Transform – Page 35 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Transform

ENCORE: A reflection on ‘Labor’ on Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2016 in Economics, Ethos, Industries, Social

In the US and Canada, it is the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Many countries have an equivalent of Labor Day, a date set aside to honor and celebrate workers, or the movement to empower workers in society. Many of the historicity of these movements were tied to labor unions.

More than 80 countries celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1 – the ancient European holiday of May Day.

Consider this Encore of the blog-commentary from June 18, 2015, discussing the trends in the labor markets, which depict a decline of collective bargaining:

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Title: Economic Principle: Wage-Seeking – Market Forces -vs- Collective Bargaining

Go Lean Commentary

The field of Economics is unique! We all practice it every day, no matter the level of skill or competence. There is even the subject area in basic education branded Home Economics, teaching the students the fundamentals of maintaining, supporting and optimizing a home environment. Most assuredly, economics is an art and a science, albeit a social science.

In a previous blog/commentary, Scotman’s Adam Smith was identified as the father of modern macro-economics. Though he lived from 1723 to 1790, his writings defined advanced economic concepts even in this 21^st Century. His landmark book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations qualified the divisions of income into these following categories: profit, wage, and rent.^[4] We have previously explored profit-seeking (a positive ethos that needs to be fostered in the Caribbean region) and rent-seeking (a negative effort that proliferates in the Caribbean but needs to be mitigated), so now the focus of this commentary is on the activity of wage-seeking, and the concepts of governance and public choice theory to allow for maximum employment.

This is hard! Change has come to the world of wage-seekers – the middle classes are under attack; the labor-pool of most industrialized nations have endured decline, not in the numbers, but rather in prosperity. While wage-earners have not kept pace with inflation, top-earners (bonuses, commissions and business profits) have soared; (see Photo).

As a direct result, every Caribbean member-state struggles with employment issues in their homeland. In fact, this was an initial motivation for the book Go Lean…Caribbean, stemming from the fall-out of the 2008 Great Recession, this publication was presented as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the Caribbean region to create 2.2 million new jobs, despite global challenges.

Needless to say, the global challenge is far more complex than Home Economics. The Go Lean book describes the effort as heavy-lifting; then proceeds to detail the turn-by-turn directions of a roadmap to remediate and mitigate wage-seeking.

The roadmap channels the Economic Principles and best-practices of technocrats like Adam Smith and 11 other named economists, many of them Nobel Laureates. A review of the work of these great men and woman constitute “Lessons in Economic Principles”. Why would these lessons matter in the oversight of Caribbean administration? Cause-and-effect!

The root of the current challenge for wage-seekers is income equality; and this is bigger than just the Caribbean. It is tied to the global adoption of globalization and technology/ automation – a product of global Market Forces as opposed to previous Collective Bargaining factors. This relates back to the fundamental Economic Principle of “supply-and-demand”; but now the “supply” is global. This photo/”process flow” here depicts the ingredients of Market Forces. When there is the need for labor, the principle of comparative analysis is employed, and most times the conclusion is to “off-shore” the labor efforts, and then import the finished products. This is reversed of the colonialism that was advocated by Adam Smith; instead of the developed country providing factory labor for Third World consumption, the developed nation (i.e. United States) is now in the consumer-only role, with less and less production activities, for products fabricated in the Third World. This reality is not sustainable for providing prosperity to the middle classes, to the wage-seekers.

As a community, we may not like the laws of Economics, but we cannot ignore them. The Go Lean book explains the roles and significance of Economic Principles … with this excerpt (Page 21):

While money is not the most important factor in society, the lack of money and the struggle to acquire money creates challenges that cannot be ignored. The primary reason why the Caribbean has suffered so much human flight in the recent decades is the performance of the Caribbean economy. Though this book is not a study in economics, it recommends, applies and embraces these 6 core Economic Principles as sound and relevant to this roadmap:

People Choose: We always want more than we can get and productive resources (human, natural, capital) are always limited. Therefore, because of this major economic problem of scarcity, we usually choose the alternative that provides the most benefits with the least cost.

All Choices Involve Costs: The opportunity cost is the next best alternative you give up when you make a choice. When we choose one thing, we refuse something else at the same time.

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

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

Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth: People specialize in the production of certain goods and services because they expect to gain from it. People trade what they produce with other people when they think they can gain something from the exchange. Some benefits of voluntary trade include higher standards of living and broader choices of goods and services.

The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future: Economists believe that the cost and benefits of decision making appear in the future, since it is only the future that we can influence. Sometimes our choices can lead to unintended consequences.

Source: Handy Dandy Guide (HDC) by the National Council on Economic Education (2000)

The Go Lean book describes the end result of the application of best-practices in this field of economics over the course of a 5-year roadmap: the CU … as a hallmark of technocracy. But the purpose is not the edification of the region’s economists, rather to make the Caribbean homeland “better places to live, work and play” for its citizens. This branding therefore puts emphasis on the verb “work”; the nouns “jobs” and “wages” must thusly be a constant focus of the roadmap.

This Go Lean book declares that the Caribbean eco-system for job-creation is in crisis … due to the same global dilemma. The roadmap describes the crisis as losing a war, the battle of globalization and technology. The consequence of the defeat is 2 undesirable conditions: income inequality and societal abandonment, citizens driven away to a life in the Diaspora. This assessment currently applies in all 30 Caribbean member-states, as every community has lost human capital to emigration. Some communities, like Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have suffered with an abandonment rate of more than 50% and others have watched more than 70% of college-educated citizens flee their community for foreign shores. Even education is presented as failed investments as those educated in the region and leave to find work do not even return remittances in proportion to their costs of development. (See Table 4.1 in the Photo)

The Go Lean book therefore posits that there is a need to re-focus, re-boot, and optimize the labor/wage-seeking engines so as to create more jobs with livable wages. Alas, this is not just a Caribbean issue, but a global (i.e. American) one as well. See the following encyclopedic references for wage-seeking and Collective Bargaining to fully understand the complexities of these global issues:

Encyclopedia Reference #1: Wage-Seeking
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage)

A wage is monetary compensation paid by an employer to an employee in exchange for work done. Payment may be calculated as a fixed amount for each task completed (a task wage or piece rate), or at an hourly or daily rate, or based on an easily measured quantity of work done.

Wages are an example of expenses that are involved in running a business.

Payment by wage contrasts with salaried work, in which the employer pays an arranged amount at steady intervals (such as a week or month) regardless of hours worked, with commission which conditions pay on individual performance, and with compensation based on the performance of the company as a whole. Waged employees may also receive tips or gratuity paid directly by clients and employee benefits which are non-monetary forms of compensation. Since wage labour is the predominant form of work, the term “wage” sometimes refers to all forms (or all monetary forms) of employee compensation.

Determinants of wage rates
Depending on the structure and traditions of different economies around the world, wage rates will be influenced by market forces (supply and demand), legislation, and tradition. Market forces are perhaps more dominant in the United States, while tradition, social structure and seniority, perhaps play a greater role in Japan.^[6]

Wage Differences
Even in countries where market forces primarily set wage rates, studies show that there are still differences in remuneration for work based on sex and race. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007 women of all races made approximately 80% of the median wage of their male counterparts. This is likely due to the supply and demand for women in the market because of family obligations. ^[7] Similarly, white men made about 84% the wage of Asian men, and black men 64%.^[8] These are overall averages and are not adjusted for the type, amount, and quality of work done.

Real Wage
The term real wages refers to wages that have been adjusted for inflation, or, equivalently, wages in terms of the amount of goods and services that can be bought. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Because it has been adjusted to account for changes in the prices of goods and services, real wages provide a clearer representation of an individual’s wages in terms of what they can afford to buy with those wages – specifically, in terms of the amount of goods and services that can be bought.

See Table of European Model in the Appendix below. (The European Union is the model for the Caribbean Union).

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Encyclopedia Reference #2: Collective Bargaining
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_bargaining)

Collective Bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at reaching agreements to regulate working conditions. The interests of the employees are commonly presented by representatives of a trade union to which the employees belong. The collective agreements reached by these negotiations usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms, and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs.^[1]

The union may negotiate with a single employer (who is typically representing a company’s shareholders) or may negotiate with a group of businesses, depending on the country, to reach an industry wide agreement. A collective agreement functions as a labor contract between an employer and one or more unions.

The industrial revolution brought a swell of labor-organizing in [to many industrialized countries, like] the US. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was formed in 1886, providing unprecedented bargaining powers for a variety of workers.^[11] The Railway Labor Act (1926) required employers to bargain collectively with unions. While globally, International Labour Organization Conventions (ILO) were ratified in parallel to the United Nations efforts (i.e. Declaration of Human Rights, etc.). There were a total of eight ILO fundamental conventions ^[3] all ascending between 1930 and 1973, i.e. the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (1949).

The Go Lean book presents a roadmap on how to benefit from the above Economic Principles – and how to empower communities anew – in the midst of tumultuous global challenges. This roadmap addresses more than economics, as there are other areas of societal concern. This is expressed in the CU charter; as defined by these 3 prime directives:

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

Early in the Go Lean book, the responsibility to create jobs was identified as an important function for the CU with these pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 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.…

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.

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, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, prefabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

According to an article from the Economic Policy Institute, entitled The Decline of Collective Bargaining and the Erosion of Middle-class Incomes in Michigan by Lawrence Mishel (September 25, 2012), the challenges to middle class income are indisputable, and the previous solution – Collective Bargaining – is no longer as effective as in the past. (The industrial landscape of Michigan had previously been identified as a model for the Caribbean to consider). See a summary of the article here (italics added) and VIDEO in the Appendix:

In Michigan between 1979 and 2007, the last year before the Great Recession, the state’s economy experienced substantial growth and incomes rose for high-income households. But middle-class incomes did not grow. The Michigan experience is slightly worse than but parallels that of the United States as a whole, where middle-class income gains were modest but still far less than the income gains at the top. What the experience of Michiganders and other Americans makes clear is that income inequality is rising, and it has prevented middle-class incomes from growing adequately in either Michigan or the nation.

The key dynamic driving this income disparity has been the divergence between the growth of productivity—the improvement in the output of goods and services produced per hour worked—and the growth of wages and benefits (compensation) for the typical worker. It has been amply documented that productivity and hourly compensation grew in tandem between the late 1940s and the late 1970s, but split apart radically after 1979. Nationwide, productivity grew by 69.1 percent between 1979 and 2011, but the hourly compensation of the median worker (who makes more than half the workforce but less than the other half) grew by just 9.6 percent (Mishel and Gee 2012; Mishel et al. 2012). In other words, since 1979 the typical worker has hardly benefited from improvements in the economy’s ability to raise living standards and, consequently, middle-class families’ living standards have barely budged since then. This phenomenon has occurred across the nation, including in Michigan.

This divergence between pay and productivity and the corresponding failure of middle-class incomes to grow is strongly related to the erosion of collective bargaining. And collective bargaining has eroded more in Michigan than in the rest of the nation, helping to explain Michigan’s more disappointing outcomes.

Research three decades ago by economist Richard Freeman (1980) showed that collective bargaining reduces wage inequality, and all the research since then (see Freeman 2005) has confirmed his finding. Collective bargaining reduces wage inequality for three reasons. The first is that wage setting in collective bargaining focuses on establishing “standard rates” for comparable work across business establishments and for particular occupations within establishments. The outcome is less differentiation of wages among workers and, correspondingly, less discrimination against women and minorities. A second reason is that wage gaps between occupations tend to be lower where there is collective bargaining, and so the wages in occupations that are typically low-paid tend to be higher under collective bargaining. A third reason is that collective bargaining has been most prevalent among middle-class workers, so it reduces the wage gaps between middle-class workers and high earners (who have tended not to benefit from collective bargaining).

Collective bargaining also reduces wage inequality in a less-direct way. Wage and benefit standards set by collective bargaining are often followed in workplaces not covered by collective bargaining, at least where there is extensive coverage by collective bargaining in particular occupations and industries. This spillover effect means that the impact of collective bargaining on the wages and benefits of middle-class workers extends far beyond those workers directly covered by an agreement.
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Source: http://www.epi.org/publication/bp347-collective-bargaining/

The siren call went out 20 years ago, of the emergence of an “Apartheid” economy, a distinct separation between the classes: labor and management. Former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (1993 – 1997 during the Clinton Administration’s First Term) identified vividly, in this 1996 Harvard Business Review paper, that something was wrong with the U.S. economy then; (it is worst now):

That something is not the country’s productivity, technological leadership, or rate of economic growth, though there is room for improvement in all those areas. That something is an issue normally on the back burner in U.S. public discourse: the distribution of the fruits of economic progress. For many, the rise in AT&T’s stock after it announced plans [on January 3, 1996] to lay off 40,000 employees crystallized the picture of an economy gone haywire, with shareholders gaining and employees losing as a result of innovation and advances in productivity.

Has the distribution of the benefits of economic growth in the United States in fact gone awry? Is the nation heading toward an apartheid economy—one in which the wealthy and powerful prosper while the less well-off struggle? What are the facts? What do they mean? Are there real problems—and can they be solved?
…

Deploying solutions for the problem of income equality in the Caribbean is the quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. The book identified Agents of Change (Page 57) that is confronting the region, (America as well); they include: Globalization and Technology. A lot of the jobs that paid a “living wage” are now being shipped overseas to countries with lower wage levels, or neutralized by the advancement of technology. Yes, computers are reshaping the global job market, so even Collective Bargaining may fail to counter any eventual obsolescence of wage-earners, their valuation and appreciation; (see Encyclopedic Article # 2). The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, therefore detailed the campaign to not just consume technology, but to also innovate, produce and distribute the computer-enabled end-products. Therefore industries relating to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics/Medicine) are critical in the roadmap. Not only do these careers yield good-paying direct jobs, but also factor in the indirect job market, and the job-multiplier rate (3.0 to 4.1) for down-the-line employment (Page 260) opportunities.

The Go Lean… Caribbean book details the creation of 2.2 million new jobs for the Caribbean region, many embracing ICT/STEM skill-sets. This is easier said than done, so how does Go Lean purpose to deliver on this quest? By the adoption of certain community ethos, plus the executions of key strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies. The following is a sample from the book:

Assessment – Puerto Rico – Extreme Unemployment – The Greece of the Caribbean	Page 18
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property – Key to ICT Careers	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research and Development – Germaine for STEM jobs	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Close the Digital Divide – Vital for fostering ICT careers	Page 31
Strategy – Mission – Education Without Further Brain Drain	Page 46
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – East Asian Tigers Model	Page 69
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries	Page 70
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Commerce Department – Patents & Copyrights	Page 78
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities – As Job-creating Engines	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization – Technology: The Great Equalizer	Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Model the EU	Page 130
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Income Equality Now More Pronounced	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – e-Learning Options	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Labor Markets and Unions – Collective Bargaining Best-Practices	Page 164
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration – STEM Resources	Page 174
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – Credits, Incentives and Investments	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce – Optimize Remittance Methods	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Help the Middle Class – Exploit Globalization	Page 223
Appendix – Growing 2.2 Million Jobs in 5 Years	Page 257
Appendix – Job Multipliers – Direct & Indirect Job Correlations	Page 259
Appendix – Emigration Bad Example – Puerto Rican Population in the US Mainland	Page 304

The CU will foster job-creating developments, incentivizing many high-tech start-ups and incubating viable companies. The primary ingredient for CU success will be Caribbean people, so we must foster and incite participation of many young people into fields currently sharing higher job demands, like ICT and STEM, so as to better impact their communities. A second ingredient will be the support of the community – the Go Lean movement recognizes the limitation that not everyone in the community can embrace the opportunity to lead in these endeavors. An apathetic disposition is fine-and-well; we simply must not allow that to be a hindrance to those wanting to progress – there are both direct jobs and indirect jobs connected with the embrace of ICT/STEM disciplines. The community ethos or national spirit, must encourage and spur “achievers” into roles where “they can be all they can be”. Go Lean asserts that one person can make a difference … to a community (Page 122).

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

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4240	Immigration Policy Exacerbates Worker Productivity Crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3694	Jamaica-Canada employment programme pumps millions into local economy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3473	Haiti to Receive $70 Million Grant to Expand Caracol Industrial Park to Create Jobs and Benefit from Globalization
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3446	Forecast for higher unemployment in Caribbean in 2015
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3164	Michigan Unemployment Model – Then and Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2857	Where the Jobs Are – Entrepreneurism in Junk
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2800	The Geography of Joblessness
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2750	Disney World’s example of Self Governing Entities and Economic Impacts of 70,000 jobs; 847,000+ Puerto Ricans now live in the vicinity.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2126	Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2025	Where the Jobs Are – Attitudes & Images of the Caribbean Diaspora in US
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2003	Where the Jobs Are – Ship-breaking under the SGE Structure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1698	Where the Jobs Are – STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683	Where the Jobs Were – British public sector now strike over ‘poverty pay’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214	Where the Jobs Are – Fairgrounds as SGE & Landlords for Sports Leagues
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We *Don’t* Want from the US – Job Discrimination of Immigrations

The Caribbean is arguably the best address on the planet, but “man cannot live on beauty alone”, there is the need for a livelihood as well. This is the challenge, considering the reality of unemployment in the region; the jobless rate among the youth is even higher.

The crisis of income inequality for the US is a direct result of free trade agreements, like NAFTA, and China’s Preferential Trading Status. Despite this status, we can benefit from the realities of globalization; jobs are being moved to conducive locations with lower labor costs. We should invite these investors to look for cheaper labor options, here in the Caribbean region (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, etc.). This is the same reality as in Europe with different wage levels for the different countries (see Appendix below); the Caribbean also has these wage differences.

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to foster higher-paying job options: Call Centers, Offshore Software Development Centers, R&D Medical campuses, light-manufacturing and assembly plants for “basic needs” products (food, clothing shelter, energy, and transportation) for Caribbean consumption. This is the successful model of Japan, China and the “East Asia Tigers” economies; these are manifestations of effective Economic Principles.

The Go Lean book therefore digs deeper, providing turn-by-turn directions to get to the desired Caribbean results: a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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Appendix – List of European countries by average wage (USA & Japan added for comparison)

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage)

2014 Annual values (in national currency) for a family with two children with one average salary, including tax credits and allowances.^[1] Net amount is computed after Taxes, Social Security and Family Allowances; the result is provided in both the National Currency and the Euro, if different. The table, sorted from highest Net amount to the lowest, is presented as follows:

State	Gross	Net (Natl. Curr)	*Net (Euro)*
Switzerland	90,521.98	86,731.20	71,407.21
Luxembourg	54,560.39	52,041.36	52,041.36
Norway	542,385.96	415,557.87	49.,741.20
Denmark	397,483.78	289,292.48	38,806.20
Iceland	6,856,099.69	5,872.114.66	37,865.07
*UNITED STATES*	56,067	45,582	37,671
Sweden	407,974.45	335,501.45	36,874.37
Netherlands	48,855.70	36,648.71	36,648.71
United Kingdom	35,632.64	28,960.38	35,925.65
Belgium	46,464.41	35,810.55	35,810.55
Italy	41,462.67	24,539.93	35,539.93
Germany	45,952.05	36,269.23	35,269.23
France	38,427.35	30,776.75	34,776.75
Ireland	34,465.85	34,382.63	34,382.63
Austria	42,573.25	33,666.04	33,666.04
Finland	42,909.72	32,386.59	32,386.59
*JAPAN*	4,881,994.24	4,132.432.02	29,452.16
Spain	26,161.81	22,129.78	22,129.78
Greece	24,201.50	17,250.24	17,250.24
Slovenia	17,851.28	15,882.53	15,882.53
Portugal	17,435.71	15,140.25	15,140.25
Estonia	12,435.95	11,176.87	11,176.87
Czech Republic	312,083.83	306,153.76	11,118.31
Slovakia	10,342.10	9,778.16	9,778.16
Poland	42,360.01	34,638.77	8,278.27
Hungary	3,009,283.93	2,530.280.97	8,196.30
Turkey	28,370.00	21,072.12	7,250.00

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Appendix Video – Collective Bargaining and Shared Prosperity: Michigan, 1979 – 2009 http://youtu.be/PcT4jK89JmE

Published on September 27, 2012 – This VIDEO depicts the positive effects of Collective Bargaining on the quest for income equality in the US State of Michigan; and the sad consequence of the widening income inequality when Collective Bargaining is less pervasive.
This reflect the “Observe and Report” functionality of the Go Lean…Caribbean promoters in the Greater Detroit-Michigan area.

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Lessons from China – Size Does Matter … for Hollywood

Posted on August 26, 2016 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

In a previous commentary, the assertion was made that “movies are an amazing business model; people give money to spend a couple of hours watching someone else’s creation and then leave the theater with nothing to show for the investment; perhaps only a different perspective”. There is no consumption of resources or exchange for chattel goods; the consumer is simply buying an intangible.

There are other industries based on intangibles; consider telecommunications for example. For deliveries in this industry, mass consumption could be a detriment, as quality is degraded with more and more consumption.

But the movie industry is different; this is one where larger audiences are preferred. This is due to the delivery dynamics: quality is not degraded with frequent delivery of the end product; the quality considerations are embedded in the production, not the delivery. After the production of a movie, all the costs becomes historic; (there is only marginal costs associated with marketing and distribution). The hope is that enough people will buy tickets to see the movie and recoup the investment. After the break-even, all additional revenue is “gravy”; the “more the merrier”.

For Hollywood – a metonym for the film-television-video industry – any access to large markets is a win-win.

Enter China…

… this country has 1.3 billion people. That’s a lot of “eye-balls”. This country, considering its history, used to be closed to western commerce and movie distributions. Now, its open … and advancing. Those 1.3 billion pairs of eye-balls are presenting a lot of opportunities and now starting to wield power. Consider the details of this news article here:

Title – Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market
For the hundred years that the movie industry has been around, the United States has been the largest market for films. But as early as next year, a new country may hold that distinction.

Indeed, some analysts expect China’s yearly box office revenue to exceed that of the U.S. by the end of 2017. And even if that’s an optimistic estimate, China will almost certainly have overtaken the United States by the end of 2018.

For proof, just take a look at the growth rate in the China film market over the past few years. In 2014, China’s box office grew 27% from the previous year to $4.55 billion. In 2015, it grew 41% to $6.78 billion.

Due to a weak crop of films and a slowdown in China’s GDP growth, 2016 may not see such a remarkable uptick. However, even with the speed bump, by the end of 2018 China’s film market should surpass the $10.7 billion in yearly box office revenue that the United States has averaged over the past five years.

“North America will probably play second fiddle to China within the next two years,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore . “And by the end of the next decade (2030), China’s film market could generate double the revenue of North America’s.”

That’s an incredible result, considering that China was barely a box office factor not too long ago. “The only reason you would talk about China 20 years ago would be to learn about piracy,” said James Schamus, a veteran film producer in the industry. “It is night and day, the difference between China then and now.”
…

Source: The Street – Finance & Economy Journal; posted August 12, 2016; retrieved August 26, 2016 from:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/why-china-will-soon-be-hollywoods-largest-market/ar-BBvyTtL

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

The US domestic market is 320 million people. The Chinese domestic market is 1,300 million or 1.3 billion. Size does matter!

China is a lot of people for Hollywood to cater to; the amazing business model becomes even more amazing. The reality of that market size is starting to manifest in production planning and distribution; (think language translation). This is being recognized finally as the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group bought into Hollywood “royalty” by acquiring movie studio Legendary Entertainment this past April – see VIDEO in the Appendix below. This scenario furnishes a lot of lessons, good and bad, for onlookers to glean.

The promoters of the book Go Lean…Caribbean is looking, listening and learning the lessons from China. We are seeking to apply these lessons in the development of the Caribbean region. Though our population is no way near 1.3 billion, there is still the enlightenment that “size does matter“. As an integrated Single Market, the Caribbean is 42 million people; much more significant a market than any one Caribbean member-state alone.

This is the lesson learned.

This commentary is 2 of 6 from the Go Lean movement, in consideration the good and bad lessons from China. The other commentaries detailed in this series are as follows:

History of China Trade: Too Big to Ignore
Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market
Organ Transplantation: Facts and Fiction
Mobile Games Apps: The new Playground
South China Seas: Exclusive Economic Zones
WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media – www.MyCaribbean.gov

All of these commentaries relate to nation-building, stressing the community investments required to facilitate the short-term, mid-term and long-term needs of our communities. This blog entry however relates more to the art and science of movies.

Imagine a time – only recently – when Chinese people did not have access to Hollywood’s movies. That is not a world that the Caribbean wants to contemplate. We want to consume this art-form, yes, but we want to produce and distribute as well. We want to have access to our full Caribbean market, the North American market and to China as well.

We know that a few hours at the movies can entertain, engage and transform. Sometimes even, movies can change the world. This art-form can wield great power.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean presents an empowerment plan for the Caribbean region, stressing the arts as equally as it does the sciences. It may be easier for us to excel in the arts than the sciences. Think: we have no Nobel Prize winning scientist in the Caribbean, but we do have (or had) Grammy Award-winning musical artists and Academy Award winning actors. We can still impact the Greater Good in the Caribbean and the rest of the world – including China.

This point was pronounced in the Go Lean book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) with these statements:

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

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

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to help the region become a better place to live, work and play. There is a role for the arts (including film-making) in this empowerment roadmap. The book posits that a unified Caribbean Single Market of 42 million people and a GDP of $800 Billion can foster a “domestic” film industry, must like the formations of Bollywood in India (Page 346) and Nollywood in Nigeria. While this is no Hollywood, nor China for that matter, there could still be positive returns on movie industry investments within the Caribbean market. Jobs may be involved, as this amazing business model (movies) can create jobs and garner local returns from the necessary investments.

The quest is to elevate Caribbean society with many industrial developments, including the arts. This was stated in the same Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13) with this statement:

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.

This impact and overall benefit of this roadmap is pronounced in the Go Lean/CU‘s prime directives, identified with these 3 statements:

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

These previous blog/commentaries drilled deeper on this quest to better foster the arts-show-business with these examples:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7950	Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – Long road to Legacy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7685	Music – songs & concerts – have and do change the world
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7082	The Art and Science of ‘Play’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3999	Role Model Sidney Poitier – The Power of Film
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	‘We Built This City …’ on Music and Show-business
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568	Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726	Caribbean Role Model for the Arts/Fashion – Oscar De La Renta: RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Caribbean Music Man: Bob Marley – The legend lives on!

The roadmap specifically encourages the region, to lean-in and foster the industrial eco-systems for the arts with these specific community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies:

Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 24
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Celebrate the arts, people and culture of the Caribbean	Page 46
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Tourism and Film Promotion & Administration	Page 78
Implementation – Integration of Region in Single Market of 42 million people	Page 95
Anatomy of Advocacies	Page 122
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Caribbean Single Market	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image	Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – Foster Performing Arts	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Simultaneous Languages	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Appendix – A Summary of Bollywood Movies	Page 346

The Go Lean book posits that the CU should foster the genius potential in Caribbean artists and incubate the movie industry in the Caribbean; and related show-businesses. The roadmap pronounces that with the participation of many advocates on many different paths for progress, the Caribbean can truly become a better place to live, work and play.

The business axiom is “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”. The lesson from China is that larger markets are available … for quality products – “better mousetraps”. If we build a better mousetrap of a film, the world – China included – will beat a path to our door.

Hollywood is seeking out opportunities in China. The Caribbean must also seeks out opportunity in the movie industry. While China is out-of-scope for this roadmap, the lessons learned are very much in scope. The Caribbean must look, listen and learn; then we must change and empower, and foster … and adapt to this changing world. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix VIDEO – China’s Wanda Buys Into Hollywood – https://youtu.be/dsJjkp2I-MY

Published on Jan 12, 2016 – Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda snapped up U.S. film firm Legendary for $3.5 billion and now owns the rights to popular blockbuster hits such as The Dark Knight, Inception and Straight Outta Compton. (Photo: AP)

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Appendix Title – Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market … CONT’D

…

The increased importance of revenues from China is in keeping with the globalization of the film market over the past few decades. For instance, the highest-grossing film of 1989, Tim Burton’s “Batman,” saw 61.1% of its worldwide box office total come from North American theaters, with the other 38.9% coming from foreign territories.

The latest film starring the Caped Crusader, however, shows how the tides have turned. “Batman v. Superman” grossed only 37.9% from North America and saw 62.1% of its total revenue from international markets–almost an exact reversal of the 1989 “Batman.”

What’s behind the spike in international grosses in recent years? According to Daniel Loria, editorial director at Box Office Media, the trend can be attributed to technological innovation within the film industry.

“Exhibition didn’t start to boom overseas until digital cinema took over analog,” he says, referring to the fact that movies are now largely delivered to theaters via digital files rather than physical reels of 35-millimeter film. “At that point, it became significantly more affordable to deliver prints of movies, and so distribution became democratized.”

Ever since that important shift to digital cinema, exhibitors and studios have capitalized on the facility with which they can now show films to global audiences. Movie theaters are being constructed at a historically quick rate across the world. For example, 8,035 screens were erected in China in 2014 alone, which is more than 20% of the 39,000 screens that the United States currently has. And audiences are attending the newly constructed theaters in large numbers, propelling films such as “Batman v. Superman” to international grosses that are competitive with those from North America.

And “Batman v. Superman” is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to films making the majority of their money overseas. In recent memory, 2013’s “Pacific Rim” made 75.2% of its total gross overseas, with its revenue from China ($111.9 million) outstripping revenue from North America ($101.8 million). “[Fast and] Furious 7” was even more impressive last spring, making 76.7% of its whopping $1.5 billion worldwide gross from international territories. Again, China box office ($390.9 million) surpassed North American box office ($353 million).

The recent release of “Warcraft” perhaps best exemplifies how international revenues are now able to determine a film’s overall success. “Warcraft,” which cost a hefty $160 million to make, was a domestic bomb, grossing only $47.2 million in the United States. Twenty years ago, that result probably would have meant game over for distributor Universal. However, that $47.2 million was only 10.9% of the film’s worldwide total gross. “Warcraft” made a whopping $385.8 million, or 89.1% of its total box office, from international territories. That figure includes a stunning $220.8 million from–you guessed it–the People’s Republic of China.

It is important to note, however, that “Warcraft” did have a bit of help over its massive run in China. The film was partly produced by Legendary Entertainment, which was bought by the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group in April of this year. According to Jonathan Papish, film industry analyst at China Film Insider, Wanda Group is perhaps best known in China for its real-estate development. “They’re known for their shopping complexes, their Wanda Malls,” says Papish. However, the conglomerate also owns a theater chain, Wanda Cinema Line. Wanda has also expressed interest in buying stakes in both Lionsgate and Paramount Pictures. The corporation was founded and is owned by Wang Jialin, now one of the richest men in the country.

In order to ensure the success of “Warcraft,” Wanda took steps to make sure the film was well-positioned to do well among Chinese audiences. The corporation rolled out a major promotional campaign for the film, supplying moviegoers with promotional seat covers that allowed them to choose the side of either the Horde or the Alliance, the two rival groups in “Warcraft.” And it’s likely that the film’s ties to Wanda allowed it to secure a release date that lined up with the rest of the film’s international rollout.

And China is not the only country where Wanda holds sway. Indeed, the conglomerate has deep ties to U.S. movie-going, through its majority stake in AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. . That means that Wanda owns all AMC Theaters and will soon own Carmike Theaters if the proposed deal goes through. AMC’s recent deal to acquire the European cinema chain Odeon & UCI Cinema Group gives Wanda a true global footprint.

However, an arsenal of movie theaters across the globe does not mean uniform movie-going habits at all of those theaters. For example, in the U.S., it is more difficult to get younger audiences to come to the movies than older. The opposite is true in China.

“China now has the youngest average age of moviegoers out there,” says Schamus. “And it’s getting younger all the time.”

Another difference between the two markets is evidenced in ticket-purchasing trends. In North America, audiences rarely buy tickets before arriving at the movie theater, although exceptions are often made for movies with high anticipation (such as the latest “Star Wars”). It’s estimated that about 20% of the tickets sold in North America are sold online.

In China, however, 57.5% of all tickets are purchased online, mostly through ticketing apps–financed by companies such as Alibaba –that often give discounts to those who use their services (compare that to Fandango, which charges a convenience fee). A price discount will usually be subsidized by the company that is bankrolling the ticketing app, in order to gain a leg-up on the ticketing competition and collect information on what kinds of audiences are drawn to a particular movie. The company will often then partner with a distributor to gain information about the demographic that is buying tickets.

Usually, these discounts will be for domestic films, which is one of many advantages that homegrown content enjoys in China’s film market. Chinese regulators maintain control over when foreign films get screened, and often stack the release calendar to give domestic films a leg-up over Hollywood blockbusters. For example, in 2012 Chinese regulators scheduled superhero movies “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Dark Knight Rises” for release on the same day in China. Both ultimately put up decent numbers, but it was a clear attempt to cross-cannibalize Hollywood productions so that domestic films could thrive. Censors also reserve the right to block a film’s release because they object to content, as was the case with “Ghostbusters” recently (because the film promoted superstition!).

Another way that the Chinese government ensures that homegrown movies do well is by maintaining a quota of foreign films that are allowed to release in China. Only 34 films that aren’t released by a Chinese distributor can screen in the Middle Kingdom per year, and 14 of those films have to have a premium format release (3D, IMAX, etc.). These movies are released under a revenue-sharing model where the studio retains the rights to the movie in China (as well as 25% of the box office) but concedes scheduling rights to Chinese censors.

China has shown a willingness to accommodate more Hollywood content in the future, however. This year, the country shortened its annual blackout period, wherein foreign films are barred from showing in theaters in the interest of promoting local content. That period, which typically lasts from late June to early August, was cut off early this year when “The Legend of Tarzan” received a July 19 release date. Additionally, the foreign film quota is expected to expand next year, as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is going to re-negotiate its deal with the Chinese government.

There is another, seldom-discussed way that foreign content can get through Chinese regulators outside of the 34-film quota. Studios can sell their film to a Chinese distributor that collects all revenue that the movie makes in the country. For example, Lionsgate sold last year’s “The Last Witch Hunter” to China Film Group, which released the film in China in January to solid box office results.

Currently, the number of foreign films in China that are allowed to be sold into release is limited to 50. However, that quota could expand even sooner than the revenue-sharing one. “I predict that the number will change very soon,” says Papish. “When that happens, you’ll see smaller movies from Hollywood coming over.”

Currently, Chinese audiences usually only get to see big-budget Hollywood productions that are dependent on revenue from China to succeed. Sure, margins are smaller for these studios in China — they get 50% of ticket sale revenue in North America compared to the 25% they receive in China — but that 25% is often integral to a movie’s success. Lionsgate’s recent film “Now You See Me 2” made a huge $97.1 million in China, meaning that the studio will likely see about $24 million in revenue. That’s not a far cry from the $32.5 million that the studio is likely to receive from North American ticket sales, which are petering out at about a $65 million total take.

In fact, “Now You See Me 2” proved so popular in China that Lionsgate is working on a Chinese-language spinoff of the film that will be co-produced with Beijing-based film company Leonus Pictures. What’s more, Leonus Pictures reportedly advised Lionsgate on how best to produce content for the Chinese market when in pre-production on “Now You See Me 2.”

Such partnerships will increasingly become the norm as the Chinese film market grows into the world’s largest. “Kung Fu Panda 3,” released earlier this year, was a co-production between Dreamworks Animation and Oriental Dreamworks, a Shanghai-based production company founded by Dreamworks and Chinese investors. A third of the movie was made in China, and the lip movements of the characters were animated twice, once to synchronize to English voice-acting, and again to synchronize to Mandarin voice-acting. The film, perhaps unsurprisingly, grossed more in China than it did in the U.S., $154.3 million to $143.5 million.

The financiers of the upcoming film “The Great Wall” will hope for the same kind of success between North America and China. The film, which was filmed entirely in China, was funded by a mixture of American and Chinese financing companies, and it features an ensemble of American stars (Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe) and Chinese stars (Andy Lau, Wang Junkai). The film will be released in the People’s Republic in December and in the United States in February of next year.

“The Great Wall,” which cost $135 million to make, could be the first blockbuster to target both North American audiences and Chinese audiences in such an intentional fashion. The director, Zhang Yimou, recently told Entertainment Weekly that the film is using “Hollywood filmmaking to introduce Chinese culture.” The film will be a healthy dose of diversity for American audiences that rarely see Asian actors in anything but small roles on the big screen. If the movie is successful, more Chinese-American co-productions could be on the horizon.

Though pirated films in China primed audiences there for wide exposure to Hollywood blockbusters, the booming economy and surging population in the People’s Republic have left American studios with an attractive market to target with their movies. The theater infrastructure growth in China and advanced technology facilitated distribution in China, and studios are tapping into that opportunity by gearing their productions toward audiences in Shanghai or Beijing instead of New York or L.A.

That’s left some disgruntled. Richard Berman, the executive director of the Center for American Security, fears that China is wielding its box office power to control the film industry in America.

“I’m worried that the people of China are implicitly or overtly controlling our content,” says Berman. “The government might be forcing studios to inject pro-Chinese messages into films.”

Berman’s Center for American Security recently staged a protest outside of an AMC theater in Times Square, citing the belief that Wanda’s “true desire” was to sell “Communist propaganda as well as popcorn.”

Though this paranoia may be a minority opinion, the Chinese influence on Hollywood is something that studios are going to have to get wise to in order to boast big numbers at the box office. And as some fear flagging box office revenue in North America — amid the popularity of streaming services that has dropped theater attendance — China can be the shot in the arm studios need to keep their profits robust, if only they can tailor content to attract the movie-going public there. A country that was barely given a second thought in Hollywood 20 years ago is now, perhaps, the most significant market in the world. Although China’s expansion may be the most meteoric, every foreign market has grown in significance, which means only one thing.

“You’re going to see more co-productions, strategic partnerships, and a shift towards utilizing the resources of China,” says Dergarabedian. “Ultimately, it’s all about creating movies that resonate not only with the China culture, but also with a global audience.”

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A Lesson in History: Haiti 1804

Posted on August 23, 2016 in Ethos, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

There are important lessons to learn from history. This commentary considers one particular lesson: the repercussions and consequences from Slavery and the Slave Trade.

Today – August 23 – is the official commemoration of the Slave Trade, as declared by UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization). It measures the date that the 1791 Slave Rebellion in Haiti commenced.

“All of humanity is part of this story, in its transgressions and good deeds” – Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

This is a very important lesson that we glean from this history, no matter our race or homeland. Let’s consider this lesson from the perspective of the Caribbean and for the benefit of Caribbean elevation.

In jurisprudence, there is the concept of felony murder.

… if a perpetrator robs a liquor store and the clerk has a heart-attack and dies, that perpetrator, once caught is tried for felony murder. The definition is the consequence of death in the act of committing a felony. What’s ironic is this charge would also apply if its a co-perpetrator that dies of the heart-attack rather than a victim-clerk.

This justice standard also applies with family discipline. If/when a child is being naughty and accordingly a sibling is unintentionally hurt, the naughty behavior will almost always be punished for the injury, because it was linked to the bad behavior.

A lesson learned from family discipline; and a lesson learned from criminal law. All of these scenarios present consequences to bad, abusive behavior. This sets the stage for better understanding of this important lesson from the international history of the year 1804. After 200 years of the Slave Trade, repercussions and consequences were bound to strike. This happened in the Caribbean country of Haiti. The following catastrophic events transpired in the decade leading up to 1804:

1791 Slave Rebellion – See Appendix A below – A direct spinoff from the French Revolution’s demand for equality
Leadership of Louverture – As Governor-General, Toussaint Louverture sought to return Haiti to France without Slavery.
Resistance to Slavery – The French planned and attempted to re-instate Slavery
Free Republic – The first Black State in the New World
1804 Massacre of the French – See Appendix B below – An illogical solution that killing Whites would prevent future enslavement.

Make no mistake, the Massacre of 1804 – where 3,000 to 5,000 White men, women and children were killed – was a direct consequence of Slavery and the Slave Trade.

See VIDEO here of a comprehensive TED story:

VIDEO – The Atlantic Slave Trade: What too few textbooks told you – https://youtu.be/3NXC4Q_4JVg

Published on Dec 22, 2014 – Slavery has occurred in many forms throughout the world, but the Atlantic slave trade — which forcibly brought more than 10 million Africans to the Americas — stands out for both its global scale and its lasting legacy. Anthony Hazard discusses the historical, economic and personal impact of this massive historical injustice.
Lesson by Anthony Hazard, animation by NEIGHBOR.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlanti…

Category – Education

License – Standard YouTube License

The review of the historic events is more than just an academic discussion, the book Go Lean…Caribbean aspires to economic principles that dictate that “consequences of choices lie in the future”. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Haiti – the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere – is one of the 30 member-states for this Caribbean confederacy.

The people of the Caribbean need to understand the cause of this country’s decline and dysfunction; and by extension, the cause of dysfunction for the rest of the Caribbean. It is tied to the events of 1804. How will this lesson help us today?

Reality of the Legacy – The new Black State of Haiti was censored, sanctioned and scorned upon by all European powers (White people). According to a previous blog-commentary, to finally be recognized, France required the new country of Haiti to offset the income that would be lost by French settlers and slave owners; they demanded compensation amounting to 150 million gold francs. After a new deal was struck in 1838, Haiti agreed to pay France 90 million gold francs (the equivalent of €17 billion today). It was not until 1952 that Haiti made the final payment on what became known as its “Independence Debt”. Many analysts posit that the compensation Haiti paid to France throughout the 19th century “strangled development” and hindered the “evolution of the country”. The CU/Go Lean book assessed the near-Failed-State status of Haiti – “it is what it is”; Haiti is as bad as advertised – and then strategized solutions to reboot the economic-security-governing engines of this Republic.
Security assurances must be enabled to complement economics objectives – Slavery was introduced to the New World as an economic empowerment strategy, though it was flawed in its premise of oppressing the human rights of a whole class of humans. The only way to succeed for the centuries that it survived was with a strong military backing – fear of immediate death and destruction. The CU/Go Lean premise is that economics engines and security apparatus must work hand-in-hand. This is weaved throughout the roadmap.
Minority Equalization – The lessons of slavery is that race divides societies; and when there is this division, there is always the tendency for one group to put themselves above other groups. Many times the divisions are for majority population groups versus minorities. If the planners of the new Caribbean want to apply lessons from Slavery’s history, we must allow for justice institutions to consider the realities of minorities. The CU security pact must defend against regional threats, including domestic terrorism. This includes gangs and their junior counterparts, bullies. The CU plans for community messaging in the campaign for anti-bullying and mitigations.
Reconciliation of issues are not optional, more conflict will emerge otherwise – The issues that caused division in Haiti where not dealt with between 1791 and 1803. A “Great Day of Reckoning” could not be avoided. The Natural Law instinct was to avenge for past atrocities – “an eye for an eye”. The CU/Go Lean roadmap accepts that an “eye for an eye” justice stance would result in a lot of “blindness”; so instead of revenge, the strategy is justice by means of Truth & Reconciliation Commissions – a lesson learned from South Africa – to deal with a lot of the latent issues from the last Caribbean century (i.e. Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc).

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is to turn-around the downward trends in the Caribbean today, to reverse course and elevate Caribbean society. The CU, applying lessons from best-practices, has prime directives proclaimed as follows:

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

The Go Lean book details a series of assessments, community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to empower all the factions in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens	Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate region for Economics & Security	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Homeland Security	Page 75
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Justice	Page 77
Implementation – Assemble Existing Super-national Institutions	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the US Constitution	Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism	Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Battles in the War on Poverty	Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238

Why bother with all this dark talk about Slavery and the Slave Trade?

UNESCO has provided a clear answer for this question with this declarative statement:

Ignorance or concealment of major historical events constitutes an obstacle to mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation among peoples. UNESCO has thus decided to break the silence surrounding the Slave Trade and Slavery that have concerned all continents and caused the great upheavals that have shaped our modern societies.

The subject of Slavery and the Slave Trade relates to economic, security and governing functioning in a society. The repercussions and consequences of 1804 lingers down to this day. There have been a number of blog-commentaries by the Go Lean promoters that have developed related topics. See a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	Remembering African Nationalist Marcus Garvey: Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Frederick Douglass – Pioneer & Role Model for Single Cause: Abolition
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221	Street naming for Martin Luther King reveals continued racial animosity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past Bad Deeds
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5123	A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Zimbabwe -vs- South Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971	A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451	CariCom position on Slavery/Colonization Reparations

This commentary purports that there have been watershed events in history since the emergence of the slave economy. They include:

1804 – Haiti’s Massacre of White Slave Advocates
1861 – US Civil War – A Demonstration of the Resolve of the “Pro” and “Anti” Slavery Camps
1914 – World War I: “Line in the Sand”
1948 – United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

No doubt the Massacre of 1804 was a crisis. It was not wasted; it was used in a good way to escalate the abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807. It was also used in a bad way to justify further oppression of the African Diaspora in the New World.

A pivotal year.

Let’s learn from this year of 1804; and from the repercussions and consequences from that year. In many ways, the world has not moved! Racism and the suppression of the African race lingers … even today … in Europe and in the Americas.

Our goal is to reform and transform the Caribbean, not Europe or America. We hereby urge everyone in the Caribbean – people, institutions and governments – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. It is time now to move. We must get the Caribbean region to a new destination, one where opportunity meets preparation. This is the destination where the Caribbean is a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

—————

Appendix A Title: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition 2016

— Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO —

In the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, men and women, torn from Africa and sold into slavery, revolted against the slave system to obtain freedom and independence for Haiti, gained in 1804. The uprising was a turning point in human history, greatly impacting the establishment of universal human rights, for which we are all indebted.

The courage of these men and women has created obligations for us. UNESCO is marking International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition to pay tribute to all those who fought for freedom, and, in their name, to continue teaching about their story and the values therein. The success of this rebellion, led by the slaves themselves, is a deep source of inspiration today for the fight against all forms of servitude, racism, prejudice, racial discrimination and social injustice that are a legacy of slavery.

The history of the slave trade and slavery created a storm of rage, cruelty and bitterness that has not yet abated. It is also a story of courage, freedom and pride in newfound freedom. All of humanity is part of this story, in its transgressions and good deeds. It would be a mistake and a crime to cover it up and forget. Through its project The Slave Route, UNESCO intends to find in this collective memory the strength to build a better world and to show the historical and moral connections that unite different peoples.

In this same frame of mind, the United Nations proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). UNESCO is contributing to it through its educational, cultural and scientific programmes so as to promote the contribution of people of African descent to building modern societies and ensuring dignity and equality for all human beings, without distinction.
Source: Retrieved August 23, 2016 from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/slave-trade-and-its-abolition/

—————

Appendix B Title: 1804 Haiti Massacre

The 1804 Haiti Massacre was a massacre carried out against the remaining white population of native Frenchmen and French Creoles (or Franco-Haitians) in Haiti by Haitian soldiers by the order of Jean-Jacques Dessalines who had decreed that all those suspected of conspiring in the acts of the expelled army should be put to death.^[1] Throughout the nineteenth century, these events were well known in the United States where they were referred to as “the horrors of St. Domingo” and particularly polarized Southern public opinion on the question of the abolition of slavery.^[2][3]

The massacre, which took place in the entire territory of Haiti, was carried out from early February 1804 until 22 April 1804, and resulted in the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 people of all ages and genders.^[4]

Squads of soldiers moved from house to house, torturing and killing entire families.^[5] Even whites who had been friendly and sympathetic to the black population were imprisoned and later killed.^[6] A second wave of massacres targeted white women and children.^[6]

Writers Dirk Moses and Dan Stone wrote that it served as a form of revenge by an oppressed group that exacted out against those who had previously dominated them.^[7]

Aftermath
By the end of April 1804, some 3,000 to 5,000 people had been killed^[23] and the white Haitians were practically eradicated. Only three categories of white people, except foreigners, were selected as exceptions and spared: the Polish soldiers who deserted from the French army; the little group of German colonists invited to Nord-Ouest (North-West), Haiti before the revolution; and a group of medical doctors and professionals.^[14] Reportedly, also people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men.^[23]

Dessalines did not try to hide the massacre from the world. In an official proclamation of 8 April 1804, he stated, “We have given these true cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage. Yes, I have saved my country, I have avenged America”.^[14] He referred to the massacre as an act of national authority. Dessalines regarded the elimination of the white Haitians an act of political necessity, as they were regarded as a threat to the peace between the black and the colored. It was also regarded as a necessary act of vengeance.^[23]

Dessalines was eager to assure that Haiti was not a threat to other nations and that it sought to establish friendly relations also to nations where slavery was still allowed.^[26]Dessalines’ secretary Boisrond-Tonnerre stated, “For our declaration of independence, we should have the skin of a white man for parchment, his skull for an inkwell, his blood for ink, and a bayonet for a pen!”^[27]

In the 1805 constitution, all citizens were defined as “black”,^[28] and white men were banned from owning land.^[23][29]

The 1804 massacre had a long-lasting effect on the view of the Haitian Revolution and helped to create a legacy of racial hostility in Haitian society.^[28]

At the time of the civil war, a major reason for southern whites, most of whom did not own slaves, to support slave-owners (and ultimately fight for the Confederacy) was fear of a genocide similar to the Haitian Massacre of 1804. This was explicitly referred to in Confederate discourse and propaganda.^[30][31]

The torture and massacre of whites in Haiti, normally known at the time as “the horrors of St. Domingo“, was a constant and prominent theme in the discourse of southern political leaders and had influenced American public opinion since the events took place.
Source: Retrieved August 22, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1804_Haiti_massacre

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Detroit makes Community College free

Posted on August 15, 2016 in Economics, Government, Strategy

#GoLeanCommentary

Its back to school time again – college students in Detroit have to report to classes on August 22.

And now, if they enroll in a Detroit area community college, the tuition could be free.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

This too, is a lesson learned from Detroit. The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean have been in Detroit to “observe and report” the turn-around and rebirth of the once-great-but-now-distressed City of Detroit and its metropolitan area. The following article relates a strategy that is apropos for remediating and mitigating a failing community – education:

Title: Detroit makes community college free
Sub-title: Detroit high schoolers just got a free ticket to community college.
By: Katie Lobosco

Starting this year, any graduating high school senior who is accepted to one of Detroit’s five community colleges won’t have to pay a dime for tuition.

The Detroit Promise Zone program, officially launched on Tuesday, will make it possible. At first the funds will come from a private scholarship foundation. But starting in 2018, some of the money will come from property taxes already earmarked for the program.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a high school senior preparing for college now or a second-grader whose college career is years away. The Detroit Promise will be there to help make a college education a reality,” said Mayor Mike Duggan.

He hopes that the program will eventually expand to cover the cost of four years of college tuition at a state school for each Detroit student.

To be eligible, a student must have completed their junior and senior years at a public, private or charter high school in Detroit. It doesn’t matter how much their family earns, but the student must fill out the federal financial aid form called the FAFSA. The Detroit program will pick up the difference after any other federal and state grants and scholarships have been used.

About 500 students are expected to take advantage of the program and enroll at a community college each fall, according to a spokesman for the Detroit Regional Chamber, which helps administer the scholarship.

It will cost an average of $680 per person, annually, though each scholarship amount will vary depending on how much in other awards the student received.

The privately funded Detroit Scholarship program is already in place and has granted 2,000 students free tuition over the past three years. The Michigan Education Excellence Foundation raised the funds from a mix of companies, charitable foundations, and individuals.

But now that the Detroit Promise Zone has officially launched, scholarship funding will eventually move away from private donations toward earmarked tax funds. There isn’t an exact timeline for that transition, a spokesman said.

Detroit is one of 10 “promise zones” the state created in 2009 as a way to send more Michigan residents to college. The programs designate a share of state property taxes within the zone to pay for the scholarships.

“We are confident that Detroit’s future will be even brighter now that our city’s future leaders will be able to go to college at no cost,” said Detroit Promise Zone Authority Board Chairwoman Penny Bailer.

Tuition-free college is an idea that’s gaining traction. While President Obama has pushed for it nationally, Tennessee made community college tuition-free for graduating seniors last fall, and Oregon is set to launch a similar program next year.

High school seniors must register for the Detroit Scholarship Fund online by June 30 to be eligible.
Source: CNN Money (Cable News Network) – Posted 03-22-2016; retrieved 08-14-2016 from: http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/22/pf/college/detroit-tuition-free-college/index.html

As related, other communities are launching similar endeavors to this Detroit initiative:

Tennessee is picking up the tab for community college students.

How New York City would make community college free.

Oregon is set to launch a similar program next year.

This Go Lean movement has always been a big proponent of college education for Caribbean citizens. Our one caveat is that the education takes place in the Caribbean.

So yes, this movement (book and blog-commentaries) is a big opponent of a college education for Caribbean citizens in foreign colleges and universities. The reason for this reticence, is the incontrovertible brain drain among the Caribbean college-educated population. Previous Go Lean commentaries related the proverb of “fattening frogs for snake” referring to the preponderance for Caribbean college educated citizens to abandon their tropical homes for foreign shores in the US, Canada and Europe, and take their Caribbean-funded education and skill-sets with them.

On the other hand, if the region is able to offer college education locally, then it is win-win for the Caribbean, as a college education brings social mobility, facilitating new economic opportunities. Yes, college education is great for the individual. The Go Lean book quotes proven economic studies showing the impact that every year of college education improves an individual’s earning power by 1 percent (Page 258). See related VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Underemployment rate for college grads drops – http://money.cnn.com/video/news/economy/2015/12/01/romans-numeral-underemployment-college-graduates.cnnmoney/

We need this upward mobility for Caribbean citizens in the Caribbean.

Since the Great Recession of 2008, the world – including the Caribbean – has seen a preponderance for income inequality: the rich has gotten richer and the middle class has shrunk.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits, along with most economists, that education elevate individuals and entire communities. The book states the Caribbean experience has been sour only for the reasons that so many students do not return home after matriculation; or expatriate shortly after returning for a short period. This has been measured by the World Bank; they reported that the Caribbean has a 70% abandonment rate among their college graduates.

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

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

Indeed, change has now come to the Caribbean. The driver of this change is technology and globalization. Under these tenants, many college institutions can provide e-Learning and Distant Learning schemes through internet deliveries. If the Caribbean regional education administrations could invest in more technological deliveries, they may be able to offer free (or reduced) tertiary education to worthy students. As related in the foregoing article, once private, charitable and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are factored in, more and more students would be able to enjoy the benefits of a college education.

As for governing administrations, the vision of the CU is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean into a Single Market – a federal government – to do the heavy-lifting of championing better educational policies. Confederation would bring better leverage across the population of 42 million people, adopting more best-practices for education in all 4 regional languages (Dutch, English, French and Spanish). So we should cease-desist bad education policies, like government scholarships for foreign matriculation – as is the usual practice. The Go Lean/CU plan is for forgive-able loans only.

This would be a winning strategy for Caribbean communities; and appears to be the election for Detroit as well. This is a full reflection of the community ethos of the Greater Good.

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

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

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

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

The Go Lean book details how education is a vital consideration for Caribbean economic empowerment, but with lessons-learned from all the flawed decision-making in the past, both individually and community-wise. The book details those policies; and other ethos to adopt, plus the executions of the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to deploy better education options in the region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 28
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Education without Risk of Abandonment	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Education Department	Page 85
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Labor Department – Job Training	Page 89
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education	Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Student Loans	Page 160
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Better Managed the Social Contract – Education Optimizations	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries – Anchors for e-Learning	Page 187
Appendix – Education and Economic Growth	Page 258
Appendix – Measuring Education	Page 266

Detroit is presented in the Go Lean book as a cautionary tale for the Caribbean.. Previous blogs had detailed so many lessons from the City of Detroit, and other metropolitan Michigan communities. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7789	An Ode to Detroit – Good Luck on Trade!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7601	Beware of Vulture Capitalists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7268	Detroit giving schools their ‘Worst Shot’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7235	Flint, Michigan – A Cautionary Tale
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6609	Before and After Photos Showing Detroit’s Riverfront Transformation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6269	Education & Economics: Welcome to Detroit, Mr. President
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6022	Caribbean Diaspora in Detroit … Celebrating Heritage
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5597	The Dire Strait of Unions and Collective Bargaining
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5055	A Lesson from an Empowering Family in Detroit
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4913	Ann Arbor: Model for ‘Start-up’ Cities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4476	De-icing Detroit’s Winter Roads: Impetuous & Short Term
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3713	NEXUS: Facilitating Detroit-Windsor Cross-Border Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3326	M-1 Rail: Alternative Motion in the MotorCity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3311	Detroit to exit historic bankruptcy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3164	Michigan Unemployment – Then and Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480	A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1656	Blue is the New Green – Managing Michigan’s Water Resources
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=970	JP Morgan Chase’s $100 million Detroit investment

The above list features a lot of examples of Detroit’s bad behavior, but this commentary here is highlighting something positive, investing in community college education for young people. This is good, and for the Greater Good.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the changes described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This presents a win-win for the Caribbean. This is conceivable, believable and achievable. Educational options can help to make our homeland a place to live, work, learn and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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This Day In History: Jamaican Innovation for Hip Hop

Posted on August 11, 2016 in Ethos, Implementation, Social

#GoLeanCommentary

This day – August 11 – in 1973 …

… a member of the Caribbean Diaspora – Jamaica – may have changed the world … for Hip Hop. On this day in 1973, Clive Campbell – better known to history as DJ Kool Herc – helped out his sister by “DJ-ing” her birthday party in a recreation room in The Bronx. History shows that he used his inspiration and influence from his Caribbean musical roots to innovate a music style and performance that would subsequently change the world … for good …

… or bad.

It’s music; you be the judge.

Musical taste is like “beauty” … in the “eye of the beholder”. The main thing is that the music made you listen and maybe learned something about the urban experience of America … and now the world.

See the story of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc here:

Title: This Day In History: 1973 – Hip Hop is born at a birthday party in the Bronx

Like any style of music, hip hop has roots in other forms, and its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there’s a case to be made that it came to life precisely on this day in 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City. The location of that birthplace was 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and the man who presided over that historic party was the birthday girl’s brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip hop.

Born and raised to the age of 10 in Kingston, Jamaica, DJ Kool Herc began spinning records at parties and between sets his father’s band played while he was a teenager in the Bronx in the early 1970s. Herc often emulated the style of Jamaican “selectors” (DJs) by “toasting” (i.e., talking) over the records he spun, but his historical significance has nothing to do with rapping. Kool Herc’s contribution to hip hop was even more fundamental.

DJ Kool Herc’s signature innovation came from observing how the crowds would react to different parts of whatever record he happened to be playing: “I was noticing people used to wait for particular parts of the record to dance, maybe [to] do their specialty move.” Those moments tended to occur at the drum breaks—the moments in a record when the vocals and other instruments would drop out completely for a measure or two of pure rhythm. What Kool Herc decided to do was to use the two turntables in a typical DJ setup not as a way to make a smooth transition between two records, but as a way to switch back and forth repeatedly between two copies of the same record, extending the short drum break that the crowd most wanted to hear. He called his trick the Merry Go-Round. Today, it is known as the “break beat.” [(See Appendix VIDEO below).]

By the summer of 1973, DJ Kool Herc had been using and refining his break-beat style for the better part of a year. His sister’s party on August 11, however, put him before his biggest crowd ever and with the most powerful sound system he’d ever worked. It was the success of that party that would begin a grassroots musical revolution, fully six years before the term “hip hop” even entered the popular vocabulary.
Source: History Channel – This Day In History – Posted & Retrieved August 11, 2016 from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hip-hop-is-born-at-a-birthday-party-in-the-bronx

Can we – in the Caribbean and from the Caribbean – change the world again?

Yes, we can!

This consideration is in line with the book Go Lean … Caribbean. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean culture with 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance.

This will not be the first time a Caribbean personality has changed the world through music (and hopefully not the last). Previously, this blog-commentary detailed the influence of music icon Bob Marley. Today, his name is synonymous with Reggae and socially-conscious music. RIP Bob Marley (1945 – 1981).

The Go Lean book identifies, in total, 169 different musical/national combinations of genres throughout the Caribbean. From these styles, Hip Hop has had its origins and roots. And then the transformation continued, with more inspiration back to the Caribbean sounds and more social messaging (classic of Reggae) going back to the Hip Hop sound.

Music does not stand still; it evolves. An excellent example of this cross-meshing is the musical genre of Reggaeton:

Reggaetón is a genre of music characterized by its repetitive beat rhythm that originated in Puerto Rico. Its roots can be traced back to the “underground” music of the island during the late 90’s, when music borrowing elements of reggae, rap, and hip-hop was being performed (in Spanish) in small, unofficial venues. Bootleg recordings and word of mouth were the means of distribution for this music until 1997. In 1998 eventually that music coalesced into what today is known as Reggaeton. The music’s popularity skyrocketed in the early 2000s as it spread to North American, European, Asian, and African audiences.^[1] Source: Retrieved 08/11/2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggaeton.

See sample Reggaetón song here: https://youtu.be/uHgnebZ_jYo

The movement behind the Go Lean book asserts that “one person can make a difference”. So just like Bob Marley, Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, should be recognized for his contributions to music, culture and Caribbean identity. This one Caribbean character has made a difference while residing as an alien in a foreign land. He has forge an example and a sample of how other Caribbean stakeholders can do more in the arts and impact the world – we can build a city on “rock-and-roll”.

Too bad he made this impact after leaving his Caribbean home of Jamaica.

Alas, we now bring the quest for change to Jamaica and all of the rest of the Caribbean. And that quest includes music and the arts. Early in the Go Lean book, the contributions that music can make is pronounced as an community ethos for the entire region to embrace, (Declaration of Interdependence – Page 15) with these statements:

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

This Go Lean/CU roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the community ethos – the fundamental spirit of a culture that drives the beliefs, customs and practices – in that society. Music should be appreciated for the truth of its power; it “can soothe the savage beast”. It can communicate culture and impact the economics for a people. One person, or a group of people can do this, can make a difference.

The following list from the Go Lean book details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the next generation of artist:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Unified CaribbeanSingle Market	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration	Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Jamaica	Page 239

Thank you Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc; see Appendix VIDEO below.

Thank you for setting the pathway for success for new generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists – musical geniuses of Caribbean heritage – who are sure to follow. These artists, too will “rock the world”.

We are hereby “banking” on it here in the Caribbean, as communicated further in that Declaration of Interdependence – Page 13:

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.

The Go Lean book posits “a change is going to come” to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change and empowerment. Let’s do this … and make our homeland – all of the Caribbean – a better place to live, work and play.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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

————

Appendix VIDEO – Kool DJ Herc, Merry Go Round – https://youtu.be/Hw4H2FZjfpo

Uploaded on Oct 26, 2009 – Kool DJ Herc describing how he invented the idea of playing two breakbeats together.

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Build It and They Will Come – India’s $90 Billion Investment

Posted on August 10, 2016 in Government, Implementation, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Here are some interesting rankings about India:

World largest population: # 2 – 1.2 Billion people (Only behind China)

Ease of doing business? # 132 (2015; 130 for 2016; see Appendix B)

That gap, between 2 and 132, is a wide chasm for India to bridge.

What is this country to do? And what lessons can we learn from them, here in the Caribbean?

(Though our population is so small, our Ease of Doing Business rating is equally depressing; the best Caribbean option is Jamaica at 64).

The answer is investment!

Working for a Return on Investments is one of the driving forces of the book (and movement) Go Lean … Caribbean. The book asserts that in order to get the optimal return on any investment a community must adopt the appropriate “community ethos”, the fundamental spirit of a culture that drives the beliefs, customs and practices of its society. In this case, the identifying ethos is: Deferred Gratification.

India is embarking on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. This is a ribbon of development along a route from Delhi to Mumbai, that traverses 6 (internal) states in India; see Appendix A. (India is a Federal Republic, with a President over the federal government, while states are led by governors). This plan so resembles the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU.

This commentary is the 3 of 3 from the Go Lean movement on the subject of Infrastructure Policy. As related in previous submissions in this series, the assertion is that “if we build it, they will come”. This is a movie metaphor, yes, but it accurately depicts the surety of investing in capital infrastructure projects; or perhaps even more poignant, it conveys the surety of failure of not investing. The other commentaries detailed in this series are as follows:

Before & After – Washington DC’s Streetcars Model
Clinton vs Trump Campaigns – Politics of Infrastructure
India’s Model – $90 billion infrastructure projects.

All of these commentaries are economic in nature, stressing the community investments required for nation-building. As depicted in this VIDEO here, India is playing catch-up in this regards with an aggressive plan – a “quantum leap”:

VIDEO – Amitabh Kant at TEDxDelhi on India’s Infrastructure Development – https://youtu.be/8BvMybtJ1-E

TEDx Talks
Published on Dec 17, 2012 – Presently posted as CEO & MD of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is a mega infra-structure project of $90 billion covering an overall length of 1483 KMs between the political capital and the business capital of India.

A dynamic personality, Amitabh Kant has conceptualized and executed the positioning and branding of Kerala as “God’s Own Country” and later the “Incredible !ndia” campaign. Both these campaigns have won several International awards and embraced a host of activities — Infrastructure development, product enhancement, changes in organizational culture and promotional partnerships based on intensive market research. He has structured large infrastructure projects for diversification of India’s tourism product and sourced international funding through the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and UNDP.

During his tenure as Chairman and Managing Director, India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) he radically restructured the organization and turned it around into a highly profitable commercial enterprise. He also has wide ranging experience in innovative technical and financial structuring of Private — Public — Partnership in infrastructure projects and implemented the Calicut Airport project based on User’s fee, the BSES Kerala Power project and the Mattanchary Bridge project.

Category: Science & Technology

As demonstrated here in India, big infrastructure projects are necessary community investments – a “quantum leap” with a $90 Billion industrial corridor along 1500 kilometers. Is it possible for the Caribbean to consider such deployments?

Yes! The book Go Lean … Caribbean details exactly how the Big Infrastructure Projects for our region are to be conceived and achieved, (Page 127), with Self-Governing Entities and Exclusive Economic Zones. Most importantly, the roadmap details a plan to fund the projects.

The Go Lean/CU movement champions the cause of building and optimizing the overall Caribbean infrastructure. According to the foregoing VIDEO, it is important to identify and qualify funding sources for such ventures. There is the need for “new guards” for the Caribbean in this perspective. So there is the expectation that integrating and consolidating to a Single Market will contribute to the fulfillment of the Go Lean prime directives, defined here as follows:

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

The Go Lean roadmap anticipates the opportunities of major infrastructure investments. However, the roadmap recognizes that many of the projects envisioned for the region may be too big for just one member-state alone; that it will take regional – super-national coordination. This point is highlighted in the opening Declaration of Interdependence, (Pages 12 & 14):

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

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

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

The CU mission is to plan, fund, deploy and maintain infrastructure projects that are too big for any one member-state alone. Crossing borders will mean including member-states of various legalities: some independent member-states and some dependent overseas territories. This brings to the fore an array of issues, like legislative authority and currency. The Go Lean/CU regional roadmap undoubtedly calls for a common currency strategy; thusly, it calls for the establishment of the allied Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to manage the monetary and currency affairs of each member-state in the region, independent or dependent territory. The Go Lean book describes the breath-and-width of the CCB as a technocratic institution with better stewardship, than in the recent past. From the outset, this stewardship was envisioned and pronounced in the same Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13):

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

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

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

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

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: People Choose because Resources are Limited	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles: Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Integrate and Consolidate into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Facilitating Currency Union, Caribbean Dollar	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Collaborate for the Caribbean Central Bank	Page 45
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 64
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – $800 Billion Economy – How and When – Trade	Page 67
Tactical – Recovering from Economic Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Caribbean Central Bank	Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 117
Implementation – Ways to Benefit Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Better Liquidity from Regional Capital Markets	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Optimize Transportation Options	Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – Optimize Transportation Options	Page 235

The Caribbean region must learn this important lesson from the country of India: infrastructure is not optional. Put in the infrastructure in advance and it brings growth; it becomes an investment. But play catch-up afterwards and it bears a heavy cost burden.

Previous Go Lean commentaries highlighted other countries and communities that did the hard-work, the heavy-lifting, to facilitate their infrastructural needs so as to better compete in the world’s markets. This is the world that we in the Caribbean competes in – with trade and culture – so it is important to consider all lessons learned. Here is a sample of issues addressed and elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8549	Enhancing Sports Infrastructure for an Olympic dream – Some Day Maybe
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7989	Transforming Infrastructure with ‘Free Money’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7384	Infrastructure for Oil Refineries – Strategy for Advanced Economics
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6231	China’s Caribbean Playbook: Helping Transform the region
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016	The Need for Infrastructure to abate Climate Change’s excessive heat
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5921	The Art & Science of Impact Analyses for Big infrastructure projects
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3028	India is doing better than many Emerging Market countries. Why?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2953	Funding Caribbean Entrepreneurs – The ‘Crowdfunding’ Way
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2750	Good Model: Disney World as a Self-Governing Entity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2670	A Lesson in History of Infrastructure Projects: Rockefeller’s Pipeline
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2435	Latin America’s Dream and Trade Role-model: Korea
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2090	Elaborating on the CU and CCB as Hallmarks of a Technocracy

The Caribbean is arguably the best address on the planet, but for modern life and conveniences, and to better compete with the rest of the world regarding trade and culture, we need to upgrade our infrastructure, and then keep pace with industrial best-practices. We need to make these investments. The returns on these investments are jobs and economic empowerments; (think entrepreneurship).

There is no choice to “opt-out”. If we do not invest, our people will “opt-out” instead, as has been the past experience, especially evident with our societal abandonment rate (brain drain) of 70%.

This past – our status quo – cannot continue as our future.

We must do better!

India did … so can we.

Ease of doing business is a real metric. We can “inch up” the chart and elevate our business eco-system accordingly; India increased from 132 to 130 in 2016.

The governments, institutions and businesses are hereby urged to “lean-in” for the deployments/empowerments as described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is our “quantum leap”; the solutions herein are conceivable, believable & achievable. Yes, we can, “build it and they – progress – will come” to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix A – Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project is a planned State-Sponsored Industrial Development Project of the Government of India. It is one of the world’s biggest infrastructure projects with an estimated investment of US$90 billion and is planned as a hi-tech industrial zone spread across seven states along the 1,500 km long Western Dedicated Freight Corridor which serves as its backbone.^[1]

It includes 24 industrial regions, eight smart cities, two airports, five power projects, two mass rapid transit systems and two logistical hubs.^[1] The eight investment regions proposed to be developed in Phase I of DMIC are Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad (in UP); Manesar- Bawal (in Haryana); Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana and Jodhpur- Pali-Marwar (in Rajasthan); Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow (in MP); Ahmedabad-Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) in Gujarat; the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Park and Dighi Port Industrial Area in Maharashtra.^[1]

India needs to employ over 100 million people within the next decade and so this project assumes vital importance to develop manufacturing centres that could employ millions.

The ambitious Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) has received major boost with India and Japan inking an agreement to set up a project development fund. The initial size of the Fund will be ₹10 billion (US$148.6 million). Both the Japanese and Indian governments are likely to contribute equally. The work is already underway and progressing at a rapid pace, with the Dedicated Freight Corridor expected to be completed by 2017.^[2]

Source: Retrieved August 10, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Mumbai_Industrial_Corridor_Project

———–

Appendix B – World Bank 2016 Ease of Doing Business Ranking

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Build It and They Will Come – Politics of Infrastructure

Posted on August 10, 2016 in Government, Implementation, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

How to grow the economy?

This was an original question that launched the book Go Lean … Caribbean. In August 2011 the US Chamber published a recommendation to American power brokers on how to recover from the Great Recession and create jobs in the US. They detailed a plan that included doubling down on infrastructure spending in the US. In response, the Go Lean publishers created its own roadmap for the Caribbean; assuredly, infrastructure activities was also prominent for the regional plan. The 10-point plan – as published in the Go Lean book on Page 152 – included:

Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy
Feed Ourselves
Clothe Ourselves
House Ourselves
Update Our Own Infrastructure and the industries they spun
Steer More People to S.T.E.M. Education and Careers
Help Regional Businesses Find Foreign Markets
Welcome Home Emigrants
Welcome “Empowering” Immigrants
Draw More Tourists

This commentary is the 2 of 3 from the Go Lean movement on the subject of Infrastructure Policy. As related in the previous submission in this series, “if we build it, they will come”. This movie metaphor conveys the surety of investing in capital infrastructure projects; or worse yet, the surety of failure by not investing. The other commentaries detailed in this series are as follows:

Before & After – Washington DC’s Streetcars Model
Clinton vs Trump Campaigns – Politics of Infrastructure
India’s Model – $90 billion in infrastructure projects

All of these commentaries are economic in nature, not political. As depicted in this news article, regardless of the candidate elected President of the United States in the impending November 2016 election, infrastructure activities must be pursued. See the article here:

Title: Clinton, Trump both would build infrastructure, likely pay for it the same way
By: Patti Domm, CNBC Executive News Editor

No matter who wins the White House, there is likely to be a big jump in infrastructure spending — and both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton may ultimately look to the same pot of gold to fund their spending, according to Strategas.

Trump made it clear when he unveiled his economic plan Monday that he’s going to be a big spender on the nation’s highways and bridges, though voters have heard him discuss it before. He also says he wants U.S. companies to repatriate their foreign cash, proposing a one-time tax holiday that would allow them to pay just 10 percent to bring their cash home. That money would be used to pay for infrastructure.

Democrat Hillary Clinton also proposes an infrastructure plan, and both candidates will have to get their proposals approved by Congress. The Democrats propose an infrastructure bank as part of their plan.

But both candidates could look to the repatriation tax holiday for the $2 trillion stashed overseas to cover some of the costs of their proposed infrastructure spending, according to Dan Clifton, head of policy research at Strategas.

Clifton said it’s likely the House of Representatives remains Republican, and House Republicans are going to challenge either candidate on spending.

“You could even say that she’ll be forced to do repatriation to get her infrastructure. She also wants to do renewable energy and broadband, and that’s all negotiable,” said Clifton.

Strategas put together a basket of infrastructure stocks, and that index is up 23 percent year to date. It includes 21 names such as Jacobs Engineering, KBR, Lennox International, Martin Marietta, Vulcan Materials, Granite Construction, Apogee Enterprises, Fluor Corp, Eagle Materials and Simpson Manufacturing.

Other names in the index are Dycom Industries,Gibraltor Industries,Masco Corp, Quanex Building Products, Headwaters Inc, Griffon Corp,NCI Building Systems, Universal Forest Products, Quanta Services and EMCOR

Clifton said despite the fact that both candidates had been strong proponents of infrastructure spending, the stocks have been more correlated to Clinton. “There’s 92 percent correlation between their outperformance and her probability of winning,” he said.

But Trump has been pushing a tax holiday, and stocks that would benefit from that are also gaining.

Strategas used seven companies with the most aggregate cash overseas as a proxy for the possibility of a repatriation deal. Those companies have been rising since mid-July and they are all tech, a sector that started performing better during earnings season.

They include Alphabet, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Cisco and Oracle.

The repatriation idea is not new. A voluntary repatriation was approved by Congress in 2004, and $300 billion of $600 billion stashed overseas returned to the U.S., according to Strategas.

In 2005, the companies that repatriated the most cash had no outperformance when compared to the S&P 500. But those that repatriated the most as a percentage of market cap doubled the S&P 500, according to Strategas.
Source: CNBC Consumer & Business Channel – Market Insider – Posted & Retrieved August 8, 2016 from: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/08/trump-clinton-tax-plans-may-need-same-pot-of-gold.html

Source for charts: Strategas

Rising above the politics, are big infrastructure projects being considered for Caribbean deployment?

Yes! The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that infrastructure investment is necessary to grow the regional economy and asserts a plan to fund them (Page 152). It conveys the same thought of doubling down on infrastructure spending.

The book extols the principle that infrastructure activities are necessary to leverage the region for future growth. This is a mandate for the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. This technocracy must rise above the politics and oversee the regional optimization in these areas:

economics
security
lean government

The foregoing news article focuses on more than just politics, but considers the capital markets and related companies to invest in to profit from America’s imminent infrastructure Big Spend. Rather than just 1 company, the article is advocating investing in an “Index” (see Appendix) that tracks the performance of the infrastructure construction and maintenance industry as a whole.

Ditto for the Caribbean!

Any hope for success here will depend on adequate funding. The Go Lean book therefore advocates for Caribbean people (and Direct Foreign Investors) to take stock – invest their time, talents and treasuries – in Caribbean infrastructure projects and Caribbean capital markets.

What projects are considered for the Caribbean? The book identifies this sample lists:

Virtual “Turnpike” Operations – Page 127:
Ferries, Causeways/Bridges, Pipelines, Tunnels, Railways and limited access highways will function as “blood vessels to connect all the organs” within the region, thus allowing easier transport of goods and people among the islands and the mainland states (Belize, Guyana or Suriname) – See Appendix IC (Page 280) Alaska Marine Highway.

Capital Markets as Economic Engine – Page 151:
A single market and currency union will allow for the emergence of viable capital markets for stocks and bonds (public and private), thereby creating the economic engine needed to fuel growth, expansion and development.

Update Our Own Infrastructure Operations – Page 152:
Roads, bridges, ports, ship-building dry-docks, utilities and media outlets create companies and jobs for implementation and maintenance. Many of the infrastructure projects will cover the transportation sector; with improvements here, the result will be more traffic (passenger & cargo). This opens new modes for travelers/visitors/tourists to come to their favorite resort destination. (Consider Fast Ferries boats and Spring Break).

The Go Lean/CU movement champions the cause of building and optimizing the overall Caribbean infrastructure. According to the foregoing article, it is important to identify and qualify funding sources for such ventures. There is the need for “new guards” for the Caribbean in this perspective. So there is the expectation that integrating and consolidating to a Single Market will contribute to the fulfillment of the Go Lean prime directives, defined here as follows:

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

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

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 … impacting the region with more jobs.

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

The CU mission is to plan, fund, deploy and maintain many infrastructure projects that are too big for any one member-state alone. A regional eco-system will deliver on new market opportunities of improved infrastructure for the Caribbean, as depicted in the foregoing news article for the US. The Go Lean book therefore details many strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies that will facilitate this readiness; a sample is detailed here:

Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Choose because Resources are Limited	Page 21
Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research and Development	Page 30
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Emergency Management – Response	Page 76
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of State – Self Governing Entities	Page 80
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage – Electrified Buses/Trains	Page 113
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security – Disaster Response	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources	Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Regional Capital Markets	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street – Development Authorities	Page 201
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Monopolies – Maximize Liquidity with Capital Markets	Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry – Support New Infrastructure	Page 206
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Transit Options	Page 234

Previous blog-commentaries touched on many related issues and subjects that affect the politics and planning of Caribbean infrastructure projects. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8549	Enhancing Sporting Infrastructure for an Olympic dream – One Day
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7384	Infrastructure for Oil Refineries – Strategy for Advanced Economics
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7268	Bad Model: Detroit’s lacking infrastructure for schools
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7056	Infrastructure for Electric Cars: ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6231	China’s Caribbean Playbook: America’s Script for Infrastructure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016	The Need for Infrastructure To Abate Excessive Summers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5921	The Art & Science of Impact Analyses of Big Infrastructure Projects
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2670	A Lesson in History of Infrastructure Projects: Rockefeller’s Pipeline
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2041	Good Model: The New York / New Jersey Port Authority
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214	Good Model: The Art & Science of Temporary Stadiums

The Caribbean needs help…with transportation, jobs, and overall economic activities. Infrastructure projects are a great place to start: bridges, tunnels, causeways, highways, government building, etc. These do not just bring construction jobs, but they also improve the eco-system for a better business climate. This is bigger than just politics; this is survival.

This is also how to grow our economy.

The people of the region are urged to “lean-in” for the deployments/empowerments as described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are too alluring to miss out: emergence of an $800 Billion single market economy, 2.2 million new jobs and a hopeful prospect for our Caribbean youth. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix VIDEO – Common Sense Investing: Use index funds when possible – https://youtu.be/GF5vThMkF-U

Uploaded on Jun 27, 2011 – http://www.financinglife.org
What is an index fund? And why do they outperform in the long run? Plus, learn how to tell a good mutual fund from a bad one.

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Build It and They Will Come – Streetcars Model – ENCORE

Posted on August 9, 2016 in Implementation, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

“Build it and they will come” – Movie quotation from A Field of Dreams – See VIDEO Appendix below.

This phrase has been echoed many times … especially in the effort to justify big capital infrastructure projects. Think sports stadia, highways, shopping malls, airports (i.e. the new Denver International). This is tied to the “Law of Attraction”; see details here:

If You Build it, Will They Come?

What is the relationship between intent and outcome? Does the Field of Dreams quote, “if you build it, they will come” have truth to it? Not exactly, but it does allude to an important and true concept (which is likely why we still quote, and mis-quote, it today).

The truth is: If you build it, you increase the odds of them coming. In other words, if you put thought and energy you put into a project you increase the likelihood of success.

Field of Dreams as a Metaphor for the Law of Attraction

Metaphorically speaking, attention plants a seed, while effort, time, and action give the seed the best opportunity to grow and thrive. However, there is no certainty the seed will grow, what the plant will look like, or whether it will produce fruit (that’s all up to nature and luck). Planting the seed and tending to it increases the odds that it’ll grow something, but it doesn’t ensure it.

The inverse, however, has more certainty. If you pay no attention to an idea and make no effort to manifest it, you decrease the odds of it materializing. If it does materialize it will almost certainly come from someone else who dedicated attention and effort over time. The more time, attention, effort, and thought you apply to an idea the more likely it is that something will come of it. If we build a baseball diamond and never go there again there is less chance of people coming. If we put effort into tending to the field and we are more likely to attract an audience.
Source: Retrieved August 9, 2016 from: http://factmyth.com/factoids/if-you-build-it-they-will-come/

Previously, this commentary identified the streetcar project in the US capital city of Washington D.C.. The effort was designed to be an anchor for re-development of a blighted urban area.

How did it turn out? See photos in the Appendix below.

The project is now live for the 2.4 mile stretch of H Street.

There is a lot of construction ongoing, and more planned.

People, business activity and hope is coming!

This commentary is the 1 of 3 from the Go Lean movement on the subject of Infrastructure Policy. All of these commentaries are economic in nature; the other blogs detailed in this series are as follows:

Before & After – Washington DC’s Streetcars Model
Clinton vs Trump Campaigns – Politics of Infrastructure
India’s Model – $90 billion infrastructure projects

The original blog-commentary from November 1, 2014 on the Washington, DC Streetcar is ENCORED here; followed by new, yet related Appendices:

—————-

Go Lean Commentary

The US capital city of Washington D.C. is now embarking on the deployment of a streetcar system … again. Between 1862 and 1962, streetcars in Washington, D.C., were a common mode of transportation, but the system was dismantled in the early 1960s as part of a switch to bus service.

One step forward, two steps backwards!

The District now embarks on a re-deployment, pivotal to a re-development of blighted urban areas. See story here:

August 4, 2014 – The Washington D.C. Department of Transportation will begin training streetcar operators in traffic for the first time this week along H Street and Benning Road in Northeast Washington. [The full system implementation is planned for late 2014].

The DC Streetcar is a surface light rail and streetcar network under construction in Washington, D.C. The streetcars will be the first to run in the District of Columbia since the dismantling of the previous streetcar system in 1962. The District of Columbia began laying track in 2009 for two lines whose locations in Anacostia and Benning were chosen to revitalize blighted commercial corridors. Initially, the system will be funded and owned by the District’s Department of Transportation (DDOT).

The D.C. government owns three Czech-built Inekon streetcars (destined for the Anacostia Line) that will serve the system; as of December 2009, they were in storage at Metro’s Greenbelt Rail Yard; [but now fully engaged in test runs]. Each car is eight ft (2.438 meters) wide and 66 feet (20.12 m) long, and each train consists of three car connected sections.

The City’s hope is that now with all the new bars and restaurants opening on H Street, this streetcar line will encourage people (residents, business commuters and tourists) to visit here. Mayor Vincent Gray states “what we’re trying to do is encourage people as a part of our sustainability plan to find other ways of moving around. Eventually, this will be a 37-mile system that will get people to every ward in the District of Columbia.”
WJLA Local ABC 7 TV News
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/08/d-c-streetcar-operator-training-begins-this-week-105726.html
Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia (Retrieved November 3, 2014) –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Streetcar

WJLA TV News Video: http://youtu.be/EY0d8E3304M

Why is there a need to re-start the streetcar system? Why did the streetcars end? Conspiracy theories abound. The following VIDEO portrays the story, and admittedly, there is a ring of truth:

In this excerpt from Stephen Talbot’s “Heartbeat of America” (1993), Christopher Snell explains how GM conspired with oil & tire companies to kill streetcars in cities all across America in order to create an inferior bus system that would guarantee the sale of tires, gas, and bus parts for an eternity.
VIDEO – Who Killed The Electric Street Car? – http://youtu.be/wFhsrbtQObI

The fact that Washington DC, and other cities (see VIDEO below of Portland’s effort), are re-deploying streetcars is proof-positive of the economic and logistical benefits of streetcars. Instead of gasoline or diesel vehicles, streetcars use energy-efficient electrified lines to power the vehicle up-and-down city streets. This is a win-win for all stakeholders!

Are streetcars being considered for Caribbean deployment, especially as these member-states report very high fuel costs and feature old-narrow streets?

Absolutely, yes! The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts transportation solutions that include streetcars, light-rail, natural-gas powered vehicles and toll roads to empower the region through mass transit (Page 205).

Why not autonomous (driver-less) streetcars? This vision is one of intensive remote monitoring, plus unified command-and-control to mitigate security/safety concerns. (Think Disney World’s Mono-Rail). This is the future that is being planned, developed and tested now. The experience of the last 100 years is that those doing the planning, developing and testing for futuristic technologies are the ones that profit most from the economic gains.

The book, Go Lean … Caribbean, therefore extols the principle that R&D (research and development) activities are necessary to profit from advantages in technology. We want to do R&D here in the Caribbean. This is a mandate for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. This technocracy will assume oversight to optimize the region in the areas of:

(1) economics
(2) security
(3) lean government

This vision of an autonomous streetcar aligns with the scope of Self-Governing Entities (SGEs) throughout the Caribbean region. On these bordered grounds (technology bases, industrial parks, research campuses, theater districts, medical centers, etc), only CU federal regulation and jurisdiction apply. This allows for the nimble environment to develop, test and deploy autonomous vehicles. This is the benefit of lean governmental coordination, so that a launch of these initiatives becomes possible and probable.

Though not written with this particular initiative in mind, the Go Lean roadmap anticipates such opportunities, as pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence, (Pages 12 & 14):

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.

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

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

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

Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Choose because Resources are Limited	Page 21
Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives	Page 21
Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research and Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Emergency Management	Page 76
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of State – SGE’s	Page 80
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up – Command-and-Control	Page 103
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the EEZ	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage – Electrified Buses/Trains	Page 113
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources	Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop the Auto Industry	Page 206
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Transit Options	Page 234

The world is preparing for the change for more efficient mass transit options and also to deploy more autonomous systems to do the heavy-lifting of industrial engagements. A new ethos to prepare for this change has now come to the Caribbean.

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

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2750	Walt Disney World’s example of an SGE – Their Florida Resort features autonomous “monorails”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2338	Mitigating the Dreaded ‘Plutocracy’, as GM practiced in the US in the past to quash the thriving Streetcar enterprises throughout the country
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2259	The Criminalization/Abuses of American Business – Applying the many Lessons Learned
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2126	Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping the Global Job Market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1487	Here come the Autonomous Aircrafts/Drones … and the Concerns
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1277	Google Self-Driving cars to mitigate highway safety concerns
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214	Fairgrounds as SGEs and the CU as Landlord for Sports Leagues – Great need to move masses (thousands) to stadia/arenas in short time
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915	*Go Green Caribbean* – Streetcars are electric, less carbon footprint
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=829	Trains and Trucks play well together
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=673	Ghost ships – Autonomous cargo vessels without a crew

Re-deploy, re-develop, and re-boot…

All of these verbs are germane for this Go Lean roadmap. The Caribbean needs help…with transportation solutions, jobs, growing the economy, and motivating our youth to impact their future here at home… in the Caribbean.

Therefore the people of the region are urged to “lean-in” for the changes/empowerments as described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits of this roadmap are too alluring to miss out: emergence of an $800 Billion single market economy, 2.2 million new jobs and relevance on the world scene for R&D. 🙂

Let’s all Go Lean!

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

———–

VIDEO – Portland’s Streetcar revival – Federal aid has helped spur the construction of modern U.S. streetcars for the first time in 58 years. http://youtu.be/BIcVlCB0er0

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Appendix – Family Photo Album – Caribbean Visitor to the DC Streetcar – Summer 2016

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Appendix VIDEO – If You Build It, He Will Come – Field of Dreams (1989) – https://youtu.be/5Ay5GqJwHF8

Uploaded on May 30, 2011 –
Field of Dreams movie clips: http://j.mp/1Ja20Lz
BUY THE MOVIE: http://amzn.to/rPcyVp

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ENCORE: Caribbean’s Olympic Dreams

Posted on August 5, 2016 in Ethos, Locations, Planning, Social, Strategy

It’s time for the Olympics!

The Olympic Games are considered to be the world’s foremost sports competition.^[2] These modern games are the leading international sporting events (featuring summer and winter sports competitions) in which thousands of athletes from around the world – more than 200 nations – participate in the variety of athletic feats.

The Caribbean is duly represented, with a variety of athletes competing for their ancestral home countries – see photos in the Appendix below – and even some competing for adopted residential countries. This brings to mind a question of whether the Caribbean can someday, maybe, quite possibly consider the wild dream of hosting the games in one of its member-states. This proposition has been debated and dismissed; see this previous blog-commentary from March 12, 2014 regarding this laughable assertion. Ha ha ha …

This commentary is encored here today, August 5, 2016, on the occasion of the opening day of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. See VIDEO here showcasing media coverage in the Caribbean member-state of the Cayman Islands:

VIDEO – Olympics 2016 in Rio, Brazil – Flow brings Caribbean coverage – https://youtu.be/5LP9mje0bHo

Retrieved August 5, 2016 – Get ready for the action in Rio with Flow, Official broadcast partner of the 2016 Olympic Games for the Caribbean.

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

Go Lean Commentary

Freedom of speech is great for the flow of information in a democracy. But freedom of speech has its limits, notwithstanding libel, slander and defamation possibilities. If a person yells out “FIRE, FIRE” in a crowded theater, knowing that there is no fire, the resultant panic and crush of people fleeing for the exits is actually criminally liable. In some jurisdiction, if death results, the culprit can be charged with statues against “depraved indifference”. Wow, that could be serious!

On the other hand, there is the practice of dreaming and acting on dreams. Some of the biggest accomplishments in world history, started as someone’s dreams. Once actuated, one step after another led to the eventual fulfillment of the dream. Once actuated, one step after another led to the eventual fulfillment of the dream. See this article here from Caribbean Journal Online News Site; retrieved 02/12/2014 from http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/02/13/caribbean-idea-could-the-caribbean-host-the-olympic-games/:

While the Caribbean has become relatively accustomed to dominating at the Summer Olympics, this year’s crop of Caribbean winter athletes has us thinking. With all of the Caribbean’s continued success in international athletics, why couldn’t the region (or one of the countries in the region host the Summer Olympics?

The Olympics has been held in the US, Asia, Australia, Europe and (soon) South America, but never in the Caribbean. So we looked around the region to think about which countries could, at least hypothetically host the Games. The Games must be based in a single city; given much of the region’s size, the Games would likely need to be held across an entire island, though perhaps nominally based in a city.

A potential Caribbean host country would also need several major qualities: a large enough territory to host the myriad events held in the Summer Games; a high enough level of infrastructural development; a big enough airport and a hotel stock large enough that it could expand without too much difficulty to meet the needs of the Games. We isolated several Caribbean islands: Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico.

Jamaica is large enough and its hotel stock is big enough, but its infrastructural development would need work; given Jamaica’s brand equity around the world (and its athletic dominance), this could be a natural choice, with Montego Bay being the best fit for a single city given its topography. Hispaniola would be the most provocative choice: could two neighbors that often have a stormy relationship bridge their divides and come together for international sport? Lack of infrastructure, particularly on the Haitian side, would be an issue, but adding that infrastructure would also enormously benefit the western half of the island.

Could the Games be held in Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo together? Trinidad and Tobago has the infrastructural development, the territorial size, and the airport, but a small hotel stock. Could Port of Spain host the Games with many events held in Tobago? A system of fast ferries and increased flights would make for an entertaining twin-island Olympics.

Guadeloupe would be a bit of a wild card; its roads and infrastructural development far outpace much of the region; it has enough undeveloped land and a relatively large size. Could the Games spread across each of the islands of the archipelago? Puerto Rico is large, with developed infrastructure, and it’s part of the United States, with a relatively robust hotel stock and strong existing sports infrastructure. Of course, its debt problems would pose a significant hindrance to hosting the Games in the next few decades.

Cuba is another option, although the continued embargo from the United States would likely be a significant stumbling block. Otherwise, the island has the size, infrastructure and level of development to be considered. There’s another option — what about a regionally-hosted Olympics? Would the IOC ever support something like that? Would the Caribbean grant temporary approval for foreign airlines to operate regional service? Would a fast-ferry company seize on the opportunity?

If the region could source the majority of the funding from sponsorship’s and other external sources, the benefits of new hotels, infrastructure, investment and prestige could be significant. But the Caribbean would need to ensure that the foreign money was enough that it didn’t put it any further into already-crippling debt. Ultimately, the question is this: instead of spending billions on developed countries hosting the Games, why not spend the same money for an Olympic Games that actually leads to development?

Imagine a Trinidad or a Jamaica or a Hispaniola with fresh, modern hotels, large stadia and, crucially, sparkling new roads (not to mention the vast tourism marketing potential of hosting the Games). Of course, there’s another major issue: the weather. Summer in the Caribbean means the risk of hurricanes. But with major storms popping up across the globe, is the Caribbean really alone in that risk anymore? And couldn’t Olympic development be done at a hurricane-proof standard?

What do you think? Could the Caribbean ever host an Olympic Games?

The Caribbean hosting the Olympics is just dreaming, not reporting. Most men and women standing on the podium receiving their winning medals can trace their origins back to some dream. A dream for the athlete, coach and/or parent. Sometimes, too the whole community is dreaming. Is the thought of the Caribbean hosting the Olympics some day just a dream now in 2014 or can the “dominoes” be put in place that once actuated can lead to an eventual successful bid to host some future Olympiad?

Tipping the “dominoes” to enable a better business environment is the mission of the book Go Lean … Caribbean; [it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU)]. This even applies to sports. The books purports that sports can be a great economic driver for the region, and that the business model of the Olympics can be forged in the region on a minor scale. In fact the book proposes the CU Games as a bi-annual event that encompasses many Olympic-style events, more than just Track & Field. This approach would bring the necessary regional integration necessary to develop any long time plans for a big dream of the Olympics.

This commentary declares that the merits of the foregoing article is pure rubbish. No one Caribbean country possesses the population base and economic engine to make an Olympic bid viable. While comparisons can be made for Greece, the host country for the 2004 Summer Olympics, this example is a better argument for opposition of any Olympic hosting. Greece experienced much financial distress as a result of their Olympic hosting; the country was near insolvency during the European Sovereign Debt crisis of 2009 – 2012, if not for the bail-outs of the European Union.

To the contrary, the entire Caribbean region tallies 42 million people and the results of economic integration can yield a GDP of $800 Billion (2010). Greece on the other hand had a population count of 10.8 million and GDP of $250 for the same period.

Lastly, the Go Lean roadmap calls for the emergence of the Caribbean dollar unified currency. This structure would spur the elevation of the region’s capital markets for stocks and bonds. This approach would satisfy the liquidity needs to finance the construction of any and all sporting facilities required for sporting events.

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

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Appendix – Caribbean Olympic Hopefuls …

… for example, this sample from Jamaica, Grenada, the Bahamas and Trinidad.

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Tired Waiting? Download the e-Book NOW!

Posted on July 27, 2016 in Implementation, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“Now I tired waiting”.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean is now available to download as an e-Book … for free.

Get the e-Book here NOW!

What is the big deal?

Well, this book purports to be the answer … for what ails the Caribbean.

The book asserts that the Caribbean is in crisis; that the region of 42 million people in the 30 member-states is dysfunctional … to the point of flirting with Failed-State status. It is that serious!

The book posits that one identifying symptom is the high societal abandonment rate. The countries of the Caribbean region are experiencing a brain drain where 70 percent – on the average – of the tertiary-educated have fled for foreign shores.

70% …
… this is no way to nation-build.

These alarming abandonment rates have been communicated to the governments and leaders of the region and yet still, the problem persists. They have not taken action to curb the problem.

Comes now the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This 370-page publication presents the solutions for all the region, all the 4 language groups (Dutch, English, French and Spanish) by describing 144 different missions to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the region. This is a serious answer to a serious crisis.

This book is published by a community development foundation made up of mostly Caribbean Diaspora. These ones have grown tired of waiting.

“Now I tired waiting”?
I’ve come to fix the …

This familiar refrain in the Caribbean has been repeated time and again, even sang in melody and rhyme. See/listen here, the classic Calypso song from the legendary Mighty Sparrow (and the lyrics in the Appendix below):

VIDEO – Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker – https://youtu.be/i5d9WzncTew

Published on Oct 22, 2012 – This song describes a frustrated man who was promised to marry a “not so beautiful” woman, but who was more prosperous economically than himself. This is presented here as a metaphor, of the frustration of waiting for change and finally taking positive action to effect the change oneself.
Album : Party Classics. 1986
All ownership belong to the copyright holder. There is no assumption of infringement here.

The Caribbean Diaspora – living abroad in the US, Canada and Western Europe – were always taught to believe that the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet, and yet it was essential that they leave to forge an existence elsewhere. They have endured in these foreign lands, but they are still only alien residents. It is not home!

If only there were some solutions for their homeland?

Solutions for the Caribbean are the prime directives of the Go Lean/CU roadmap; just consider these:

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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is direct: to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The book presents how this quest is conceivable, believable and achievable. It posits that the foundation is now in place, and we only need some technocratic deliveries to move the Caribbean member-states from the current status quo to the new destination: a better homeland. This presents a solution where our youth will no longer have to leave, and our older generations can relish a return back home.

“Now I tired waiting”, I come to fix … “the situation”. We now present you the “fix”!

🙂

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

———–

Appendix – Lyrics: Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker

She ugly yes, but she wearing them expensive dress
The People say she ugly, but she father full a money
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oh, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding

After the wedding day, I don’t care what nobody say
Everytime I take a good look at she face I see a bankbook
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Hmm, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding, woy

Apart from that, they say how she so big and fat
When she dress they tantalize she, saying monkey wearing mini
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oy, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding, Hmm

All I know, is I don’t intend to let she go
Cause if she was a beauty, nothing like me could get she
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Source: Retrieved July 27, 2016 from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mighty_sparrow/mr_walker.html

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