Month: October 2018

Industrial Reboot – Navy Pier 101

Posted on October 9, 2018 in Economics, Government, Industries, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

From small investments (seedlings) come big harvests. Remember the “mustard seed” …

“… like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.” — Matthew 13:31–32, World English Bible

Imagine an industrial reboot that can take a small investment – seed money – but grow into huge returns for the community.

Yes, we can!

The book Go Lean…Caribbean related a community investment that should be made in each Caribbean member-state, that of Navy Piers, and described how BIG returns can be gathered from the resultant infrastructure. The book describes that such an implementation can impact many of the societal engines – think: economy, security and governance.

What is a Navy Pier?

In short, it’s a dock … and “then some”. The most famous one, and name sake is in Chicago, Illinois; see historic details here:

Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot-long (1,010 m) pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The Navy Pier currently encompasses more than fifty acres of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, family attractions and exhibition facilities and is the top leisure destination in the Midwestern United States (“Midwest”), drawing nearly nine million visitors annually.[2] It is one of the most visited attractions in the entire Midwest and is Chicago’s number one tourist attraction.[3]
…
The Navy Pier opened to the public on July 15, 1916.[4] … Its original purpose was to serve as a dock for freights, passenger traffic, and indoor and outdoor recreation; events like expositions and pageants were held there.

In the summer of 1918 the pier was also used as a jail for draft dodgers. In 1927, the pier was renamed Navy Pier to honor the naval veterans who served in World War I.

In 1941, during World War II, the pier became a training center for the U.S. Navy; about 10,000 people worked, trained, and lived there. The pier contained a 2,500-seat theater, gym, 12-chair barber shop, tailor, cobbler shops, soda fountain and a vast kitchen and hospital.[6]
…
In 1989, the City of Chicago had the Urban Land Institute (ULI) reimagine uses for the pier. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) was created; its responsibility was to manage and operate Navy Pier as well as McCormick Place. The MPEA undertook the redevelopment, incorporating some of ULI’s recommendations.[8]

In 1995, Navy Pier was redesigned and introduced to the public as a mixed-use venue incorporating retail, dining, entertainment, and cultural spaces.

Starting in 2014, the redevelopment plan called The Centennial Vision was implemented. The purpose of this plan is to fulfill the mission to keep Navy Pier as a world-class public space and to renovate the pier so it will have more evening and year-round entertainment and more compelling landscape and design features.[9] The Centennial Vision was completed in summer 2016.
Source: Retrieved October 8, 2018 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_Pier

VIDEO – Navy Pier Ferris Wheel in Chicago – https://youtu.be/YVFx0FIb82g

Published on Nov 15, 2016 – Navy Pier’s ferris wheel, an iconic part of Chicago’s skyline, received a makeover this year for the pier’s 100th anniversary. Soaring nearly 200-feet high, the ferris wheel offers 360-degree views of the Windy City and is now taller and faster than ever.

The upgrades to the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel, AKA the Centennial Wheel, are part of a larger project to revitalize the pier, giving it a more modern, sophisticated feel. …

The new wheel is 50 feet taller than its predecessor. Each ride lasts about 13 minutes and rotates three times. A ride on the old ferris wheel was only seven minutes and rotated once. DAY/NIGHT; SUMMER/WINTER The new gondolas have air conditioning and heating systems. This improvement allows you to comfortably ride the Centennial Wheel in Chicago’s painfully cold winters and hot summers. The wheel operates during the day at after dark, offering two distinct experiences.

So where there is a coastline, there is an opportunity for a connecting pier. There are 3 types of piers that are common in the modern world: Working piers, Pleasure piers and Fishing piers. These do not need a lot of land; they are normally created as land-less structures into bodies of water. See this encyclopedic definition here:

A pier is a raised structure in a body of water, typically supported by well-spaced piles or pillars. Bridges, buildings, and walkways may all be supported by piers. Their open structure allows tides and currents to flow relatively unhindered, whereas the more solid foundations of a quay or the closely spaced piles of a wharf can act as a breakwater, and are consequently more liable to silting. Piers can range in size and complexity from a simple lightweight wooden structure to major structures extended over 1600 metres.

Coastlines abound throughout the Caribbean, as each of the 30 member-states is either an island or a coastal state (Belize, Guyana or Suriname). So this concept of a Navy Pier will be both a strategic and tactical implementation for the roadmap presented by the Go Lean book for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Consider the prime directives of the roadmap and how a Navy Pier can impact those directives:

  • Economics – The CU seeks to optimize the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and to create 2.2 million new jobs. Piers can be structured as event-entertainment destinations, even amusement parks abound. So a pier strategy can greatly impact tourism and recreation spending. Imagine new cruise ports-of-call.
  • Security – Navy Piers were originally designed for the Navy, an entity for national defense. Within the Go Lean roadmap, there is the plan for a comprehensive Homeland Security and Emergency Management apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines. Imagine the quick roll-out of a floating pier after a hurricane for relief, recovery and restoration.
  • Governance – The CU seeks to improve Caribbean governance to support the above engines. This include a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies. Since ships can also be tendered at Navy Piers, many deliveries of the Social Contract can be built on these structures – imagine ferry access ramps, “pop-up” medical clinics, agencies for special administrative processing and kiosks. The CU plan for Self-Governing Entities allows for the piers themselves and any aligning easements to be a separate federal territory.

The Caribbean’s industrial landscape is in crisis. It must reboot! A Navy Pier can help … in every member-state. In fact the CU/Go Lean roadmap calls for a CU federal agency to build and operate – serve as landlord – the piers. Accordingly, the CU will facilitate this eco-system as Self-Governing Entities (SGE), an ideal concept for ports and piers, with its exclusive federal regulation/promotion activities. Imagine the construction equipment – dam walls, earth-moving machinery, dredging barges, etc – being used again and again as new Navy Piers are deployed through the region. Imagine the jobs …

Within the 370-pages of the Go Lean book are details of the job multiplier principle; this is how certain industries and infrastructures are better than others for generating multiple indirect jobs down the line for each direct job on a company’s payroll.

Here is a sample of references to the eco-system of piers through-out the Go Lean book:

Implementation – 10 Ways to Re-boot [Sample City] Freeport

# 7 – Cruise Ship Pier in Lucaya or Smith Point
Currently, cruise ships have to dock at the Freeport Harbor and the passengers transported to more amiable destinations, quite often the destination was the International Bazaar in the middle of a pine forest. By establishing a docking pier in the Port Lucaya vicinity, the cruise ship tourist destination will be all-encompassing in one geographic area and more value can be offered to the visitors. Cultural festivities (Gombay, Junkanoo, rake-n-scrape bands, etc.) can be a daily highlight; This would be modeling Walt Disney World’s 4 Parks and their afternoon character parades.

 Page 112
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact Public Works

# 2 – Union Atlantic Turnpike
The Union Atlantic Turnpike is a big initiative of the CU to logistically connect all member-states for easier transport of goods and passengers. There are many transportation arteries and facilities envisioned for the Turnpike: Toll Roads, Railroads, Ferry Piers, and Navy Piers. …

 Page 175
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Improve Homeland Security
# 4 – Naval Authority
Since any defense of the island and coastal states must be naval first, the Homeland Security efforts must work in conjunction with Naval operations. … The CU will build separate Navy Piers in the appropriate markets, aside from Cruise Ship docks.		 Page 180
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Promote Fairgrounds
# 9 – Transit Consideration – Turnpike – Navy Piers
The Union Atlantic Turnpike initiative fits ideally into the fairgrounds business plan, as passengers and cargo can move efficiently from island to island along rail lines, toll highways, tunnels & causeways and over-the-seas ferries. The CU facilitation of Navy Piers can accommodate naval vessel shore leaves and even cruise ship traffic. …		 Page 192
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Improve Fisheries
# 2 – Cooperatives
Fishery cooperatives allow fishermen and industry players to pool their resources in certain (non-competitive) areas of activity. This strategy is vital for sharing the cost and expense of installing piers/docks, locating systems (Loran-C & GPS), canaries, refrigerated warehouses and transportation solutions.		 Page 210

This is the vision of an industrial reboot! A transformation for how and where a new societal eco-system can be introduced and engineered.

This Go Lean book projects the roll-out of the Union Atlantic Turnpike and accompanying Navy Piers as Day One / Step One of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. Over the 5-year implementation for this roadmap, more and more of the features of piers will be deployed and their effect on the region will be undeniable: they will help to make the whole Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book stresses that reforming and transforming Caribbean engines must be a regional pursuit. These piers need to be  installed everywhere, every member-state, island and coastal state. But this effort is truly too big for any one member-state alone. This rationale, the need for interdependence, is the reason for the Caribbean Union. This interdependence was an early motivation for this roadmap; see these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

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.

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

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

Installing Navy Piers will mean rebooting the industrial landscape of the Caribbean. This is not a new subject for this Go Lean roadmap; 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 Today – October 9, 2018

In summary, our Caribbean region needs a better industrial landscape to improve our economics, security and governance. We can make small investments – think mustard seeds – that can yield huge returns. This is too appealing to ignore.

Let’s get going!

We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap for industrial reboots, to make our region better islands and coastal states 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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Industrial Reboot – Reinsurance 101

Posted on October 2, 2018 in Economics, Industries, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

Continuity of Business (CoB) …

It’s a simple concept; it asserts that if there are any extraordinary events – i.e. emergencies and natural disasters – that the tools and techniques are in place to pick-up and continue for business-as-usual. For some companies, this field is so formalized that they have stakeholders (team) with the responsibilities to ensure that “no stone is left un-turned”. These companies have a C-level executive with this responsibility, i.e. …

  • VP of Risk [Management]
  • Director of Disaster Recovery

One popular risk mitigation strategy is to buy “insurance“. Yet the Caribbean is in crisis! Due to Climate Change realities, there are fewer and fewer “Property & Casualty” insurance products available to Caribbean stakeholders.

This is Sad!

Yes, it is that simple: insurance is a protection to ensure the continuation of business operations, and is expected  for all modern business operations. This theme was addressed in a previous blog-commentary by the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean, in relation to the need to ensure the continuation of a community in the wake of Caribbean natural disasters. That submission presents this quotation:

… an insurance strategy could be even smarter for rainy days or catastrophes; it allows the hedging of risks by leveraging across a wider pool; more people – savers – put-in and only a few … or just one withdraws. This is also the approach of the thoughtful Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Fund (CCRIF).

It is very sad when communities are not able to save or insure a “Rainy Day” fund for when it rains, especially in the tropical region where it doesn’t just rain, but pours and storms.

What is sadder is when the heavy-lifting of “savings” or insurance is done, but the dollar amount is not enough; because a “penny saved is only just a penny”.

The Caribbean’s industrial landscape is in crisis. It must reboot; we do not have adequate “Property & Casualty” offerings. The identified CCRIF Catastrophe Fund, though it’s too-little-too-late, is for member-states governments, by the member-states governments. Individuals and companies need not apply; yet still, there is the need. Individuals, institutions and enterprises need the protection of a viable CoB solution. This glaring need is so obvious, right now on the heels of Tropical Storm Kirk. Though not a major storm, it brought major destruction to one particular business. See the full story here:

Title: Poultry farmer loses 2000 chickens during storm

Poultry farmer Linus Bernadine suffered a major setback Thursday night, when high winds associated with Tropical Storm Kirk destroyed his chicken houses at Babonneau.

Bernadine told St Lucia Times it resulted in the loss of 2000 broiler chicks.

He explained that the loss has impacted significantly on his livelihood.

“This is what I am expecting to put bread on my table,”  Bernadine stated.

He estimated that his losses are in the region of some $90,000.

Bernadine said he does not know how he will recover from the calamity.

“Right now I am just on the farm demolishing things,” he said.

“What happened is that these birds, I just got them on Wednesday last week and the storm was Thursday night,” Bernadine disclosed.

The poultry farmer recalled having left his home for Vieux Fort to pick up the chicks.

“I got back home about ten past nine in the night, I put the birds down and that was it,” he stated.

“Friday morning I had no choice but to bury them,” he told St Lucia Times, adding that both of the chicken pens on his property had been destroyed by the storm and the chicks that were in them died.

“I am flat down – everything is just gone,” Bernadine lamented.

“I have a capacity of about 7000 birds and all of that is flat down,” he said.

Source: St Lucia Times Daily Newspaper – Posted September 30th, 2018; retrieved October 2, 2018 from: https://stluciatimes.com/2018/09/30/poultry-farmer-loses-2000-chickens-during-storm/

Needless to say, the underlying problem in the foregoing story is “money”, the lack of money in Caribbean communities for restoring business operations in the wake of disasters.

The lack of money is the root of all evil” – Pejorative Pun credited to “Rev. Ike”

There is not enough money in the St. Lucia pool. The Go Lean book simply declares that there needs to be a Bigger pool, one that individuals, institutions and enterprises can participate in. The Go Lean book proposed the solution of Reinsurance Sidecars, related in the book on Page 101 as follows:

Hurricane Insurance Fund
The risk pool for a 42-million population is so much lower than each member-state’s sole mitigation efforts. The CU will establish (contract with a service provider) reinsurance funds (& sidecars) from Day One, and glean the excess premiums-over-claims as profit.

So this is the solution that is proposed in the Go Lean book, to allow for Reinsurance Sidecars in the regional Capital Markets. This way more liquidity will be brought to the marketplace and investors can share in the risk … and profit. See a fuller definition of Sidecars here:

Reinsurance Sidecars, conventionally referred to as “sidecars”, are financial structures that are created to allow investors to take on the risk and return of a group of insurance policies (a “book of business”) written by an insurer or reinsurer (henceforth re/insurer) and earn the risk and return that arises from that business. A re/insurer will only pay (“cede”) the premiums associated with a book of business to such an entity if the investors place sufficient funds in the vehicle to ensure that it can meet claims if they arise. Typically, the liability of investors is limited to these funds. These structures have become quite prominent in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a vehicle for re/insurers to add risk-bearing capacity, and for investors to participate in the potential profits resulting from sharp price increases in re/insurance over the four quarters following Katrina. An earlier and smaller generation of sidecars were created after 9/11 for the same purpose. …
Source: Retrieved October 13, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinsurance_sidecar

The introduction of Reinsurance Sidecars will reboot the entire industrial landscape in the Caribbean. With this product, businesses will have the Property & Casualty insurance products to provide some assurances; also banks will be able to compel their loan clients to maintain these coverages. This is the whole definition of “Escrows”, that of banks requiring Property & Casualty insurance for their loan customers:

In layman’s terms, this means an escrow service is basically a middleman between a buyer and a seller, or in the case of a mortgage, a middleman between a homeowner and the county (for property taxes), insurance companies, and anyone else who the homeowner designates to pay with funds from the escrow account.

1. Imagine the effect of sidecars on bank escrow processing departments.

2. Imagine the effect of sidecars on the insurance retail and wholesale markets.

3. Imagine the effect of business insurance on businesses.

4. Imagine the effect of business continuity on community continuity.

5. Imagine the effect of an industrial reboot on Caribbean life and our day-to-day reality.

So the goal here is to better explore the industrialization of Reinsurance Sidecar products and escrow processing. We must pursue this reboot of our industrial landscape; we need to foster the many new opportunities (jobs, entrepreneurism and industrial development). This is the declaration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); this is a confederation of all 30 member-states – the larger pool – to execute a reboot of the Caribbean economic eco-system. 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 & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a Homeland Security and Emergency Management 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.

The Go Lean book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean economic engines must be a regional pursuit – always remember the reality of a larger pool. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 13):

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

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.

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

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

This is the vision of an industrial reboot! This transformation is where and how the economic eco-system is reinforced, re-engaged and re-engineered. With this reboot in the Caribbean, new jobs can be created, companies started and industries optimized.

Despite the references to “industrial”, there are benefits to individuals as well.

Mortgages and houses will have protections, this means the Caribbean home will be more secure. This fits the quest of the Go Lean movement, to make the Caribbean a better homeland to live, work and play.

The foregoing news article related the agri-business of a Chicken Farm. Have you eaten chicken lately?

Probably! For some people it’s everyday!

So the out-workings of this industrial reboot will also have an effect on consumer goods. That’s food and shelter, part of the pantheon of basic needs: food, clothing and shelter.

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. One advocacy in rebooting the industrial landscape is to work to improve the delivery systems for our food supply. All Caribbean islands and coastal states should have chicken farms. It is unconscionable that ALL CHICKENS may be imported from abroad. Surely, we can provide the industrial landscape so that every community have their own chicken farms.

Surely …

This will mean that we will have to manage and mitigate the risks of storms and natural disasters; remember Climate Change.

Consider these specific excerpts and headlines from the book on Page 162 entitled:

10 Ways to Better Manage Food Consumption

1 Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market
The CU will allow for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states, 42 million people and a GDP of over $800 Billion – the CU will take the lead in facilitating the food supply and distribution systems to ensure the region can feed itself, more from local production and less from trade. Though the cost savings of imports should never be ignored, some CU countries (Greater Antilles, Belize, Guyana & Suriname) have a low opportunity cost for increasing food production for the regional market. Thus a mission of the CU is to streamline the systems, processes, logistics, funding, training, and market promotions so that the Caribbean can fulfill this basic need.
2 Public Health Dynamics – Produce Deserts & Farmers Market
3 “Nouvelle” Caribbean Cuisine
4 Agri-Business
Many of the member-states get 90% (or more) of their food supplies from imports; even fish is imported from Alaska, despite the 1,063,000 square miles of harvestable waters of the Caribbean Sea. The CU will implement agri-business (and aqua-culture) investments to generate more regional options for food production: cooperatives (co-ops), farm credit, common grazing lands, fisheries oversight, canaries, aqua-culture endeavors, etc.
5 Logistics for the Food Supply
6 Fresh Frozen
7 Food Labeling
8 Export – Help Regional Businesses Find Foreign Markets
9 Media Industrial Complex
10 Food Tourism

Rebooting the industrial landscape of the Caribbean is not a new subject for this Go Lean roadmap. In fact, this commentary has previously identified a number of different industries that can be rebooted under this roadmap. 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 Today – October 2, 2018

Reinsurance Sidecars – remember the name. While these, and other derivative products, are not commonly known in the Caribbean today, they will be. They are too important for our future.

Don’t ever forget, as this fact often gets overlooked, they are also vastly profitable investment products. See the VIDEO‘s in the Appendices for more details on Reinsurance Sidecar derivatives as investment products.

In summary, our Caribbean region needs a better industrial landscape so as to make our homeland better. In fact, one of the reasons why so many Caribbean citizens have emigrated away from the homeland is the lack of the ability to quickly recover after natural disasters. This is why Homeland Security – preparation and response of emergencies – is coupled with economic policies for rebooting the societal engines in the region. So creating a new economic landscape will require rebooting the industrial landscape.

So as an enterprise, an institution or an individual, we need good insurance options – a Continuity of Business. A bigger-better regional risk pool is paramount for a better Caribbean. This is how we can make our region a better homeland to live, work and play.  We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap for industrial reboots, security enhancements and economic empowerments. 🙂

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 VIDEO – What is REINSURANCE? What does REINSURANCE mean? REINSURANCE meaning, definition & explanation – https://youtu.be/7Qe4-Ei2PHY


The Audiopedia

Published on May 17, 2017 – What is REINSURANCE? What doe REINSURANCE mean? REINSURANCE meaning – REINSURANCE pronunciation – REINSURANCE definition – REINSURANCE explanation – How to pronounce REINSURANCE?
Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/… license.

  • Category: Education
  • License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

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Appendix B VIDEO – What Is Financial Reinsurance? – https://youtu.be/W45REh7Pt7I


ehowfinance

Published on May 25, 2015 – What Is Financial Reinsurance?. Part of the series: Small Business Tips. Financial reinsurance is a key component to any successful business. Learn about financial reinsurance with help from a business consultant and marketing expert in this free video clip. Read more: http://www.ehow.com/video_12214988_fi…

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Appendix C VIDEO – Reinsurance the perfect Hedge Fund Strategy to Diversify a Portfolio – https://youtu.be/rfp2gRsFD2M


BGN – Blockchain Global News

Published on Mar 2, 2016 – Jane King interviews Don Steinbrugge, Managing Director, Agecroft Partners. For more information please visit http://www.agecroftpartners.com

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Amazon: ‘What I want to be when I grow up’

Posted on October 1, 2018 in Economics, Implementation, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

For the planned entity, Caribbean Postal Union, the question should be asked:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The answer should be:

Amazon

It turns out that Amazon was only founded in 1999, so this is less than 20 years. It is that quickly that an enterprise can have a transformative effect on society. We need transformations in the Caribbean and we are hoping to follow the Amazon business model as the solution for our regional postal-logistical needs.

How successful is Amazon as a model for success?

Well, now Amazon market capitalization has exceeded $1 Trillion. See the VIDEO and news story here:

VIDEO – Amazon 2nd company to top $1 trillion valuation – https://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/nation-now/2018/09/05/amazon-2nd-company-top-1-trillion-valuation/37720169/

Sep 4, 2018 – Amazon has become the 2nd publicly traded company to be worth $1 trillion, after Apple. Amazon has cemented customer loyalty through its devices and fast, free shipping as well as music and video streaming perks. AP

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Title – Amazon’s stock value tops $1 trillion, joins Apple in trillionaire club

Amazon’s meteoric stock surge briefly pushed its market value above $1 trillion, a milestone that makes the online retail giant only the second publicly traded company in the U.S. to pass that mark – following Apple.

Amazon topped $1 trillion for the first time Tuesday when its shares climbed past $2,050.27 in late-morning trading and hit an intraday record high of $2,050.50. Shares pulled back to $2,039.51 for a gain of 1.3 percent for     the day.

The accomplishment comes after Amazon’s per-share price crossed $2,000 for the first time last week.

Under CEO Jeff Bezos, who is now the richest person in the world with a net worth of an estimated $166 billion, Amazon has emerged as the most powerful force in the e-commerce business, capturing roughly 50 percent of the online retail market, according to eMarketer.

But it’s not just Amazon’s disruptive force in retail that has attracted investors on Wall Street. The company has diversified its sales and profit streams, from a public cloud-computing business to paid subscription services like Amazon Prime, and advertising revenue on its website.

Some Wall Street pros see the stock climbing even higher.

Citing Amazon’s improving business mix, rapid growth and profit potential, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak last week upped his price target for Amazon shares to $2,500, which is the highest on Wall Street, according to Bloomberg. If that fresh target is reached, it would boost the company’s market capitalization to more than $1.2 trillion.

In the race for most valuable U.S. company, Amazon now trails Apple by roughly $100 billion.

….

See the rest of the news article in the Appendix below.

This one company is worth US$1 Trillion. The whole Caribbean’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is [far] less; it is our plan to elevate the economic engines in the region to get the economy’s output up to $800 Billion.

Amazon is a model for e-Commerce, logistics, media and innovation. This is the role model we want for our Caribbean Postal Union and the aligning online portal, www.myCaribbean.gov. It is good to have a roadmap to follow to duplicate the successful journey of Amazon.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as such a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). These entities are designed to address the “Agents of Change“ in modern society, but for a Caribbean scope only.  The “Agents of Change” at play in the foregoing news sources, according to the book (Page 57), are defined as follows:

  • Technology
  • Globalization

Asking the question: “What I want to be when I grow up?” is emblematic of future planning. This exercise is important for the region if we truly want to have a future. Though our people may survive, such an eventuality is not guaranteed for our culture. Ghost Towns do happen!

Our Caribbean region cannot continue with the status quo in terms of business operations and societal outworking. We must now reboot our industrial landscape to foster new opportunities (jobs, entrepreneurism and industrial development). This is the charter of the Caribbean Postal Union effort. In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of this CU charter:

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

In a previous Go Lean blog-commentary, it was related that …

… what Amazon did and does, is the epitome of what the CU/CPU needs to do to reboot Caribbean society. The company disrupted the status quo in so many industries – think: book retailers & movie rentals – and transformed markets to exploit opportunities and derive profits. This is the “Sum of All Caribbean Dreams“.

This reference to Caribbean Dreams is presented early in the Go Lean 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.

Monitoring and analyzing the business model of Amazon has been a frequent occupation for these Go Lean blog-commentaries; consider these previous submissions, as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14316 Forging Change: Soft Power – Clean-up or ‘Adios Amazon’

Amazon is proving that people and communities will be motivated to change in order to have the prospect of acquiring money or to prevent losing money. This “soft power” is now emerging as the preferred way to forge change on society. The summary statement is: “Clean-up your societal defects or else … face the loss of an economic bonanza”.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14191 Scheduling in the ‘Gig Economy’

Amazon is proving that there is always “honorable” work available in the service industry. Any reference to the Post Office of 1987 can now be replaced with the Gig Economy. Amazon is very prominent in the Gig Economy in the US.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13627 Amazon: Then and Now

It has only been 18 years ago (1999 – 2017) since Amazon launched in Seattle, Washington USA. Now today, they are huge … and transforming how America shops … and consume media; even their digital assistant – Alexa – is transformative.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13091 Amazon Opens Search for HQ2
Amazon is accepting bids for a 2nd headquarters in North America. The city that lands HQ2 will have a lot to celebrate, as this enterprise can create many high-paying direct jobs – 50,000 – and have an indirect stimulus on the rest of the economy. This is a feature of Amazon that “we” want to model in the Caribbean.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12291 Big Tech’s Amazon – The Retailers’ Enemy
Big Tech companies like Amazon have the treasuries, talent and temperament (culture, values and commitment) to change the world, for good and for bad. The Amazon threat had been “all things internet”, but now they are attempting to dominate the physical retail space as well, with their acquisition of Whole Foods grocery stores.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11358 Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable
There is feast and famine “in the cards” for 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. This is not just a future problem as the threat has already manifested!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839 Alibaba and Amazon’s Cloud allows for global reach
This model, with cutting-edge data centers, is the new colonialism.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7297 Death of the ‘Department Store’: Exaggerated or Eventual
Modern technology and electronic commerce has transformed many aspects of society; much has been added and much taken away. Just consider: cameras, watches, pagers, maps, calculators, calendars, payphones, books, music and more. The related industries have also been affected: travel agencies, music retailers, book retailers, newspapers, travel agencies and Big Box retailers. Amazon is to blame for many of the transformations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7023 Thanksgiving & American Commerce – Past, Present and Amazon
To better understand American commerce, one must understand Cyber Monday and its dominant player Amazon. This company demonstrates how to be lean and technocratic as it employs cutting-edge automation  and robotics. They are a great model for a new Caribbean.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416 Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon
Amazon is the model for the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU): our means for delivering the mail. Considering the US, one might think that the American model would be the US Postal Service (USPS). No, the Go Lean book relates how the USPS is a failing enterprise, while Amazon flourishes with growth, capital and profits.

One Trillion Dollars …

… this sounds great! This is what is meant by the old encouragement: Reach for the stars!

Can we pursue such a quest in the new Caribbean?

Yes, we can!

Consolidating and integrating the existing postal agencies in the Caribbean, should be “low hanging fruit”. Currently, these entities are just inefficient, ineffective cost centers, but here is the opportunity to transform them to this new vision: the CPU functioning as a job-creating profit center.

We cannot ignore this win-win possibility.

We hereby urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to the empowerments in the Go Lean/CU/CPU roadmap. Whether we pursue this roadmap to make a trillion dollars or just to optimize the mail, the end-result will be a positive benefit. This quest can make our homeland 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.

—————-

Appendix – Amazon’s stock value tops $1 trillion, joins Apple in trillionaire club – Cont’d

By: Adam Shell, USA TODAY

…
Amazon’s stock, which is up nearly 75 percent this year, has been one of Wall Street’s top performers in the bull market that began in March 2009, gaining more than 3,000 percent, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Amazon is also pushing into new businesses, such as groceries, a move highlighted by its purchase last year of upscale grocer Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. It also entered the health care space in June, with the purchase of online pharmacy PillPack.

The only other U.S. stocks within striking distance of a $1 trillion market value are Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet, both of which are valued at roughly $850 billion.

Tuna Amobi, an analyst at Wall Street firm CFRA, sees Amazon’s stock price rising as high as $2,200 a share. Amazon’s suite of businesses, he says, act as “building blocks” that give it a diversified stream of revenue and will help it deliver “consistent” earnings results in the quarters ahead. “A lot of investments are starting to pay off,” he says.

Still, like any stock, Amazon is not risk free. Despite reporting a profit of $2.5 billion on $52.9 billion in sales in the quarter ended in June, and forecasting year-over-year sales growth of 23 percent to 31 percent in the current quarter, Amazon is not a cheap stock.

It currently trades at nearly 100 times its expected earnings over the next 12 months, which is about five times the broad market’s price-to-earnings ratio of 21, according to Bloomberg.

Another potential risk that could derail Amazon is a potential regulatory crackdown from Washington, D.C., which could look to counter its clout in online retailing, Amobi says.

Amazon is one of the popular and strong-performing “FAANG” stocks – Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet are the others – that have come under increased scrutiny from President Donald Trump and lawmakers because of their growing dominance. Executives from Facebook and Twitter will testify Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding interference of foreign nations on social-media platforms.

Amazon also faces increasing competition in online retailing from big players like Walmart and Target that are fighting to regain lost market share. It is also facing challenges from Microsoft and Google in the competitive cloud-computing business.

Source: USA Today – Posted September 4, 2018; retrieved October 1, 2018 from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/09/04/amazon-tops-1-trillion-market-value/1191141002/?csp=chromepush

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