics to engage specialized clinicians that may be remote. These trailers can be positioned at sites of emergency events to better respond after disasters or when normal infrastructure is compromised.
5 Epidemiology – Viral & Bacterial Rapid Response

Due to the systemic threat, epidemic response and disease control will be coordinated at the CU Cabinet level, by the Department of Health. In the event of an outbreak, the CU will assume jurisdiction of the emergency “event” with the authority to commandeer local resources, quarantine populations and blockade transport to/from the affected area.
6 Mobile Command Centers
The CU will deploy specialized trailers equipped as mobile command centers for marshaling the on-site response for emergency “events”. The cutting-edge trailers will feature advanced communications, monitoring and power sources. The trailers can be positioned strategically in advance, re-located at the outset of “events”, or rolled-out in response.
7 Intelligence Gathering & Analysis
8 Casualty Insurance Plans – Reinsurance “Sidecars”
9 Volunteer Fire – Rescue Brigades

A lot of the residential areas in the Caribbean region are sparsely populated and hard to justify for permanent Fire-

Rescue installations, so the CU will facilitate Volunteer Fire-Rescue brigades and supply the necessary training, tools, and support services. Even the surgeons, nurses and EMTs for the trauma centers may be structured as part-timers.
10 ITIL – Information Technology Infrastructure Library

This Go Lean book presents that the roll-out of the Emergency Management apparatus will be Day One / Step One of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. Many more highlights have been detailed in previous blog-commentaries; consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15886 Industrial Reboot – Reinsurance 101
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15543 Ross University Saga – No Caribbean Unity in Disaster Response
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15310 Industrial Reboot with Trauma Centers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13746 Failure to Launch – Security: Caribbean Basin Security Dreams
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13251 Funding Caribbean Risk
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13155 Industrial Reboot – Pipelines 101 – Strategy for Quick Recovery
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12994 The Science of ‘Power Restoration’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12949 Charity Management: Grow Up Already!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10771 Logical Addresses – ‘Life or Death’ Consequences
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10566 Funding the Caribbean Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7896 The Logistics of Disaster Relief
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449 ‘Crap Happens’ – So What Now?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308 911 – Emergency Response: System in Crisis

We want Good Governance. So we must reform and transform our Caribbean governing engines and Homeland Security apparatus. We must be able to better respond-rebuild-recover from emergencies.

This commitment should be in our delivery of the Social Contract. This is how we can make the Caribbean a better homeland to live, work and play.

The people and institutions of the region are hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap; this plan is conceivable, believable and achievable. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

———————-

Appendix VIDEO – Kelly Village and Trinidad and Tobago witness the biggest floods in their history – https://youtu.be/ywQaCK4vu04

KellyVillageTV
Published on Oct 20, 2018 – It was a depressing scene walking amongst the villagers today. The camera truly couldn’t capture the devastation and shock in the area. The one emergency center is full and the people are begging for assistance tonight. #KVTV #Trinidad #Flood

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Good Governance: … vs Partisan Politics

Posted on October 24, 2018 in Ethos, Government, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

A Traffic Light is a simple instrument for controlling transport; it ensures order and security for the public. This is an issue of governance, not politics.

There must be an orderly arrangement for society to function. If a driver does not obey the commands of a Traffic Light he/she would be considered a Bad Actor. This is Good Governance.

Even if its midnight and no other traffic is on the road, if a person waits at a RED traffic light, their compliance would be considered normal; a violation of this norm – even with no traffic at midnight – would be inexcusable and indefensible.

Good Governance is expected to be the norm in any society.

This was the declaration in the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free. The purpose of the Go Lean book is the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), as a technocratic federal government for the 30 member-states of the political Caribbean. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for this new regime in governance; this mandate is for Good Governance. Notice these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 12):

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

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.

There is a contrast to Good Governance; no doubt “Partisan Politics” fits in that contrast. This refers to the trend of prioritizing and conforming to the whims of a political party over the needs of a government. Imagine shutting down a government because a stakeholder wants their “pet” project funded. This happened; this was a recent threat in the US for President Donald Trump and his desire for a border wall over the passage of the federal government’s annual budget.  See summary of the news story here:

Title: Trump may choose to shut down the government this weekend over his border wall demands

  • President Trump could decide to veto a spending bill and allow parts of the government to shut down.
  • The House is set to pass spending legislation as early as Wednesday, and funding for large parts of the government lapses on Sunday at midnight.
  • Trump has expressed frustration that the bill does not fund his proposed border wall.

By: Jacob Pramuk | @jacobpramuk

Published 12:48 PM ET Wed, 26 Sept 2018; retrieved from:
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/trump-may-force-government-shutdown-over-border-wall-spending.html 

See VIDEO presentation of this news story in the Appendix below.

Obviously Good Governance and “Partisan Politics” do no equate. Consider that traffic light analogy from the outset of this commentary. While the need for law-and-order may not be in dispute, where a community chooses to put a traffic light, or a road or highway for that matter, may be politically motivated, with a lot of party dynamics, and Crony-Capitalistic influences.

This is not just an American drama; this is very much alive and well in the Caribbean region. Consider this example from Barbados; they must reboot a lot of their government financing because of excessive debt; will they now follow a path of Good Governance or “Partisan Politics”? See the news story here:

Title: Former Saint Lucia PM Confident Barbados Will Return to Glory Days
Barbados Today:–  St Lucia’s former prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony has described Barbados’ economic restructuring as necessary and unavoidable.

But Dr Anthony told Barbados TODAY he was confident the country would return to its glory days, while calling on the Government to continue communicating with citizens during the adjustment process.

“I think the policy measures of the Government are necessary and unavoidable because they have inherited a very difficult and complex situation,” he said as he reacted to Government’s ongoing debt restructuring exercise.

Pointing out that Barbados had gone through several “painful adjustments” in the past, Anthony said it meant [be] that there were some continued structural deformities.

“But I believe the sacrifice that has to be made at this time is essential to the recovery of Barbados. I think the good thing is that the people of Barbados understand that despite what may have happened in the past, that they do have to make adjustments, that they have to endure some pain before the problems in the economy is resolved,” he said.
…

See the full article at: https://stluciatimes.com/2018/10/14/former-saint-lucia-pm-confident-barbados-will-return-to-glory-days/

As related here, economic restructuring may be “necessary and unavoidable“. This could be a product of a new commitment to Good Governance going forward. But surely, there is no doubt that the lack of Good Governance adherence in the past form a part of the problem. Amazing too, is the observation of one former Head of Government (St. Lucia) about the activities in the government of another member-state (Barbados).

The lack of and need for Good Governance is obviously a regional concern.

This commentary is the first of a 5-part series from the movement behind the Go Lean book in consideration of the Good Governance needs for a new Caribbean regime. The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

  1. Good Governance: … Versus Partisan Politics
  2. Good Governance: Stepping Up in an Emergency
  3. Good Governance: The Kind of Society We Want
  4. Good Governance: Getting ‘Out of the Way’ of Local Economic Empowerment
  5. Good Governance: Good Corporate Compliance

No doubt there is the need for Good Governance for the Caribbean; we need better stewardship and shepherding of the 30 member-states – all the island states, plus the 2 South American countries (Guyana and Suriname) and the Central American country of Belize – to ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and can forge a new future for our children. No future is assured otherwise.

While the focus of this series is on governance, there is the need now to reboot, reform or transform all societal engines including: economics and security. But for this region, the governments are the largest employers and the only security offering. So this is it! To change Caribbean society, our focus must start here with government. Transforming the homeland is our quest, our prime directive. This intent has been proclaimed with the following statements:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

There is no doubt that the operations of government is necessary for a functioning society.

As related in a previous blog-commentary, there is an implied Social Contract that states “that citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights”. The more efficient a State is in delivering its obligations to its citizens, the better for that State, and its citizens. For when there is failure in this delivery, people complain, protest and … leave (or flee)!

Puerto Rico High Resolution Population Concept

This flight or societal abandonment is among the most distressing challenges for Caribbean society today.

Remember the foregoing story on Barbados, imagine their finances. Imagine bonds and debt authorized with the expectation of future payments as a factor of economic activity from the population – pennies on the dollar as in Sales Tax or Value-Added Tax (VAT) – but the population has decreased … due to abandonment and defection. This story is being repeated in one Caribbean member-state after another – i.e. Puerto Rico may have lost 470,000 people – 14% of the population – since Hurricanes Maria and Irma in September 2018 – Source posted February 20, 2018.

These previous Go Lean commentaries on Defection related this sad actuality:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13391 After Maria, Destruction and Defection for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12996 After Irma, Destruction and Defection in the Eastern Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12977 After Irma, Barbuda Becomes a ‘Ghost Town’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10470 More ‘Bad News’, More Defections for Freeport, Bahamas
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759 Model: Pressed by Debt Crisis, Doctors Defect from Greece in Droves

It is the assertion of the Go Lean book that Good Governance is a deterrence to defection. This is the lesson learned from so many other communities that have endured this plight; consider again, the Doctors in the Greece crisis. We must simply do better with delivering on the Social Contract. The book calls for this delivery responsibility to be split between the CU federal agencies and the existing member-states. This is referred to as a Separation of Powers.

Within the 370-pages of the Go Lean book are details of the Good Governance requirement for the new Caribbean. Here is a sample of references to the eco-system of Good Governance through-out the Go Lean book:

Tactical – Separation of Powers

C – Justice Department | C1 – District Attorneys
In accordance with the CU‘s mandate for “Good Governance“, the District Attorneys will spearhead any investigations and prosecutions for crimes of Public Integrity; this covers corruption of elected and appointed constitutional officers. The CU … [treaty is vested with] the litigation powers for the Justice Department must be granted by member-states as Special Prosecutors or Commissions of Inquiries, as allowed by existing laws.

 Page 77
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Improve Governance

# 1 – Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy
The CU will adopt a “Right to Good Governance” in its charter; thereby bringing accountability beyond state borders. The CU’s initiatives allow for more effective governance by separating many duties that are now managed on a national level to a federal level within the CU. So national governments will perform less services, and with the dividends from the CU, more revenues to control. But with these benefits come greater fiscal accountability.

 Page 168
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact Wall Street
# 2 – Ensure Corporate Governance
The CU adoption of a “Good Governance” principle in its charter extends to its oversight of corporations and other publicly-held institutions. The CU regulatory agencies will oversee under a laissez-faire policy (minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society), yet be vigilant against systemic risks to the monetary and economic engines. So provisions like full disclosure, certifiable accounting integrity and risk-best-practices will maintain public confidence. The CU’s initiatives allows for more separating of duties versus the state regulators.		 Page 200
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact the Prison Industrial Complex
# 10 – Learn from Peonage Past and Ensure Corporate Governance
The CU adopts a “Good Governance” principle in its oversight of the public penal industry, and private Bounty Hunters to enforce bail violations. The CU regulation in this industry will not apply a “laissez-faire” policy but rather extra vigilance against abuses in these industries. Provisos will be in place for accountability and recourse for any innocent citizens.		 Page 211
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Promote Contact Centers
# 2 – Laissez-fare Utility Regulations
With the CU Trade Federation as the cross-national communications and media regulator, the policy should be to promote open competition and choice in this industry space. There is always the government leaning to promote monopolies and oligopolies for communications utilities, but for the CU to advance this industry and remain on the cutting edge, the free market must be allowed to flourish. The regulators should focus more on ensuring good governance, transparencies and anti-trust compliance. When necessity dictates only one “cable” provider, then an infrastructure-versus-application “wall” should be erected to ensure “net neutrality”.		 Page 212

This is the vision of an efficient governing regime for the Caribbean region. This is a transformation for how and where a new societal eco-system can be introduced and engineered here.

Yes, we can …

The CU will also launch the www.myCaribbean.gov website on Day One/Step One of this confederation roadmap. This Government portal, is part of the Social Contract delivery. This portal resembles a social media site, accessible from computers and smart-phones, allowing citizens to interact with their government from the palm of their hands. Consider how this vision – e-Government and e-Delivery – have been portrayed in these previous blog-commentaries; see this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15947 Climate Change Catastrophe: 12 Year Countdown for new Governance
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15923 Industrial Reboot from Government Payment Cards
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15479 ‘Lean Is’ as ‘Lean Does’ – Good Project Management in Government
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15245 Righting a Wrong: Re-thinking the Regional Governance of CSME
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15126 States and Governments must have ‘population increases’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15075 e-Government 3.0
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13991 Free European Money – To Start at Top for Good Governance
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13524 Future Focused – e-Government Portal 101
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991 Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=888 How to Re-invent Government in a Digital Image – Book Review

We must reform and transform our Caribbean governing engines. We want Good Governance, not “Partisan Politics”. While it may be heavy-lifting to weed out the corrupting influence of “Partisan Politics” from existing member-state governments, it is easier to start aright with the new federal government: the CU Trade Federation.

“Abandonment and Defection” is a Caribbean reality due to inefficiencies in the delivery of the Social Contract. Let’s put that reality in our “rearview mirror” and move forward in building a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

——————

Appendix VIDEO – Trump could shut down parts of government over border wall funding – https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/09/26/trump-could-shut-down-parts-of-government-over-border-wall-funding.html

Trump could shut down parts of government over border wall funding from CNBC.

Published on September 26, 2018 – While the Government was not shutdown before the 2018 Mid-Term elections; this threat shows the preponderance for “Partisan Politics” over Good Governance … in the US.

Is there a need for a Border Wall? Then build it – that’s Good Governance.

Don’t hold back to protect the Party’s Political prospects.

If there is no money for a wall – or no need? Then let it go.

Do not shutdown the government to make a political point!

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Remembering the Moment – 1968’s Proudest Protest – ENCORE

Posted on October 16, 2018 in Ethos, Social

October 16, 2018 – Today marks the 50th Anniversary of a moment in history when two American athletes stood-up in protest at the 1968 Olympic Games, during the Medal-Award ceremony. Their “human rights salute” is regarded as one of the most overtly political statements ever in the history of the modern Olympic Games.

Protesting athletes? This sounds so familiar, considering the recent exploits of Colin Kaepernick et al.

This one episode – this moment – was actually a forerunner for conducting protests and forging change today. It was part-and-parcel of the tumultuous year that 1968 proved to be.

This was not just an American issue. This affected the whole world. After all, this was the Olympics. In addition, one of the protesting athletes, John Carlos, was of Caribbean (Cuban) Roots.

Today, we are presenting an Encore of the profile of John Carlos, depicting his role in this episode in history. See this previous blog-commentary from March 10, 2017 here-now:

===========================

Go Lean Commentary – Caribbean Roots: John Carlos – The Man. The Moment. The Movement

The title: “The Man. The Moment. The Movement” is more than just a catch-phrase, its a recipe for successfully transforming society.

Do you remember this Sports Moment That Changed the World?

CU Blog - Caribbean Roots - John Carlos among 'Three Proud People' - Photo 1It was at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Despite all the attempts by the organizers to keep the Games apolitical and free-of-conflict, the Moment got political and conflicted … and impactful. This was when the Man, John Carlos, the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics gave his Black Power salute on the podium with gold-medalist Tommie Smith; this galvanized the Movement – the Civil Rights Movement in general and the Olympic Project for Human Rights in particular. The Movement caused a lot of controversy.

What is not known about this moment is that this Man, John Carlos, has Caribbean roots.

We are so proud!

Consider his biography reference here:

Title: John Carlos
John Wesley Carlos (born June 5, 1945) is an American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics and his Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy. He went on to tie the world record in the 100 yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record (although the latter achievement was never certified). After his track career, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Canadian Football League but retired due to injury.[1]

He became involved with the United States Olympic Committee and helped to organize the 1984 Summer Olympics. Following this he became a track coach at Palm SpringsHigh School. He was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2003.

He is the author, with sportswriter Dave Zirin, of The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World, published in 2011 by Haymarket Books.

Early life and education
Born in Harlem, New York, to Cuban[2] parents, John Carlos was a gifted high school athlete and outstanding student who went on to study at East Texas State University on a full track-and-field scholarship. His victories in the 100- and 200-meter dash and as a member of the 4×400-meter relay helped lead ETSU to the 1967 Lone Star Conference Championship. After his first year, Carlos enrolled at San Jose State University where he was trained by future National Track & Field Hall of Fame coach, Lloyd (Bud) Winter.

Carlos was awarded an honorary doctorate from CaliforniaStateUniversity in 2008. In 2012, he was awarded honorary doctorates from his alma maters Texas A&M University-Commerce (formerly EastTexasStateUniversity) and San Jose State University.

Career
At the 1968 Olympic Trials, Carlos won the 200-meter dash in 19.92 seconds, beating world-record holder Tommie Smith and surpassing his record by 0.3 seconds. Though the record was never ratified because the spike formation on Carlos’ shoes (“brush spikes”) was not accepted at the time, the race reinforced his status as a world-class sprinter.

Carlos became a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), and originally advocated a boycott of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games unless four conditions were met: withdrawal of South Africa and Rhodesia from the games, restoration of Muhammad Ali’s world heavyweight boxing title, Avery Brundage to step down as president of the IOC, and the hiring of more African-American assistant coaches. As the boycott failed to achieve support after the IOC withdrew invitations for South Africa and Rhodesia, he decided, together with Smith, to participate but to stage a protest in case he received a medal.[3] Following his third-place finish behind fellow American Smith and Australian Peter Norman in the 200 at the Mexico Olympics, Carlos and Smith made headlines around the world by raising their black-gloved fists at the medal award ceremony. Both athletes wore black socks and no shoes on the podium to represent African-American poverty in the United States. In support, Peter Norman, the silver medalist who was a white athlete from Australia, participated in the protest by wearing an OPHR badge.

IOC president Avery Brundage deemed a political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games was supposed to be. In an immediate response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. Many supporters, however, praised the men for their bravery. The men’s gesture had lingering effects for all three athletes, the most serious of which were death threats against Carlos, Smith, and their families. Although it has been reported that Carlos and Smith were stripped of their medals, Carlos has indicated this is not true and his medal is with his mother.[4]

Carlos had his greatest year in track and field in 1969, equaling the world 100-yard record of 9.1, winning the AAU 220-yard run, and leading San JoseState to its first NCAA championship with victories in the 100 and 220 and as a member of the 4×110-yard relay. He was featured on the cover of Track and Field News‘ May 1969 issue.[5]
…

CU Blog - Caribbean Roots - John Carlos among 'Three Proud People' - Photo 3

Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved March 8, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carlos

This biography should go back further to include John Carlos’s Cuban-Caribbean heritage, that of his father:

John Carlos is of Cuban descent and can understand Spanish. His father, Earl Carlos Sr., was a businessman (a cobbler or shoe repair) and World War I Veteran [fighting for the US]. He was a man proud of his appearance in all circumstances and carried himself in a dignified way. He had to work hard from an early age (like most African-American children of his era, especially in the South of the country) and his parents were born as slaves; [(slavery ended in Cuba in 1886 and he was born in 1895)]. When he participated in World War I, he got wounded and received the Medal of Citation Award for his stoicism on the battlefield. When he returned back home, he had to face racial hatred, economic discrimination, the Roaring Twenties, the Stock Market Crash in 1929, the Dust Bowl in the mid-thirties and World War II. Despite the difficulties, he never became bitter. He met his future wife, Vioris Lawrence (an African-American woman), in 1941, who was later John Carlos’ mother. – MegaDiversities.

This was quite a legacy to absorb. John Carlos had the molding from his proud Cuban father, who left a segregated Cuba and emigrated for a better life in the metropolitan area of New York. Harlem – think Harlem Renaissance – was a better place to be a Black Man than the Jim Crow South or the minority-ruled Cuba. When he stood in defiance in that Moment in 1968, John Carlos was protesting the blatant racism that he experienced and his father before him – Earl Carlos died later, in May 1969. The Movement to uplift oppressed people had began on the global stage, but the Black Power salute was a local action in solidarity with all those oppressed before and after this Moment. He understood that ‘Sport and Politics’ are intrinsically linked, whether right or wrong.

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean recognizes the significance of that Moment and the stage for its execution, the celebrated Olympic Games. The Go Lean book applauds the struggle for Civil Rights and the dynamics of sports. It posits that sports can foster a great influence – and even wealth – in modern society. See this in Appendix B VIDEO.

The sportsman can “rule in people’s hearts”. People marvel at their athletic prowess – billions may be watching on live or tape-delayed TV broadcasts – the participants can forge a positive image and wield power and influence; think:

We can add John Carlos and Tommie Smith to that list.

This Moment was in 1968; that was a pivotal year, so many things happened, mostly bad; consider this sample:

  • Martin Luther King was assassinated, April 4
  • Robert Kennedy was assassinated, June 6
  • Vietnam War Protests – Summer
  • Chicano (Hispanic) Movement and Red Power (Native Americans) Movement Summer Protests
  • Mexico City Olympics – October 12 – 27
  • James Brown song: Say it loud: “I’m Black and I’m Proud”
    CU Blog - Caribbean Roots - John Carlos among 'Three Proud People' - Photo 2

According to John Carlos, in a recent interview describing the disposition on the ground there in Mexico City: “it was high tension, drama, a powder keg … prior to the Olympics there was a massacre that killed hundreds of young activists”.

That was 1968 … all around; consider the experience of one Californian “back in that day”:

1968 was an exciting time for me. I think it was when my activism was born. Before that time things were pretty rosy. Even though I knew about the [Black] Panthers and had seen Dr. [Martin Luther] King, living in LA you were kind of removed. I do remember expressing a desire to join the Freedom Rides, but my Pastor said ‘No’.

1968 was [when] my friends were coming home from Vietnam or refusing to go.

I remember loaning my boyfriend $$ to go to Philly to go before the Draft Board to argue as a Conscientious Objector. He won and we were so happy.

I remember the day Dr. King was killed and going that night to a service with friends. I remember being so sad and being glued to the TV.

I remember the horror of Bobby Kennedy being killed. I was at work and heard the news.

I remember being so proud of Tommy Smith and John Carlos at the Olympics.

My living room had two posters. One of them on the stand with the black gloved fists held high and the other was [Black Panther Party co-founder] Huey Newton sitting in that Peacock Chair.

Those were the days when I was very active in the Watts Summer Festival. Tommy Jacquette, the founder, was a friend, and we all gathered together to make the event a success. …

I would say that 1968 was the year that I became the person I am today. – Bunny Withers, Los Angeles.

The reality of human rights abuses in America in 1968 was bad, worse or dire – those were the only options. The Black community was far from being treated as equal citizens in that society. But truth be told, other minority groups in the country also experienced oppression, repression and suppression. America was the greatest country on the planet for those that qualified; those that were:

White, Anglo-Saxon, Rich, Male and Straight

Anyone else – everyone else – needed civil rights empowerments.

Fortunately, this is not the conditions of the America of today. It is now a better place to live, work and play. How did this society go from “there to here”?

It took the strenuous efforts of advocates: individuals – Men and Women – and organizations, exploiting Moments and Movements for maximum exposure. They appealed to the public, appealed to their better nature. John Carlos was one such individual.

The third person on the dais, silver medalist Peter Norman of Australia, can also be classified as an advocate fighting to assuage human rights abuses – he also wore a badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights – he was in solidarity with Smith and Carlos. See the profile VIDEO on his activities in Appendix A below.

The Caribbean has a problem today that we did not have back in 1968. The majority populations of the Caribbean region is/was Black-and-Brown. America was not inviting to this demographic, so our people rarely immigrated to the US. Now with the above-referenced civil rights empowerments, America is now a more fair society for all people. Our Caribbean people now “beat down their doors” to flee to America, and other places – Go Lean book Page 3.

The US is now a “frienemy” for us! We are trading partners; we are aligned; we are allies; many of our students studied there; many of our Diaspora live there. We now have to compete to dissuade our young people from setting their sights on American shores as a refuge and destination of their hopes and dreams. No society can survive with a high abandonment rate – the book Go Lean … Caribbean reports that 70% brain drain rate among our professional populations.

We are failing and need advocates of our own.

We need new role models, with the courage of John Carlos, to help us “battle” against the “push-and-pull” factors that draw many Caribbean citizens away from home to the US. We need Men to seize the Moment and advance this Movement.

The Go Lean movement pursues the quest to elevate the Caribbean region through empowerments in economics, security and governance. Since 29 of the 30 Caribbean member-states (“St. Barths” is the only exception) have majority Black populations, the book pushes further on this subject of racism, positing that it is easier for Caribbean citizens to stay home and effect change in their homelands than to go to America and try to remediate that society. The book therefore asserts that the region can turn-around from failing assessments by applying best-practices, and forging new societal institutions to impact the Greater Good for all the Caribbean.

The Go Lean book posits that sports – individual achievements and the business of sports – can greatly impact society; in addition to the entertainment value, there is also national pride, image and impression. People can override many false precepts with sporting excellence by great role models.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government designed to administer and optimize the economic-security-governing engines of the region’s 30 member-states. This is highlighted by these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy; creating 2.2 million new jobs and expanding the regional GDP to $800 Billion.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

At the outset, the roadmap recognizes our crisis and the value of sports in the roadmap, with these statements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 & 14):

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xxvi. 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.

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 – modeling the Olympics.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for the market organizations to better garner the economic benefits of sports. One of the biggest contributions the CU will make is the facilitation of sports venues: arenas and stadia. As described in a previous blog-commentary, sports can be big business! And even when money is not involved, other benefits abound: educational scholarships, fitness/wellness, disciplined activities for the youth, image, and pride. No doubt an intangible yet important benefits is depicted in this Go Lean roadmap, that of less societal abandonment.

The movement behind the Go Lean book salute those ones from our past who left their Caribbean homelands for better opportunities abroad; we salute their legacies (foreign-born children) as well. We know that there are “new” athletes who are just waiting to be discovered and fostered throughout the Caribbean member-states. We salute these ones as our future, and pledge to do better to keep them here at home. The book details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to allow Caribbean people to prosper where they are planted.

In terms of salute, it is appropriate to salute Vioris Louise Lawrence Carlos – the mother of John Carlos. She just recently passed-away, on December 12, 2016, at age 97. This blessed woman’s contributions and life course help to mold the life and legacy of 5 children – including John Carlos – and a whole community.

Previous Go Lean blog-commentaries that identified other sports role models for our consideration:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8495 NBA Greatness and Caribbean Roots: Tim Duncan Retires
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2222 Sports Role Model – Playing For Pride … And More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020 Sports Revolutionary: Advocate Jeffrey Webb
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=498 Caribbean Sport Excellence due to ‘The Sports Gene’

In addition, these other Go Lean blog-commentaries have identified other role models with Caribbean roots:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10609 Caribbean Roots: Cast of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10114 Esther Rolle – Caribbean Roots
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9948 Sammy Davis, Jr. – Caribbean Roots
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724 Remembering Marcus Garvey: A Role Model; Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8619 Clive Campbell – Jamaican Innovation for Hip Hop
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8328 YouTube Role Model with Caribbean Roots: ‘Tipsy Bartender’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Musical Icon and Role Model: Bob Marley

The world is a better place, sports-wise and arts-wise, because of Caribbean contributions. Thank you to all past, present and future athletes and contributors.

Not to be overlooked, but the same as the US had a Climate of Hate in 1968, we have our own societal defects in the Caribbean region today. We cannot claim enlightenment to the achievements of advocates like John Carlos and have a blind eye” to our own “ills”. So let’s stand-up as a Proud People and force our own communities to change. Let’s make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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APPENDIX A VIDEO – The Story Behind The White Guy In This Historic Photo – https://youtu.be/t4LvwXYmt3Q

Published on Oct 31, 2015 – In 1968 there was a powerful moment of protest at the Olympic games when two winners put on black gloves to protest what was happening in the country during the civil rights era. Most people don’t know the story of the silver medalist, Peter Norman. Cenk Uygur, host of the The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

“In an act as appropriate as it is overdue, the Australian House of Parliament is issuing an official state apology Monday to the country’s late, great sprinter Peter Norman. Norman won the 200-meter silver medal at the 1968 Olympics, but that’s not why he’s either remembered or owed apologies. After the race, gold and bronze medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos bowed their heads and raised their fists on the medal stand and started an international firestorm. Many see the iconic image and assume Norman was just a bystander to history, or as he would joke, “the white guy.” But he was standing in full solidarity with Smith and Carlos, wearing a patch on his chest that reads, “Olympic Project for Human Rights.”

Read more here: https://www.thenation.com/article/aus…

Disclaimer: The Young Turks is an online video talk show that provides commentary on news and opinion articles. Often times these articles come from sources outside of our organization. Where possible, we do our best to research and verify various sources before reporting. Content created by third parties is the sole responsibility of the third parties and its accuracy and completeness are not endorsed or guaranteed.

UPDATE to story: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/j…

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APPENDIX B VIDEO – THREE PROUD PEOPLE (Mural project) Tommy Smith, Peter Norman, John Carlos – https://youtu.be/xHcasP4HOo0

Uploaded on May 17, 2009 – This mural was put up about 6 weeks prior to the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic games. It could be viewed from the McDonaldtown train station platform and from trains travelling past. Trains travel from central Sydney to the Homebush Olympic venue past this mural. As of a few years ago, the mural can no longer be seen from the tracks due to a city rail concrete sound barrier that has been installed.
Peter Norman was repremanded for his part in the action. Peter, in solidarity, wore the Olympic project for human rights badge, which defied the code of conduct. He also came up with the idea of Smith and Carlos each wearing one black glove from the same pair. All three of these guys were very couragous.

  • Category: Education
  • License: Standard YouTube License

 

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Retail Apocalypse and Sears – Another One Bites the Dust – ENCORE

Posted on October 16, 2018 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Another one bites the dust …

Sears has filed for Bankruptcy protection. This may be more than just reorganization; this might be complete dissolution.

See the VIDEO and excerpt of the news article here:

VIDEO – Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection – https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2018/10/15/sears-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection/38160609/

—————–

Title: Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to close 142 more stores
By: , USA TODAY

October 15, 2018 – Sears Holdings, whose presence permeated American life for generations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early Monday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid entombment in the graveyard of once-great retailers that failed to adapt to the digital age.

For Sears — which was the largest retailer in the nation before the rise of Walmart and, later, Amazon — bankruptcy marks the culmination of years of decline defined by store closures, sales declines, cost cuts and borrowing.

The company, which also owns discount retailer Kmart, has fallen into disrepair amid a perilous retail landscape in which customers increasingly shop online or seek out more-appealing alternatives.

For Kmart, known for its one-time “blue-light specials,” catchy jingles, and collections created by celebrities, the case marks a second brush with death. Kmart merged with Sears in 2005 after surviving bankruptcy once before.

Sears Holdings will close another 142 stores by about the end of the year, on top of a recently announced round of 46 store closures, as part of the bankruptcy. The company has 687 stores and about 68,000 employees.

See the remaining news story here (retrieved from this source on October 16, 2018):https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/10/15/sears-bankruptcy/1595399002/?csp=chromepush

This was predicted. This is the dreaded, feared Retail Apocalypse. Truth be told, this is relevant for the Caribbean as well. This assertion was made in a prior commentary on April 18, 2017. See an Encore of that submission here-now:

=====================

Go Lean Commentary – Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable

Remember the dream … of 7 Fat Cows and 7 Skinny Cows?

The articulation of the dream was that the 7 Fat Cows represented 7 prosperous years while the 7 Skinny Cows represented 7 years of famine with poverty and distress. – The Bible; Genesis Chapter 41.
CU Blog - Retail Apocalypse - Preparing for the Inevitable - Photo 0

In that Bible drama of Joseph in ancient Egypt, those circumstances were more than just in a dream; it was a prophecy of prosperity and famine. It came true!

Joseph was able to use the foresight to prepare that kingdom for adversity, after first exploiting the opportunities.

Here it comes again.

There is feast and famine “in the cards” as related to the retail eco-system. On one end of the spectrum , there will be prosperity for electronic commerce stakeholders, but on the other end, for brick-and-mortar establishments, there will be a Retail Apocalypse.

Will be? Actually, the threat has already manifested!

This is the assertion in this news article by the financial-economic magazine Business Insider:

CU Blog - Retail Apocalypse - Preparing for the Inevitable - Photo 1

Title: The retail apocalypse has officially descended on America
By: Hayley Peterson

Thousands of mall-based stores are shutting down in what’s fast becoming one of the biggest waves of retail closures in decades.

More than 3,500 stores are expected to close in the next couple of months.

Department stores like JCPenney, Macy’s, Sears, and Kmart are among the companies shutting down stores, along with middle-of-the-mall chains like Crocs, BCBG, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Guess.

CU Blog - Retail Apocalypse - Preparing for the Inevitable - Photo 2

Some retailers are exiting the brick-and-mortar business altogether and trying to shift to an all-online model.

For example, Bebe is closing all its stores — about 170 — to focus on increasing its online sales, according to a Bloomberg report.

Some are going out of business altogether, like The Limited which recently shut down all 250 of its stores.

Others, such as Sears and JCPenney, are aggressively paring down their store counts to unload unprofitable locations and try to stanch losses.

CU Blog - Retail Apocalypse - Preparing for the Inevitable - Photo 3Sears is shutting down about 10% of its Sears and Kmart locations, or 150 stores, and JCPenney is shutting down about 14% of its locations, or 138 stores.

According to many analysts, the retail apocalypse has been a long time coming in the US, where stores per capita far outnumber that of any other country.

The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person, compared with 16.4 square feet in Canada and 11.1 square feet in Australia, the next two countries with the most retail space per capita, according to a Morningstar Credit Ratings report from October.

Visits to shopping malls have been declining for years with the rise of e-commerce and titanic shifts in how shoppers spend their money. Visits declined by 50% between 2010 and 2013, according to the real-estate research firm Cushman & Wakefield.

And people are now devoting bigger shares of their wallets to restaurants, travel, and technology than ever before, while spending less on apparel and accessories.

As stores close, many shopping malls will be forced to shut down as well.

When an anchor store like Sears or Macy’s closes, it often triggers a downward spiral in performance for shopping malls.

Not only do the malls lose the income and shopper traffic from that store’s business, but the closure often triggers “co-tenancy clauses” that allow the other mall tenants to terminate their leases or renegotiate the terms, typically with a period of lower rents, until another retailer moves into the anchor space.

To reduce losses, malls must quickly find a replacement tenant for the massive retail space that the anchor store occupied, which is difficult — especially in malls that are already financially strapped — when major department stores are reducing their retail footprints.

That can have grave consequences for shopping malls, especially in markets where it’s harder to transform vacant mall space into non-retail space like apartments, according to analysts.

The nation’s worst-performing malls — those classified in the industry as C- and D-rated — will be hit the hardest by the store closures.

The real-estate research firm Green Street Advisors estimates that about 30% of all malls fall under those classifications. That means that nearly a third of shopping malls are at risk of dying off as a result of store closures.
Source: Business Insider e-Zine. Posted 03/21/2017; retrieved 04/17/2017 from: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-retail-apocalypse-has-officially-descended-on-america-2017-3

CU Blog - Retail Apocalypse - Preparing for the Inevitable - Photo 4

Related:

1. Monday Market Mayhem – The Retail Apocalypse – Look out Wall Street

2. Dollar General is defying the retail apocalypse and opening 1,000 stores

See the related AUDIO Podcast below here:

———–

AUDIO Podcast – Wal-Mart battles Amazon with discounts for online ordering and store pickup – https://www.marketplace.org/2017/04/14/business/its-battle-amazon-walmart-offers-discounts-ordering-online-and-picking-store

Published April 14, 2017 – Big Box giant Wal-Mart battling e-Commerce giant Amazon for New Economy fulfillment.

As noted in the foregoing, the Retail Apocalypse is affecting the news in the United States. It’s only the news today, tomorrow will be jobs, the next day the finance apparatus holding the debt (mortgages and security instruments on Wall Street) for the many shopping malls and then soon, the rest of the economy will be impacted.

This is so familiar. Remember the housing-real estate bubble in 2003 to 2010. This previous blog-commentary identified the following 5 steps of a bubble:

1.   Displacement

2.   Boom

3.   Euphoria

4.   Profit Taking

5.   Panic

Here we go again! Sounds like a crisis is imminent.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and Caribbean Central Bank (CCB); it declares that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste – quoting famed American Economist Paul Romer. Though the impending crisis is slated for the US, the actuality of economic contagions mean that the Caribbean member-states will be affected as well.

Where do the tourists come from that drive the Caribbean region’s primary economic driver?

The question is rhetorical; the answer is obvious!

The Go Lean book seeks to prepare the Caribbean region for the change dynamics impacting the world. The “Agents of Change” at play in the foregoing news source are as follows:

  • Technology
  • Globalization

The underlying issue with the Retail Apocalypse is not the demand for retail products, it is the supply. Consumers are still demanding and consuming fashion and commodities, just not at shopping malls; e-Commerce is “all the rage”.

Consider the experience of this commentator:

I went to buy 3 pairs of slacks.

I was only able to find one – with the brand, make, size and color – at a Big Box retail store. So then I went home and matched the brand, model, size with the e-Commerce merchant Amazon.com and acquired the same pants in 2 divergent colors that the Big Box retailer did not have in inventory. 3 days later, the whole shopping expedition was over; I acquired 3 pairs of slacks, primarily from the online merchant and delivered by the shipping company United Parcel Service (UPS).

The quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines – not the US – starting first with economics (jobs, commercial developments and entrepreneurial opportunities). In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of the CU:

  • 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 – as e-Commerce alters sales & border taxes – to support these engines.

The changes taking place in the US with the Retail Apocalypse will eventually traverse the Caribbean member-states as well. This is the parallel with the opening Bible Drama. A crisis is coming and we have the opportunity to exploit the prosperous years and prepare for the famine. The Caribbean region – all 30 member-states – needs to better exploit e-Commerce. There are so missing ingredients, fully detailed in the Go Lean book; see  this sample advocacy on Page 198:

10 Ways to Foster e-Commerce

1 Leverage the full population – 42 million people in all 30 member-states to deploy the CU and the CCB.
2 Regional Currency (Caribbean Dollar or C$)
3 Card Culture
The CU will seek to foster the eco-system for e-payments beyond government activity. To assimilate this change, a card culture, on Main Street, will entail utilizing debit/credit cards, benefits pay cards, and even smart cards on cruise ships.
The CU will collectively bargain with the cruise lines to deploy C$ electronic “purses” to facilitate port-side and onboard retail commerce. All of these changes will garner a better monetary multiplier on the CU economy, by expanding M1.
4 CU Social Media
The CU web portal www.myCaribbean.gov will grant free access, email, IM, and profile pages for CU stakeholders, even normalizing communications thru social media sites. This will facilitate internet commerce activities in the region, as the CU will have hot data on profiles, habits and previous activities, thereby creating opportunities for measured marketing.
5 A Market for the Downloads of Intellectual Properties
6 Remittance Methods (Card & Email)
7 Mobile Apps – Hi-Density Wi-Fi
8 Regional Postal Services – CPU
The CU will assume the responsibility for mail services in the region; (all member-state postal employees will become federal civil servants). The embrace of the Caribbean Postal Union allows for parcel mail to be optimally shipped and delivered throughout the region, with Customs considerations in place. The CPU will therefore ensure the fulfillment side of e-commerce, even allowing for computer applications for printing electronic stamps/barcodes for value savings.
9 Turnpike Logistics
10 Customs and Import Optimizations

The missing ingredients for this new marketplace – electronic commerce – are not just banking-related, the full eco-system must be enabled: electronic (technology), commerce (trade) and fulfillment (logistics). The implementation of these provisions will constitute a New Day for the region. Overall, the Go Lean book stresses the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to reboot, reform and transform the economic engines of Caribbean society, so as to benefit from changes coming due to the Retail Apocalypse, this New Day.

Though not directly mentioned in the Go Lean book, this Retail Apocalypse is planned for in the roadmap. A comprehensive view of  the technocratic stewardship for the region’s economic engines, including the banking eco-system, is presented early in the book with these opening 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.

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 points of effective, technocratic banking and retail stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11184 Big Bank investing $Billion on ‘Fintech’ for e-Commerce positioning
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8823 Lessons from China – WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8704 Lesson from MetroCard
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991 Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7034 The Future of Money
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6635 New Security Chip in Credit Cards Unveiled
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5668 Move over Mastercard/Visa – Time for Local Banking Cards
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425 Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889 Royal Bank of Canada’s EZPay – Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881 The Need for Regional Cooperation for Cyber-Security & e-Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3858 Model of Central Banking Technocracy: ECB 1 trillion Euro stimulus
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488 Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Alibaba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416 Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350 PayPal’s model to pay for e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906 Bitcoin model to pay for e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528 Facebook to pay for e-Commerce

Warning to all retail stakeholders – buyers, sellers and governments: Change is coming!

This is a familiar stance – preparing for the inevitable – for the Go Lean movement; there have been previous warnings of disruptive changes; see this sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7847 To the Personal Computer industry: Cloud Computing, Smartphones and Tablets are making actual laptop and desktop computers inconsequential.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6151 To the regional government’s Revenue Officials: 3-D Printing is coming and will change fabrication to local rather than import. This will disrupt border taxes revenue expectations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016 To the Infrastructure Planners: Climate Change is making Caribbean summers hot-hot-hot and northern winters milder; there must be cooperative refrigeration to provide relief, otherwise people will leave for northern destinations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784 To Jamaica’s Public Safety Officials: Human Rights protections must be extended to people who identify as LGBT. Whether you agree or not, the international community will force you to respect their rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210 To the Cruise Line industry: The Caribbean region’s collective bargaining will extract greater benefits and protections for port city commerce.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5155 To the Caribbean Power Grip: Home-based batteries will allow for successful deployments of solar/wind power generation and require less power from the grid.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4767 To the regional government’s Revenue Officials: Under the WTO regime, customs duties must eventually be eliminated; same too with conditional property taxes. VAT or Sales Taxes are OK.

As for the Retail Apocalypse, now is the time for all stakeholders of Caribbean banking, retail and governments to lean-in for the empowerments for e-Commerce described here-in and in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is where the marketplace is going, not just tomorrow, but already here today. We can do this; we can elevate our communities and our retail eco-systems. We can be a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

 

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Climate Change Catastrophe: 12 Year Countdown

Posted on October 15, 2018 in Ethos, Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

So do not make any plans beyond 12 years …

… that is the warning …

… from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report from this respected body asserts that if there are no mitigations, then the catastrophic future that we all dread will be unavoidable. Life may continue on the planet, but the status quo would be no more. See the news story on the UN Report here and the continuation in the Appendix below:

Title: We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN
Sub-title: Urgent changes needed to cut risk of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty, says IPCC

The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.

The authors of the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday say urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target, which they say is affordable and feasible although it lies at the most ambitious end of the Paris agreementpledge to keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C.

The half-degree difference could also prevent corals from being completely eradicated and ease pressure on the Arctic, according to the 1.5C study, which was launched after approval at a final plenary of all 195 countries in Incheon in South Korea that saw delegates hugging one another, with some in tears.

“It’s a line in the sand and what it says to our species is that this is the moment and we must act now,” said Debra Roberts, a co-chair of the working group on impacts. “This is the largest clarion bell from the science community and I hope it mobilises people and dents the mood of complacency.”

Policymakers commissioned the report at the Paris climate talks in 2016, but since then the gap between science and politics has widened. Donald Trump has promised to withdraw the US – the world’s biggest source of historical emissions – from the accord. The first round of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday put Jair Bolsonaro into a strong position to carry out his threat to do the same and also open the Amazon rainforest to agribusiness.

The world is currently 1C warmer than preindustrial levels. Following devastating hurricanes in the US, record droughts in Cape Town and forest fires in the Arctic, the IPCC makes clear that climate change is already happening, upgraded its risk warning from previous reports, and warned that every fraction of additional warming would worsen the impact.


…

See the remaining article in the Appendix below.

Source: Posted The Guardian – London Daily Newspaper October 8, 2018;retrieved October 15, 2018 from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report

This is not Armageddon … yet. But the Bible does provide a justification that redeeming mankind will only happen at the precipice, just as man’s perilous rule reaches the point of unavoidable destruction of the planet. That scripture reads:

18  But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time came for the dead to be judged and to reward+ your slaves the prophets+ and the holy ones and those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining* the earth.”+ – Revelation 11:18 New World Translation

Yes, truly, “we” are ruining the earth. Some people (countries) more so than others. But despite whether we are the guilty culprits or not, we still only have one planet … and it needs some attention. Or else …

… after 12 years, no more earth, the way we know it.

All the evidence is in front of us. To ignore it, we do so at our own peril. As related previously, the Numbers don’t lie: as of this past May, the earth has had 400 straight warmer-than-average months. See other aligned blog-commentaries that echoed this assessment:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14925 Climate Change Doubt?! Numbers Don’t Lie …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14832 Manifesting Environmental Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11858 Islands are Disappearing – The Cautionary Tale of Kiribati
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9455 Fix ‘Climate Change’ – Yes, We Can
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7103 COP21 – ‘Climate Change’ Acknowledged
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6893 A Meteorologist’s View On Climate Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4673 ‘Climate Change‘ Merchants of Doubt … to Preserve Profits!!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465 Book: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2276 Climate Change May Affect Food Supply Within a Decade
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1883 Climate Change May Bring More Kidney Stones
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1817 Caribbean grapples with intense cycles of flooding & drought

Are we saying that the earth will be destroyed in 12 years?

No!

But the mitigations that are feasible to assuage this problem, only have a limited shelf-life. After 12 years, there may not be any turning back from a Greenhouse planet. Once we accept this fact – the eventuality of the Climate Change Catastrophe – only then can we start to make effort to address the truth: our “house is on fire”.

There should be no doubt, we must act now.

What are we going to do about it?

Yes, we can … make a difference … still. But now we cannot hit or miss; we are at the precipice.

Perhaps this reality now is why one of the world’s most notorious Climate Change Denier is finally, begrudgingly, owning up to the fact that … “there might be something to this Climate Change” thing.

We’re talking about US President Donald Trump. See  the VIDEO here:

VIDEO – President Donald Trump’s ’60 Minutes’ Interview: Climate Change, etc. –  https://youtu.be/_D8OfRiEff4

TODAY
Published on Oct 15, 2018 – In an interview with “60 Minutes,” President Trump backed off earlier statements that climate change is a hoax, and also said that he doesn’t “trust everybody” in the White House. He also commented on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and the ongoing Russia investigation.

This is how destiny works. We can run from it, deny it or hide. But it will still catch up with us.

The earth is destined to suffer great catastrophes due to Climate Change … in 12 years!

Let’s do our share, everyone, everywhere to see if we can abate this reality.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), to reform and transform all of Caribbean society – all 30 member-states. There is the need to shepherd our own communities to do our share to abate Climate Change. While the problem is too big for us alone in our region, we must still act … nonetheless. We cannot sit back, fold our arms and expect everyone else to do the heavy-lifting. No, we must even lead, since we are on the frontlines of over-heated hurricanes.

This is a lesson learned from Canada; they are on the frontline of melting ice-caps – think icy Northwest Passage – so they are stepping-up to act and show the world how to act. They are not waiting for “deniers to wake up and stop denying”; they are putting in their mitigation now … anyway. Then they are telling and showing the world what to do in following their example. This was detailed in a previous Go Lean commentary as follows:

Canada … has the longest total coastline among all of the countries of the world, at 125,567 miles. …

If Climate Change is to continue unabated, this country has a lot to lose – catastrophic storms, melting ice caps, thawing permafrost and rising sea level. …

Canada is prepared to take the lead, to put the Western Hemisphere on its shoulders and carry the load for arresting Climate Change. …

Thank you Canada for this model. Now, we – the Caribbean – need to step up to carry our own load for better mitigation of Climate Change threats; we need to do our part in lowering our own carbon footprint. We can make a difference. Canada can make a difference. As related in a previous blog-commentary, the same as the threat of Acid Rain was subjugated, so too, curative measures can be put in place to lower the greenhouse gases in the environment. This is why Canada has a Champion for the Environment – Catherine McKenna – at the Cabinet level.

Good model …

The Go Lean roadmap addresses all aspects of Caribbean society – economics, security and governance – and then declares: “Do this; Do that; Do Something; Do Everything”. The roadmap presents these prime directives in this regards:

Fixing Climate Change in the US or Canada is out-of-scope for this Go Lean movement; but we still need them to act. We also need Europe, China, India – all Big Polluters – and all countries of the world to act. We must stand on soap boxes, podiums and stages and tell the world – everyone must listen; we must make them listen. This is now everyone’s job, everyone’s responsibility.

We only have 12 years!

Make no plans for Year 13 and beyond. 🙁

There is hope! The Go Lean book and roadmap stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean’s societal engines to abate Climate Change is possible; it is conceivable, believable and achievable. But this is heavy-lifting.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to prepare and respond for Climate Change catastrophes. See this sample of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices / Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens Page 23
Strategy – Mission – Prepare for Natural Disasters Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Separation of Powers – Emergency Management Page 76
Separation of Powers – Meteorological & Geological Service Page 79
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government Page 93
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 Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid Page 115
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization – Produce, Not Just Consume Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters Page 184
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation – CNG Buses and Electric Street Cars Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry – Embrace Alternative Energy Page 206

Are we up to this challenge?

We must work at it … as if our life depends on it.

It does!

We need all hands on deck! This is an Inconvenient Truth but its the truth nonetheless. We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap for change, to get our homeland more active in the solution and abatement of Climate Change. Let’s get going. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix – We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN (Cont’d)

This is the continuation of the news article from the Guardian Newspaper …

Scientists who reviewed the 6,000 works referenced in the report, said the change caused by just half a degree came as a revelation. “We can see there is a difference and it’s substantial,” Roberts said.

At 1.5C the proportion of the global population exposed to water stress could be 50% lower than at 2C, it notes. Food scarcity would be less of a problem and hundreds of millions fewer people, particularly in poor countries, would be at risk of climate-related poverty.

At 2C extremely hot days, such as those experienced in the northern hemisphere this summer, would become more severe and common, increasing heat-related deaths and causing more forest fires.

But the greatest difference would be to nature. Insects, which are vital for pollination of crops, and plants are almost twice as likely to lose half their habitat at 2C compared with 1.5C. Corals would be 99% lost at the higher of the two temperatures, but more than 10% have a chance of surviving if the lower target is reached.

Sea-level rise would affect 10 million more people by 2100 if the half-degree extra warming brought a forecast 10cm additional pressure on coastlines. The number affected would increase substantially in the following centuries due to locked-in ice melt.

Oceans are already suffering from elevated acidity and lower levels of oxygen as a result of climate change. One model shows marine fisheries would lose 3m tonnes at 2C, twice the decline at 1.5C.

Sea ice-free summers in the Arctic, which is warming two to three times faster than the world average, would come once every 100 years at 1.5C, but every 10 years with half a degree more of global warming.

Time and carbon budgets are running out. By mid-century, a shift to the lower goal would require a supercharged roll-back of emissions sources that have built up over the past 250 years.

The IPCC maps out four pathways to achieve 1.5C, with different combinations of land use and technological change. Reforestation is essential to all of them as are shifts to electric transport systems and greater adoption of carbon capture technology.

Carbon pollution would have to be cut by 45% by 2030 – compared with a 20% cut under the 2C pathway – and come down to zero by 2050, compared with 2075 for 2C. This would require carbon prices that are three to four times higher than for a 2C target. But the costs of doing nothing would be far higher.

“We have presented governments with pretty hard choices. We have pointed out the enormous benefits of keeping to 1.5C, and also the unprecedented shift in energy systems and transport that would be needed to achieve that,” said Jim Skea, a co-chair of the working group on mitigation. “We show it can be done within laws of physics and chemistry. Then the final tick box is political will. We cannot answer that. Only our audience can – and that is the governments that receive it.”

He said the main finding of his group was the need for urgency. Although unexpectedly good progress has been made in the adoption of renewable energy, deforestation for agriculture was turning a natural carbon sink into a source of emissions. Carbon capture and storage projects, which are essential for reducing emissions in the concrete and waste disposal industries, have also ground to a halt.

Reversing these trends is essential if the world has any chance of reaching 1.5C without relying on the untried technology of solar radiation modification and other forms of geo-engineering, which could have negative consequences.

In the run-up to the final week of negotiations, there were fears the text of the report would be watered down by the US, Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries that are reluctant to consider more ambitious cuts. The authors said nothing of substance was cut from a text.

Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, said the final document was “incredibly conservative” because it did not mention the likely rise in climate-driven refugees or the danger of tipping points that could push the world on to an irreversible path of extreme warming.

The report will be presented to governments at the UN climate conference in Poland at the end of this year. But analysts say there is much work to be done, with even pro-Paris deal nations involved in fossil fuel extraction that runs against the spirit of their commitments. Britain is pushing ahead with gas fracking, Norway with oil exploration in the Arctic, and the German government wants to tear down Hambach forest to dig for coal.

At the current level of commitments, the world is on course for a disastrous 3C of warming. The report authors are refusing to accept defeat, believing the increasingly visible damage caused by climate change will shift opinion their way.

“I hope this can change the world,” said Jiang Kejun of China’s semi-governmental Energy Research Institute, who is one of the authors. “Two years ago, even I didn’t believe 1.5C was possible but when I look at the options I have confidence it can be done. I want to use this report to do something big in China.”

The timing was good, he said, because the Chinese government was drawing up a long-term plan for 2050 and there was more awareness among the population about the problem of rising temperatures. “People in Beijing have never experienced so many hot days as this summer. It’s made them talk more about climate change.”

Regardless of the US and Brazil, he said, China, Europe and major cities could push ahead. “We can set an example and show what can be done. This is more about technology than politics.”

James Hansen, the former Nasa scientist who helped raised the alarm about climate change, said both 1.5C and 2C would take humanity into uncharted and dangerous territory because they were both well above the Holocene-era range in which human civilisation developed. But he said there was a huge difference between the two: “1.5C gives young people and the next generation a fighting chance of getting back to the Holocene or close to it. That is probably necessary if we want to keep shorelines where they are and preserve our coastal cities.”

Johan Rockström, a co-author of the recent Hothouse Earth report, said scientists never previously discussed 1.5C, which was initially seen as a political concession to small island states. But he said opinion had shifted in the past few years along with growing evidence of climate instability and the approach of tipping points that might push the world off a course that could be controlled by emissions reductions.

“Climate change is occurring earlier and more rapidly than expected. Even at the current level of 1C warming, it is painful,” he told the Guardian. “This report is really important. It has a scientific robustness that shows 1.5C is not just a political concession. There is a growing recognition that 2C is dangerous.”

Source: Posted The Guardian – London Daily Newspaper October 8, 2018;retrieved October 15, 2018 from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report

Related: Overwhelmed by climate change? Here’s what you can do

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Paul Romer – Congrats to the New Nobel Laureate

Posted on October 13, 2018 in Economics, Ethos, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Some people make great accomplishments, to the point that they are recognized … globally.

Sometimes, a person greatest accomplishment is that they inspire others.

Every now and then, one person does both.

The world is celebrating the accomplishment of American Economist and University Professor Dr. Paul Romer; he has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics.

Congratulations!

This is a Big Deal for him … and for us in the Caribbean.

Wait, what?

Dr. Romer gets this award today in 2018, but back in 2013, he inspired an important movement in the Caribbean. His writings inspired the book Go Lean…Caribbean. He coined the following phrases, as recorded in the Go Lean book (Page 8):

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”

“Economic growth occurs whenever people take resources and re-arrange them in ways that are more valuable”

Before examining this inspiration and motivation, we must first give Dr. Romer his “props”. See the aligning news article here from the Economist Magazine:

Title: Paul Romer and William Nordhaus win the economics Nobel
Sub-title: Both have studied the causes and consequences of growth
October 11, 2018 – WHY do economies grow, and why might growth outstrip the natural world’s capacity to sustain it? There are few more important questions in economics. The answers require a working grasp of the mechanisms underlying growth. For the progress that the profession has made towards that understanding, it owes a particular debt to Paul Romer and William Nordhaus, this year’s winners of the Nobel prize in economic sciences.

Although both scholars have long been talked of as potential winners, they are not an obvious pairing for the prize. Mr Romer tends to be described as a growth theorist; Mr Nordhaus’s work is in the field of environmental economics. The Sveriges Riksbank, which awards the economics Nobel, found a common thread in their work incorporating two crucial processes—knowledge creation and climate change, respectively—into models of economic growth. But what most links their work is that they have improved the way the profession thinks about impossibly complex systems, while also revealing the extent of its ignorance.

The influence of both men extends beyond their most noted scholarly achievements. Mr Romer’s career has been especially varied. He left academia in the early 2000s to found an educational-software company. More recently he served as the World Bank’s chief economist (his tenure ended abruptly when staffers bridled at his management style, which included an insistence on more crisply written reports). But it is his analysis of economic growth that has had the greatest impact.

Economists used to think that sustained long-run growth depended on technological progress, which in turn relied on the creation of new ideas. They struggled, however, to explain convincingly how markets generated and propagated those ideas. When Mr Romer came into economics, most prominent models of growth relied on “exogenous” technological progress: it was simply assumed, rather than generated by the models’ equations.

Dissatisfied by this state of affairs, he sought answers by probing the non-rivalrous nature of knowledge: the fact that ideas, once created, can be endlessly exploited. The firms or individuals that come up with new ideas can only ever capture a small share of the benefits arising from them; before long, competitors copy the original brainwave and whittle away innovators’ profits. In Mr Romer’s work, markets are capable of generating new ideas. But the pace at which they are generated, and the way in which they are translated into growth, depends on other factors—such as state support for research and development, or the protection of intellectual property.

The “endogenous” growth models produced by Mr Romer, and by others influenced by him, were once hailed as a critical step towards understanding patterns of economic growth across the globe. They have not quite fulfilled that promise: knowledge may be necessary for growth, but it is clearly not sufficient. But their shortcomings have themselves raised important questions about the stubborn disparities in growth rates. Why are some countries able to exploit existing ideas and grow, while others are not? Should policymakers who want to boost growth focus on policies that support the creation of knowledge or on those that break down barriers to the exploitation of existing knowledge? Or does it make most sense to shift people and resources from the parts of the world that struggle to grow to those that do not? By provoking such questions, Mr Romer’s work identified a rich vein for other researchers to mine.

Mr Nordhaus, for his part, has been a towering figure in the debate about how to respond to one of the biggest challenges that humanity faces. When he was beginning his career in the early 1970s, awareness of the dangers of environmental damage and the threat posed by climate change was just starting to grow. Understanding the economic costs such damage imposes is essential to answering the question of how much society should be willing to pay to avert it.

Mr Nordhaus applied himself to solving this problem. That meant working out the complex interactions between carbon emissions, global temperature and economic growth. He combined mathematical descriptions of both climate and economic activity into “integrated assessment models”. This allowed him to project how different trajectories for the world’s carbon emissions would produce different global temperatures. That, in turn, allowed him to estimate the likely costs of these different scenarios—and thus what level of reduction in emissions would be economically optimal. He was the first to suggest that warming should be limited to no more than 2°C higher than the world’s pre-industrial temperature. Models like his have become the linchpin of most analysis of the cost of climate change.

The known world
As with Mr Romer’s work, Mr Nordhaus’s contributions are also notable for the lessons imparted by their shortcomings. Four decades after he began publishing research on climate change, the limits to scholars’ predictive abilities have become abundantly clear. Indeed, his work has prompted vigorous debate about how best to think through the huge uncertainties associated with global warming—from how emissions translate into higher temperatures to how well society can adapt to rapid changes in climate.

Policymakers prefer the comfort of hard numbers. But the often-unfathomable complexity of human society and natural processes may mean that other guides are sometimes needed to set policy, from the precautionary principle to moral reasoning. Ironically, Mr Nordhaus’s computations, like those of Mr Romer, made that awareness possible.

Above all, both of this year’s prize-winners tackled problems that the field both could not understand and could not afford not to understand. They blazed trails that scholars continue to follow—to the benefit of economics and humanity.

This article appeared in the Finance and economics section of the print edition under the headline “Greener pastures”

Source: Retrieved October 12, 2018 from https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/10/13/paul-romer-and-william-nordhaus-win-the-economics-nobel

As for Dr. Romer’s sphere of influence:

Romer was named one of America’s 25 most influential people by Time magazine in 1997.[10]

According to this encyclopedic source, his trademark quotation was stated in 2004…

Romer is credited with the quote “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” which he said during a November 2004 venture-capitalist meeting in California. Although he was referring to the rapidly rising education levels in other countries compared to the United States, the quote became a rallying concept for economists and consultants looking for constructive opportunities amid the Great Recession.[17]

So when the movement behind the Go Lean book, came “under his spell”, he had a long and noble track record. Now he is a Nobel Laureate.

So this one man had made a difference in the world, and even in our Caribbean world. The movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – has consistently asserted that one man or one woman can make a difference in society. Though Dr. Romer is not in the Caribbean, nor from the Caribbean, we can still look, listen and learn from his contributions. His pioneering principle of Endogenous growth theory is spot-on for the economic policy that we need to adopt for the Caribbean reboot. See the definition here:

Endogenous growth theory holds that economic growth is primarily the result of endogenous and not external forces [or exogenous].[1] Endogenous growth theory holds that investment in human capital, innovation, and knowledge are significant contributors to economic growth.

Now to learn and apply this lesson. In plain-speak, education directly elevates economics. The Go Lean book quotes this accepted fact on Page 258:

… both public and private returns to investment in education are positive—at both the individual and economy-wide levels

The Go Lean book developed the argument of one person making a difference (Page 122). It specifically relates:

An advocacy is an act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending a cause or subject. For this book, it’s a situational analysis, strategy or tactic for dealing with a narrowly defined subject.

Advocacies are not uncommon in modern history. There are many that have defined generations and personalities. Consider these notable examples from the last two centuries in different locales around the world:

  • Frederick Douglas
  • Mohandas Gandhi
  • Martin Luther King
  • Nelson Mandela
  • Cesar Chavez
  • Candice Lightner

The Go Lean book seeks to advocate and elevate the Caribbean, and the people who love our homeland. Yet still, we can learn lessons from the Nobel-prize-winning Economist and direct our regional stakeholders to a Way Forward based on best-practices of home-grown and home-targeted education. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), to move our society to a brighter future, by elevating our societal engines – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit – we must ensure that we have the best education option available to our people, but in a way that does not jeopardize their remaining in their Caribbean homeland. This challenge to guarantee our “brain does not drain” is too big for any one Caribbean member-state to contend with alone. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14):

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.

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.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations, Egypt and the previous West Indies Federation. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities …

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

The Go Lean movement calls on every man, woman and child in the Caribbean to be an advocate and a champion, or at least appreciate the championing efforts of previous advocates. Their examples can truly help us today with our passions and purpose. Consider this sample of prior blog/commentaries where advocates and role models have been elaborated upon:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14541 Viola Desmond – One Woman Made a Difference
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14139 Carter Woodson – One Man Made a Difference … for Black History
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11963 Oscar López Rivera – The ‘Nelson Mandela’ of the Caribbean?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11442 Caribbean Roots: Al Roker – ‘Climate Change’ Defender
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10801 Caribbean Roots: John Carlos – The Man. The Moment. The Movement
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10114 Caribbean Roots: Esther Rolle of ‘Good Times’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9948 Caribbean Roots: Sammy Davis, Jr.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9300 Edward Snowden – One Person Making a Difference
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724 Remembering Marcus Garvey: Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8495 The NBA’s Tim Duncan – Champion On and Off the Court
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8328 YouTube Millionaire: ‘Tipsy Bartender’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Frederick Douglass: Role Model for Single Cause – Death or Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Bob Marley: The legend lives on!

Thank you Dr. Paul Romer, for your good role model. Congratulations on your Nobel Prize award. You deserve the recognition. (See the explanation VIDEO in the Appendix below).

In your role as a professor, you have not just taught your classes, but rather the whole world. We say to you as we do to all of our own Caribbean teachers; we say (Go Lean book Valedictions on Page 252):

Thank you for your service, for molding young minds.

The movement behind Go Lean book, the planners of a new Caribbean stresses that a ‘change is going to come’. We have endured failure for far too long; we have seen what works and what does not. We want to learn from Nobel Laureates and apply their lessons as mitigations, though it may be heavy-lifting.

Yes, our Caribbean society is in crisis right now, but as Dr. Romer enunciated:

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

We urged every Caribbean stakeholder to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap to make the homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————–

Appendix VIDEO – The Nobel Prize to Paul Romer – https://youtu.be/JSQSei9XoaI

UniBocconi
Published on Oct 8, 2018 – Guido Tabellini, economist at Bocconi, explains why Romer has won the Nobel Prize for Economics.

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Industrial Reboot – Payment Cards 101

Posted on October 11, 2018 in Economics, Government, Implementation, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The purpose of any business is to earn a profit.

Profit is good!

We may be more familiar with a parallel version of this expression, as related in a previous blog-commentary:

… greed is good! In this case “greed” is not being defined as excess, but rather the natural desire to possess wealth, goods, or objects of abstract value with the intention to keep it for one’s self. The dreaded excess of “greed”, on the other hand, is a “vice” that must be cautiously monitored and curtailed, i.e. Crony-Capitalism.

When there is an opportunity for profit, people, companies and industries step-in and step-up for the chances to earn. This is the basis for capitalism and other market-based economies. So the profit motive is attached to any industrial landscape. Whenever economic engines become strained and stressed – devoid of profit – the industrial landscape should be revisited and rebooted.

This is the assessment of the Caribbean – our economic engines are in crisis – and this is the intent of the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean – a crisis is a terrible thing to waste . This is why the book opens with a relevant pronouncement in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

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

There is now the opportunity to transform the industrial landscape of Caribbean communities; we can install controls so as to better manage our economy and industrial landscape. Among the many strategies and tactics discussed by this Go Lean movement, there is this one irresistible prospect of introducing electronic money (e-Money) or Payment Cards through out the region.

So, instead of cash, industrial stakeholders will do most transactions … electronically. This changes everything!

With an e-Money/Payment Cards deployment, there would be so many benefits; consider these possibilities:

  • Functional – Payroll and Government Benefits can be easily loaded; credit programs can also be added.
  • Universality – whether its e-Money or Payment Cards, all financial transactions can be executed
  • Portability – e-Money can be used in Cyberspace and in the real world transactions (merchant POS, ATMs)
  • Security – Smartchips and PIN options can ensure against unauthorized use.
  • Resilience – card-to-card transactions can be conducted even with no online connection – think Block-chain.
  • Risk-aversion – The informal economy and Black Markets are mitigated, thereby fostering tax revenues.
  • Far-reaching – Benefits outside of the payment transaction; the scheme increases the money supply (M1), which increases available bank capital for community investments.

This is Payment Cards 101. See the exploratory VIDEO in the Appendix below.

The actuality of a country’s universal acceptance of e-Money/Payment Cards is not just academic, it is already in play … in model countries – think India. They, this emerging economy of 1.2 billion people, have rolled out numerous e-Money products for their “rupee” currency. They have learned-lessons – good, bad and ugly – for us to apply in our implementation. This summary was detailed in a previous Go Lean commentary; consider this excerpt:

Excerpt: What the U.S. can learn from India’s move toward a cashless society

Silicon Valley fancies itself the global leader in innovation. Its leaders hype technologies such as bitcoin and blockchain, which some claim are the greatest inventions since the Internet. They are so complex that only a few mathematicians can understand them, and they require massive computing resources to operate — yet billions of dollars are invested in them.

India may have leapfrogged the U.S. technology industry with simple and practical innovations and massive grunt work. It has built a digital infrastructure that will soon process billions more transactions than bitcoin ever has. With this, India will skip two generations of financial technologies and build something as monumental as China’s Great Wall and America’s interstate highways.
…
In 2009, the government launched a massive project, called Aadhar, to solve this problem by providing a digital identity to everyone based on an individual’s fingerprints and retina scans. As of 2016, the program had issued 12-digit identification numbers to 1.1 billion people. This was the largest and most successful I.T. project in the world and created the foundation for a digital economy.
…
And then India launched its Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a way for banks to transfer money directly to one another based on a single identifier, such as the Aadhar number.
…
With a system such as UPI, the billing processor is eliminated, and transaction costs are close to zero. …

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that the United States should follow Modi’s lead in phasing out currency and moving toward a digital economy, because it would have “benefits that outweigh the cost.” …

Where as India’s e-Money deployment is for their rupee currency, the Caribbean’s plan is to introduce a regional integrated currency branded the Caribbean Dollar (C$). This was the stated intent of the book Go Lean … Caribbean, to serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the aligning Caribbean Central Bank (CCB), the issuer of C$. This Go Lean/CU/CCB roadmap depicts e-Money and Payment Cards as a hallmark of technocratic efficiency, with the agility to manage this deployment. This will affect all aspects of Caribbean society – economics, security and governance. As a currency product, surely it affects the economic engines, but with the ubiquity of a government Payment Card system – the government is the largest employer – the universality of this reboot will have immediate impacted.

This reality fits in with the quest of the Go Lean roadmap, to optimize all societal engines, as stated with 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 ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines ; where there is economic successes, “bad actors” always emerge, so there must be a solution for predictive and reactive mitigations and interdictions.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these above engines. This include a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies, including the independent administration of the Caribbean Central Bank.

The Go Lean/CU/CCB roadmap anticipated e-Money and Payment Card schemes. The book detailed strategies as follows:

  • e-Government – The CU is prescribed as the regional administrator for ICT for the Single Market of 30 states and 42-million people. While the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) will manage the region’s M1, they will embrace the e-Government mandate, calling for card-based, electronic payment options for all federal transactions and encouraging this mode for state/municipal/private facilitations as well. This means that the Caribbean dollar (C$) will be mostly cashless, an accounting currency much like the first years of the Euro. The CCB will settle all C$ electronic transactions (MasterCard-Visa style or ACH style) and charge interchange/clearance fees. – This scheme is fully defined on Page 198.
  • Cruise line passengers using smart-chips – the cruise industry needs the Caribbean more than the Caribbean needs the industry. But the cruise lines have embedded rules/regulations designed to maximize their revenues at the expense of the port-side establishments. The CU solution is to deploy a scheme for smartcards (or smart-phone applications) that function on the ships and at the port cities. This scheme will also employ NFC technology – (Near Field Communications; defined fully at Page 193 – so as to glean the additional security benefits of shielding private financial data of the guest and passengers. [This scheme will incentivize more spending among cruise line passengers.] – Defined fully on Page 193.
  • Electronic Commerce – This holds the promise of “leveling the playing field” so that small merchants can compete against larger merchants. To facilitate e-Commerce, purchased merchandise must get to their destinations as efficiently as possible. The CU’s implementation of the Caribbean Postal Union allows for better logistics for package delivery. – Defined fully on Page 201.
  • Internet Marketplace / Social Media – The CU‘s web portal, www.myCaribbean.gov, will grant free access, email, IM, and profile pages for CU stakeholders, even normalizing communications thru social media sites. This will facilitate internet commerce activities in the region, as the CU will have hot data on profiles, habits and previous activities, thereby creating opportunities for measured marketing. – Defined fully on Page 198.
  • Government Benefits / Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) – allows State welfare departments to issue benefits via magnetically encoded payment card, used in the United States and the United Kingdom. Common benefits provided (in the United States) via EBT are typically of two general categories: food and cash benefits. – Defined fully on Page 353.
  • Unemployment Benefits – The CU‘s mandate for e-Delivery and e-Payment will make the unemployment benefits process more effective and more efficient. Claimants will be able to apply online or on the phone, and payments will be disbursed to debit/payment cards, as opposed to paper checks. (Payments will be in Caribbean dollars, even in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands). – Defined fully on Page 89.
  • Remittance Solutions for Diaspora – By pursuing the e-Government / e-Payment strategy, the Caribbean Diaspora will be able to remit transfers back home by just loading values onto C$ payment cards [for free]. This simplified system will minimize transfer fees and furnish [Foreign Currency] (Fx) controls. – Defined fully on Page 154.

There are countless examples of electronic money schemes facilitating more commerce (i.e. e-Commerce). The key is having an settlement / clearing entity. Under the Go Lean roadmap, that role is assumed by the CCB.

This changes everything … for everyone. Yes, we can!

The Go Lean book provides details of the community ethos to adopt, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that are necessary to executed in order to deliver the e-Money / Payment Card solutions to the Caribbean region. Within its 370-pages, the Go Lean book re-affirms the mantra that Internet & Communication Technologies (ICT) can be used as a great equalizer so that small nation-states can compete against large nation-states.

The points of effective, technocratic e-Money stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14248 Leading with Money Matters – Almighty Dollar
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10513 Transforming Money Countrywide – The Model of India
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7034 The Future of Money
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6635 New Security Chip in Credit Cards Unveiled
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5668 Move over Mastercard/Visa, Time for Local Settlement
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210 Cruise Ship Commerce – Getting Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425 Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889 RBC EZPay – Ready for Change
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 virtual currency needs regulatory framework to change image
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528 Facebook plans to provide Fintech – Mobile payment services
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833 One single currency, divergent economies – Europe’s Model

An e-Money transformation will mean rebooting the industrial landscape of the Caribbean. In general, rebooting the region’s industrial landscape is not a new subject for this Go Lean movement; this commentary has previously identified a number of industrial initiatives to launch a reboot in the region. See the list of previous submissions on Industrial Reboots here:

  1. Industrial Reboots – Ferries 101 – Published June 27, 2017
  2. Industrial Reboots – Prisons 101 – Published October 4, 2017
  3. Industrial Reboots – Pipeline 101 – Published October 5, 2017
  4. Industrial Reboots – Frozen Foods 101 – Published October 6, 2017
  5. Industrial Reboots – Call Centers 101 – Published July 2, 2018
  6. Industrial Reboots – Prefab Housing 101 – Published July 14, 2018
  7. Industrial Reboots – Trauma 101 – Published July 18, 2018
  8. Industrial Reboots – Auto-making 101 – Published July 19, 2018
  9. Industrial Reboots – Shipbuilding 101 – Published July 20, 2018
  10. Industrial Reboots – Fisheries 101 – Published July 23, 2018
  11. Industrial Reboots – Lottery 101 – Published July 24, 2018
  12. Industrial Reboots – Culture 101 – Published July 25, 2018
  13. Industrial Reboots – Tourism 2.0 – Published July 27, 2018
  14. Industrial Reboots – Cruise Tourism 2.0 – Published July 27, 2018
  15. Industrial Reboots – Reinsurance Sidecars 101 – Published October 2, 2018
  16. Industrial Reboots – Navy Piers 101 – Published October 9, 2018
  17. Industrial Reboots – Payment Cards 101 – Published Today – October 11, 2018

In summary, our Caribbean region needs a better industrial landscape to improve our economics, security and governance. While transforming to an e-Money / Payment Card economy may be heavy-lifting, it is worth all the hard work. This plan is conceivable, believable and achievable – India is doing it!

Let’s lean-in to the Go Lean roadmap to reboot our industrial landscape. Time to get going. There is only one destination for all of this effort: a better Caribbean homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

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

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

——————-

Appendix VIDEO – How Credit Card Processing Works – Transaction Cycle & 2 Pricing Models – https://youtu.be/avRkRuQsZ6M

BancardSales
Published on Apr 4, 2014 –
How Credit Card Processing Works : http://www.bancardsales.com

This video explains how credit card payments are passed from the cardholder to the merchant bank account. Included in the video is the transaction cycle, and a detailed explanation of the two main pricing models. If you’ve ever wondered:
How Does Credit Card Processing Work?
How To Process Credit Cards?
How Credit Card Processing Works?
How To Accept Credit Card Payments At Your Business or Understanding the transaction flow?

Then you’ll want to watch this video. It’s part of a credit card processing basics video series so be sure to check back for more updates and additional videos in the series.
Additionally, you can check out http://www.bancardsales.com for more tips and tutorials on how merchant account processing works.

Category: Education

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