Crony-Capitalism – Page 4 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Crony-Capitalism

Lessons from Iceland – Model of Recovery

Posted on September 23, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Implementation

Go Lean Commentary

There are so many lessons the Caribbean region can learn from the island Republic of Iceland.

First, it’s an island, Duh!!!

Just like with the Caribbean, logistics of trade is more difficult as it must be based on naval and aeronautical solutions.

They have natural disasters … volcanoes as opposed to hurricanes or earthquakes.

The population is 320,000 … the range of many Caribbean countries; (i.e. Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guadeloupe (Fr.), Martinique (Fr.) and Suriname). Yet, it is not grouped with the formal Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as is all the sovereign Caribbean territories. The following defines the common traits:

Small Island Developing States are low-lying coastal [sovereign] countries that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges, including small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on international trade, and fragile environments. Their growth and development is also held back by high communication, energy and transportation costs, irregular international transport volumes, disproportionately expensive public administration and infrastructure due to their small size, and little to no opportunity to create economies-of-scale. – Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Island_Developing_States

Iceland has done many things well so that everyone in the Caribbean, all SIDS countries for that matter, need to take notice.

During the bad days of the Great Recession – at the precipice of disaster – the country deviated from other troubled regions …

Iceland let its banks fail in 2008 because they proved too big to save.

How does it relate to the Caribbean? The Caribbean is at the precipice … now; many of the member-states are near Failed-State status, while others are still hoping to recover from the devastating Great Recession of 2008. Turn-around should not take this long – 7 years. Strategies, tactics and implementations of best-practices to effect a turn-around must be pursued now.

Iceland has now recovered, and complaining about a 2% unemployment rate. What did they do that was so radically different than other locations? For one, they changed course regarding economics, security and governing policies. An ultra-capitalist movement had taken hold of the country and business communities; they pursued an aggressive “boom-or-bust” strategy, that ultimately “busted”, rather than continue on that road, the country – all aspects of society – altered course and returned to a path of sound fundamentals.

They rebooted and turned-around! Iceland embraced all aspects of turn-around strategies, mandating bankruptcies and “wind-downs” so that the economy – and society in general – could start anew.

This article is in consideration of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to provide better stewardship, to ensure that the economic/currency failures of the past, in the Caribbean and other regions, do not re-occur here in the homeland.

We can learn so much from this episode in Icelandic history, the good, the bad and the ugly. See the encyclopedic details here:

Reference Title: Iceland’s Economy and Recovery
In 2007, Iceland was the seventh most productive country in the world per capita (US$54,858), and the fifth most productive by GDP at purchasing power parity ($40,112). About 85 percent of total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestically produced renewable energy sources.^[93] Utilization of abundant hydroelectric and geothermal power has made Iceland the world’s largest electricity producer per capita.^[94] … Historically, Iceland’s economy depended heavily on fishing, which still provides 40% of export earnings and employs 7% of the work force.^[49] The economy is vulnerable to declining fish stocks and drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon.

Iceland had been hit especially hard by the Great Recession that began in December 2007, because of the failure of its banking system and a subsequent economic crisis. Before the crash of the country’s three largest banks, Glitnir, Landsbanki and Kaupthing, their combined debt exceeded approximately six times the nation’s gross domestic product of €14 billion ($19 billion).^[116][117] In October 2008, the Icelandic parliament passed emergency legislation to minimize the impact of the Financial crisis. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Iceland used permission granted by the emergency legislation to take over the domestic operations of the three largest banks.^[118] Icelandic officials, including central bank governor Davíð Oddsson, stated that the state did not intend to take over any of the banks’ foreign debts or assets. Instead, new banks were established to take on the domestic operations of the banks, and the old banks will be run into bankruptcy.

On 28 October 2008, the Icelandic government raised interest rates to 18% (as of August 2010, it was 7%), a move which was forced in part by the terms of acquiring a loan from International Monetary Fund (IMF). After the rate hike, trading on the Icelandic króna finally resumed on the open market, with valuation at around 250 ISK per Euro, less than one-third the value of the 1:70 exchange rate during most of 2008, and a significant drop from the 1:150 exchange ratio of the week before.

On 20 November 2008, in an effort to stabilize the situation, the Icelandic government stated that all domestic deposits in Icelandic banks would be guaranteed, imposed strict capital controls to stabilize the value of the Icelandic króna, and secured a US$5.1bn sovereign debt package from the IMF and the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden agreed to lend $2.5 billion. ^[119] – in order to finance a budget deficit and the restoration of the banking system. (The international bailout support program led by IMF officially ended on August 31, 2011, while the capital controls which were imposed in November 2008 are still in place only recently ended in the last few weeks).

On 26 January 2009, the coalition government collapsed due to the public dissent over the handling of the financial crisis. A new left-wing government was formed a week later and immediately set about removing Central Bank governor Davíð Oddsson and his aides from the bank through changes in law. Davíð was removed on 26 February 2009 in the wake of protests outside the Central Bank.^[120]

The financial crisis had a serious negative impact on the Icelandic economy. The national currency fell sharply in value, foreign currency transactions were virtually suspended for weeks, and the market capitalization of the Icelandic stock exchange fell by more than 90%. As a result of the crisis, Iceland underwent a severe economic depression; the country’s gross domestic product dropped by 10% in real terms between the third quarter of 2007 and the third quarter of 2010.^[6] A new era with positive GDP growth started in 2011, and has helped foster a gradually declining trend for the unemployment rate. The government budget deficit has declined from 9.7% of GDP in 2009 and 2010 to 0.2% of GDP in 2014;^[7] the central government gross debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to decline to less than 60% in 2018 from a maximum of 85% in 2011.^[8]

[A post-mortem analysis helped to put the blame for Iceland’s crisis on a bad community ethos that had encapsulated the whole country related to debt]:

[Disregarding their] small domestic market, Iceland’s banks had financed their expansion with loans on the interbank lending market and, more recently, by deposits from outside Iceland (which are also a form of external debt). Households also took on a large amount of debt, equivalent to 213% of disposable income, which led to inflation.^[117] This inflation was exacerbated by the practice of the Central Bank of Iceland issuing liquidity loans to banks on the basis of newly issued, uncovered bonds^[118] – effectively, printing money on demand.

[Then the turn-around took hold …]

By mid-2012 Iceland was regarded as one of Europe’s recovery success stories. It has had two years of economic growth. Unemployment was down to 6.3% and Iceland was attracting immigrants to fill jobs. Currency devaluation effectively reduced wages by 50% making exports more competitive and imports more expensive. Ten-year government bonds were issued below 6%, lower than some of the PIIGS nations in the EU (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain). Tryggvi Thor Herbertsson, a member of parliament, noted that adjustments via currency devaluations are less painful than government labor policies and negotiations.

By June 2012, Landsbanki managed to repay about half of the Icesave debt.^[124]

According to Bloomberg, Iceland was on the trajectory of 2% unemployment as a result of crisis-management decisions made back in 2008, including allowing the banks to fail.^[125]. [Here are the highlighted bullets of this story posted January 27, 2014:]

Iceland let its banks fail in 2008 because they proved too big to save.

Now, the island is finding crisis-management decisions made half a decade ago have put it on a trajectory that’s turned 2 percent unemployment into a realistic goal.

While the Euro area grapples with record joblessness, led by more than 25 percent in Greece and Spain …

[Iceland is NOT a member of the EU], nevertheless, while EU fervor has cooled [due to the crisis] the government continues to pursue membership.^[246]
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved 09/23/2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9311_Icelandic_financial_crisis

—–

VIDEO – What Can Greece (and the Caribbean) Learn From Iceland? – http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-08-28/what-can-greece-learn-from-iceland-

Published on Aug 28, 2015 – Central Bank of Iceland Governor Mar Gudmundsson talks with Brendan Greeley about Iceland’s capital controls and what Greece can learn from Iceland in handling its credit crisis. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets.”

The lessons from Iceland really magnify in reflection of the Caribbean considering the community ethos or attitudes regarding “debt”. The book described community ethos as:

“the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period; practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period” – Go Lean…Caribbean Page 20.

While Iceland featured a negative community ethos in this case, their model demonstrates that the spirit-beliefs-customs-practices of a community can be altered.

Yes, Iceland fixed their heart … first; then the recovery of the community’s economic, security and governing engines took root. It is very important that the Caribbean learn this lesson and apply the corrections to our community ethos, and then to our systems of commerce and governance. The Go Lean book opened with this pronouncement (Page 10), gleaning insight from the US Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for instituting the CU Trade Federation and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to take the lead in forging the needed changes to the region’s economic and financial eco-systems. Firstly, there is the need to foster the best practices in the region regarding debt. The roadmap calls for a cooperative among Central Banks to form the CCB to foster interdependence, sharing, economies-of-scale and collaboration across the region despite the divergent politics, culture and languages. The premise is simple: while we are all different, we are all “in the same boat”. So the underlying principle of this motivation is the regional Greater Good.

The realities of the Great Recession, and Iceland’s troubles in the foregoing reference source, prove the interconnectivity of the financial systems; bank/currency troubles in one country easily become trouble for another country. A larger Single Market (42 million people in 30 member-states) for the Caribbean would provide less elasticity and more shock-absorption here from eruptions in the global financial markets. The Caribbean is never spared; in fact we are directly affected as tourism – our primary economic driver – depends on the disposable income from our trading partners, mostly North American and Western European countries. This is why our region was so devastated with the events, repercussions and consequences of 2008.

Considering the past, the Caribbean has had to learn hard lessons on economic booms … and busts. Any attempt to reboot Caribbean economic landscape must first start with a strenuous oversight of regional currencies. Thusly, the strategy is to integrate to the single currency, the Caribbean Dollar (C$). The tactical approach is to provide technocratic oversight with the CCB pursuing only the Greater Good, and no special group’s special interest.

Also in the opening of the Go Lean book, this need for regional stewardship of Caribbean currencies was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 13) with these statements:

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

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

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

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

The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to appoint new stewards for the regional financial eco-system. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Assessment – Puerto – The Greece of the Caribbean	Page 18
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future – Count on the Greedy to be Greedy	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds – Bankruptcy Processing	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate the region into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the Stability of the Securities Markets	Page 45
Strategy – Provide Proper Oversight and Support for the Depository Institutions	Page 46
Strategy – e-Payments and Card-based Transactions	Page 49
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Minimizing Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Depository Insurance & Regulatory Agency	Page 73
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Effects of 2008 Financial Crisis	Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank as a Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Single Market / Currency Union	Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from New York City – Wall Street	Page 137
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress	Page 147
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Control Inflation	Page 153
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange	Page 154
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Electronic Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Appendix – Tool-kits for Capital Controls	Page 315

There is a lot to learn from the analysis of economic stewardship of other communities. The successes and failures of banking/economic stewardship were further elaborated upon in these previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6531	A Lesson in History – Book Review of the ‘Exigency of 2008’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5818	Greece: From Bad to Worse
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4166	A Lesson in History – Panamanian Balboa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3858	ECB unveils 1 trillion Euro stimulus program
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3814	Lessons from the Swiss unpegging the franc
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3582	For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397	A Christmas Present for the Banks from the Omnibus Bill
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090	Lessons Learned – Europe Sovereign Debt Crisis of 2009
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3028	Why India is doing better than most emerging markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2930	‘Too Big To Fail’ – Caribbean Version
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2090	The Depth & Breadth of Remediating 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	Canadian View: All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	One currency, divergent economies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=518	Analyzing the Data – What Banks learn about financial risks

According to the foregoing article, and VIDEO, the origin of Iceland’s crisis was greed; the banks assuming more risk, to garner more profit, and consumers borrowing more credit so as to … consume more.

Greed – it is what it is.

The Go Lean book declares to “count on greedy people to be greedy” (Page 26). This situation is manifested time and again, all over the world. The Go Lean book provides the roadmap to anticipate greed, monitor and mitigate it. The book declares (Page 23):

… “bad actors” will also emerge thereafter to exploit the opportunities, with good, bad and evil intent. A Bible verse declares: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” – Ecclesiastes 1:9 New International Version.

We have so many lessons to learn from the Great Recession, and the disposition of Iceland.

Only at the precipice do they change!

Lesson learned!

The Caribbean is hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean confederation roadmap. Everyone – people, businesses, banks and governments – can benefit from the consideration of this roadmap. As this roadmap is the “turn-by-turn directions”, the heavy-lifting, to move the region to its new destination: a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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2008, Banks, Crony-Capitalism, Disaster, History, Jobs, Model, Transform

Managing the ‘Invisible Hand of the Market’

Posted on September 12, 2015 in Economics, Government, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

So “who” does control the world? Or more exactly, who controls the world’s economy; how about the Caribbean economy? Are there entities trying to regulate and dictate the financial affairs of society?

The simple answer is Yes. Planners, forecasters, profit-seekers abound.

But, is there an all-benevolent power? Or worse, a malevolent one; a secret society trying to mold the world’s thoughts, feelings and actions into “its designs”. Conspiracy theories also abound, even for the limited Caribbean region. There is the historic fact that there are Special Interest Groups and Crony-Capitalists looking to exploit public resources for private gains; these “bad actors” are always there, always present. In addition, there are also bad government policies of rent-seeking, which are frequently manifested in the Caribbean region. (See recent news article here: http://freeport.nassauguardian.net/News/CCC–Lower-global-oil-costs-should-lower-power-bills).

It is the assertion of this commentary that the Caribbean market economy has often fallen prey to controlling forces – governments, industries, Direct Foreign Investors – looking to control the environment for their advantage. Many times though, these controlling forces have good intentions and altruistic motives seeking the Greater Good, but they may not have been equipped with the proper tools and techniques for effective oversight.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the underlying movement seeks to bring the proper tools and techniques to the Caribbean region to optimize the stewardship of the economic, security and governing engines. The book posits that the economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, with technocratic management – stewardship – better than the status quo.

Will these new economic stewards then become some secret society that fosters the power and control of Caribbean economy and society? While this is not the design, there is the need to examine the full width-and-breath of controlling institutions. There is a contrast in theories; on the one hand there is the theory of the unknown, as in the benign Invisible Hand of the Market, on the other hand, there is the reality of secret societies controlling the market, as in the historic Illuminati.

Brace yourself for the details.

Invisible Hand
This consideration stems back to the Father of Macro-Economics, Adam Smith, the 18th century Scottish political economics pioneer, and his landmark book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This publication is cited as a reference source in the book Go Lean…Caribbean – a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the Caribbean region. A relevant quote from the Go Lean book follows (Page 67):

… The “Invisible Hand” is a frequently referenced theme from Smith’s book. He refers to “the support of domestic industry” and contrasts that support with the importation of goods. Neoclassical economic theory has expanded the metaphor beyond the domestic/foreign manufacture argument to encompass nearly all aspects of economics. The “invisible hand” of the market is a metaphor now to describe the self-regulating behavior of the marketplace. …

Consider this VIDEO on the Invisible Hand:

VIDEO 1: The Invisible Hand – 60 Second Adventures in Economics – https://youtu.be/ulyVXa-u4wE

Published on Sep 5, 2012 – Economist, Adam Smith, used the term the Invisible Hand to describe the self-regulating nature of the market place – a core concept for so-called free-marketeers.

Illuminati
The actual definition of the Illuminati is more vague and non-specific. Though it is rooted in history and fact, there is more fiction and fantasy associated with this concept. Consider the encyclopedic reference here:

Encyclopedic Reference: Illuminati
The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, “enlightened”) is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. The society’s goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life and abuses of state power. “The order of the day,” they wrote in their general statutes, “is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them.”^[1] The Illuminati—along with Freemasonry and other secret societies—were outlawed through edict, by the Bavarian ruler, Charles Theodore, with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 1787 and 1790.^[2] In the several years following, the group was vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed that they continued underground and were responsible for the French Revolution.

In subsequent use, “Illuminati” refers to various organizations which claim or are purported to have links to the original Bavarian Illuminati or similar secret societies, though these links are unsubstantiated. They are often alleged to conspire to control world affairs, by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations, in order to gain political power and influence and to establish a New World Order. Central to some of the most widely known and elaborate conspiracy theories, the Illuminati have been depicted as lurking in the shadows and pulling the strings and levers of power in dozens of novels, movies, television shows, comics, video games, and music videos.

Modern Illuminati
Several recent and present-day fraternal organisations claim to be descended from the original Bavarian Illuminati and openly use the name “Illuminati”. Some of these groups use a variation on the name “The Illuminati Order” in the name of their own organizations,^[27][28] while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, have “Illuminati” as a level within their organization’s hierarchy. However, there is no evidence that these present-day groups have amassed significant political power or influence, and rather than trying to remain secret, they promote unsubstantiated links to the Bavarian Illuminati as a means of attracting membership.^[19]

Popular culture – Modern conspiracy theory
The Illuminati did not long survive their suppression in Bavaria, and their further mischief and plottings in the work of Barruel and Robison must be considered as the invention of the writers.^[3] However, writers such as Mark Dice,^[29] David Icke, Texe Marrs, Jüri Lina and Morgan Gricar have argued that the Bavarian Illuminati have survived, possibly to this day.

Many modern conspiracy theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati.^[30][31] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidents of the United States are a common target for such claims.^[32][33]

Other theorists contend that a variety of historical events were orchestrated by the Illuminati, from the Battle of Waterloo, the French Revolution and President John F. Kennedy’s assassination to an alleged communist plot to hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry.^[34][35]

Some conspiracy theorists claim that the Illuminati observe Satanic rituals.^[36][37] [See Samples & Examples in the Appendix-VIDEOs below.]

Criticism and satire of this theory has became so common that it is now a minor internet meme, with users identifying triangles in pieces of media, superimposing the Annuit cœptis over the triangle and then (usually in the form of an image macro) proclaiming that said work is a work of the Iluminati.^{[citation needed]}

Novels
The Illuminati, or fictitious modern groups called the Illuminati, play a central role in the plots of many novels, for example The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. They also make an appearance in Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. A mixture of historical fact and established conspiracy theory, or pure fiction, is used to portray them.
Source: Wikipedia – Online Encyclopedia (Retrieved 09/10/2015) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati

There is serious discussions around the subject of “controlling institutions”, from “pundits and peons” alike. A poignant reference for this consideration is the acclaimed Professor, Author, Scientist, and Social Justice Activist Noam Chomsky. See his VIDEO interview on this subject here:

VIDEO 2: “Who does control the world?” – Noam Chomsky – BBC interview 2003 – https://youtu.be/rqznqIpkZz0

Published on Feb 21, 2015 – Noam Chomsky BBC interview 2003 , http://www.betterworldlinks.org/
Also very important information about capitalism you will find here: Prof. Richard Wolff https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB-5…, Ecosocialism, climate justice, degrowth – Joanna Cabello [Carbontradewatch] – Daniel Tanuro [Ecosocialist International Network] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csuHt…

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and the accompanying movement does not dwell in conspiracy theories, but it does identify and relate the damaging affects of Special Interest and Crony-Capitalists. This does not surmise that the whole world is being controlled by some secret society, but rather certain industries and government policies. (See reference to Wall Street’s Shadow Influences in this prior blog/commentary here: https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397).

The Go Lean roadmap therefore seeks to neutralize all Crony-Capitalistic and plutocratic influence in Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines. Further one previous blog/commentary, related how many entitlements were legacies stemming from Royal Charters and the resultant effects on powerful families, though not secret-based. This blog concluded with the remediation to assuage this bad legacy.

This book and subsequent 340+ blogs (as of this date) posit that the Caribbean can even do better than our American counterparts, that rather than being parasites, we can be protégés and maybe even provide American communities our model on how to build a progressive society to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs stress that the region can re-boot and turn-around by forging new societal institutions to empower the region with transparency. This point was vividly pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these pronouncements:

Preamble: As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny.

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

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

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

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of [other] communities.

This is the quest of Go Lean…Caribbean, to impact the Caribbean, and make the homeland a better place in which to live, work and play. In general, the CU will employ better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact these 3 prime directives:

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

The Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states / 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the stability of our mediums of exchange (Currency)	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Post WW II European Marshall Plan Model	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Haiti Marshall Plan	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Local Government and the Social Contract	Page 134
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previousWest Indies Federation	Page 135
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Optimizing Economic-Financial-Monetary Engines	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Omaha – Human Flight Mitigations	Page 138
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure	Page 140
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Haiti	Page 238
Appendix – Failed-State Index for Uneven Economic Development	Page 272
Appendix – European Shuffling in the Guianas – Historic Timeline	Page 307

This Go Lean movement represents the effort to remediate Caribbean societies now. We need to focus on reality, not be overwhelmed with conspiracy theories – see Appendix-VIDEOs below. Yes, there are “controlling institutions”; there is the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Money Center Banks (Wall Street) with global outreach; there are Special Interest Groups; there are Crony-Capitalists; there are profit-seekers and rent-seeking (especially in the Caribbean region). These constitute bad community ethos that need to be identified, qualified and remediated.

It is the assertion of this roadmap that the Caribbean market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress.

The Go Lean roadmap focuses on fostering good community ethos.

Our quest is simple, to positive impact the future, with open and transparent policies intended for the Greater Good. Yes, we can!

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——

Appendix VIDEOs: Illuminati Conspiracy Theories Samples & Examples

https://youtu.be/g4hJwucOrwI – Illuminati Slip on CNBC

https://youtu.be/Eet307SQv7o – Exposing The Darkness: Music Artists Expose Satan’s NWO & Industry.

https://youtu.be/ct0StLPZI7Q – Illuminati compilation clips 100% real

https://youtu.be/m29wwgzyaJI – Madonna SuperBowl Half Time Show – Filled with Imagery?

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‘Concussions’ – The Movie; The Cause

Posted on August 31, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

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

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

“They own an entire day of the week”.

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

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

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

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

Socio-Economic Impact Analysis of [Football] Sports Stadiums

Watch the Super Bowl … Commercials

Levi’s® NFL Stadium: A Team Effort

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

Sports Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network

Collegiate Sports in the Caribbean – Model of NCAA

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

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

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

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

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

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

See news article here on the release of the movie:

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

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

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

1 – It’s Based on a True Story

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 – Smith Is a Reluctant Hero

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

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

4 – Alec Baldwin and Luke Wilson

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

5 – “Tell the Truth”

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

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

———-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interests of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RIP Junior Seau.

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

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

——-

Appendix VIDEO: Hank Williams Jr. – Are You Ready for Some Football – https://youtu.be/dKPZEMu7Mno

Uploaded on Jan 28, 2019 – Official Music Video

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Carnival to ban carry-on bottled beverages

Posted on July 23, 2015 in Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

According to the news article below, Carnival Cruise Lines is now banning carry-on bottled beverages on their ships. They claim that this move “is not intended to raise beverage revenues”.

Does anybody believe that?

Hardly!

This is the consistent theme in the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it posits that cruise lines have progressively tighten their practices and policies to ensure more revenues for them and less for the port cities (Page 32).

Scratch a liar, catch a thief!

Why so harsh a criticism? Simple: the dynamics of the Crony-Capitalistic cruise industry in the past, present and future.

The cruise line industry was not always as reflective of this Crony-Capitalism … as they are today. There was a time when passenger shipping companies submitted to the laws of the land – the home countries of the ship owners, i.e. US, England, Netherlands, Greece. This compliance dictated that the shipping lines conformed to labor, anti-trust and competition laws. Then the Crony-Capitalistic influence was embedded and the shipping lines started seeking ship-registry third-party countries that are agnostic to community best-practices (Liberia, etc.).

Today the Caribbean cruise industry is dominated by 3 cruise companies (with large percentages of the passenger traffic; Carnival alone had 52% global market share in early 2012), and the fast-growing Disney Cruise Line. These companies are now all publicly-traded on Wall Street – see stock-symbols listing as follows – so they now answer to new bosses, whose goal is singular: increase shareholder value:

Symbol	Name	Price Today
CCL	Carnival Corporation	51.87
RCL	Royal Caribbean Cruise Line	83.20
NCLH	Norwegian Cruise Line	59.81
DIS	Disney (Cruise Line)	118.80

The “modus operandi” is no longer a matter of extending hospitality to their guests, but rather the business ethos – fundamental spirit that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of an enterprise – is simply to maximize profits. This means increasing revenues while simultaneously lowering costs. (In a previous blog/commentary the full extent of the industries’ labor practices were detailed).

This is not a good trend!

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is a confederation of 30 Caribbean member-states with the mission to form a unified negotiating front in bargaining with the cruise line industry. The CU goal is simple: integrate the region into a Single Market.

Why a Single Market?

The Go Lean book posits (Page 3) that the problems of the Caribbean, cruise industry manifestations included, are too big for any one member-state to tackle alone. Even though some cruise destinations, (like the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and St Martin) have demonstrated some success with this business model, the trend is for the opposite direction. (Wall Street firms try to improve profits more and more for each passing fiscal quarter). As demonstrated in the following news article, the trending is for this cruise industry to extract more and more passenger spending, not share. See the news article here:

Title: Carnival to ban carry-on bottled beverages
By: KDSK Reporting

Carnival Cruise Line is trying to put a stop to alcohol being smuggled aboard its ships disguised as bottled water.

Beginning July 9, Carnival will effectively ban beverages in bottles from being brought onboard at embarkation. The only exception is a single bottle of fine wine or champagne.

Otherwise, beverages must [be] packaged in unopened cans or cartons, including water, sodas and juices, with a maximum number of 12 packed in carry-on luggage.

The change means passengers can no longer tag beverages for embarkation as checked luggage. In addition, Carnival will restrict the size of coolers brought aboard to those measuring 12x12x12 or less.

In a letter being sent to passengers, Carnival said bottled beverages have become a prime means of bringing unauthorized alcohol on cruises. The line claims inspecting a growing number of bottles was bogging down embarkation, and that episodes of bad behavior on ships often trace back to smuggled alcohol. The letter also explained that cruise personnel cannot effectively monitor consumption of alcohol that isn’t sold on the ships, it said.

“We sincerely apologize for any disappointment these changes may cause,” said the letter, signed by Arlene Marichal, senior director, solutions and special services. “However, we firmly believe this will result in a safer environment while also improving the embarkation process and the overall guest experience.”

Concurrent with the policy change, Carnival has lowered the price of bottled water to $2.99 for a 12-pack of 500 ML bottles, if purchased in advance of the cruise, or $4.99 onboard. Carnival said the move is not intended to raise beverage revenues.
Source: KSDK NewsChannel 5 – St. Louis, Missouri Local NBC Affiliate – Posted June 9, 2015; retrieved July 22, 2015 from: http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/06/09/carnival-to-ban-carry-on-bottled-beverages/28744127/

The goal of the Go Lean roadmap is the Greater Good. This includes applying strategies and tactics to incite more spending at Caribbean ports-of-call.

Singlehandedly, these port cities-member states cannot effect change on this cruise line industry. But together, as one unified front, the chances for success improve exponentially.

The cruise lines “ply their trade” in the Caribbean region (waters and ports-of-call); this is our marketplace so it would be expected that we would have some jurisdiction. After all, the Caribbean is the attraction for Caribbean cruises.

The confederacy goal of the CU entails accepting that there is interdependence among the Caribbean member-states. The Go Lean book initiates with this quest for regional integration with an opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 – 13); consider these pronouncements:

v. Whereas the natural formation of our landmass and coastlines entail a large portion of waterscapes, the reality of management of our interior calls for extended oversight of the waterways between the islands. The internationally accepted 12-mile limits for national borders must be extended by International Tribunals to encompass the areas in between islands. The individual states must maintain their 12-mile borders while the sovereignty of this expanded area, the Exclusive Economic Zone, must be vested in the accedence of this Federation.

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

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

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

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

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law …

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.

This Go Lean roadmap represents change for the Caribbean and all of our stakeholders, including sailing/cruising and flying visitors. But our quest in the CU to elevate Caribbean society is not designed to antagonize cruise line operators. Just the opposite; we set out to be their able-bodied trading partners, not adversarial opponents. We seek the Greater Good for their interest as well, a win-win.

The CU/Go Lean prime directive is identified with the following 3 statements:

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

Collective bargaining is the key.

The Go Lean book promotes collective bargaining as a community ethos, so as to mitigate the perils of “going at it alone”. The book details the applicable community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to elevate the benefits of regional cruise line industry in the region:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices & Incentives	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments (ROI)	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing	Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Confederate 30 Caribbean Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Customers / Stakeholders – Governments, Businesses, and Citizens	Page 47
Strategy – Customers / Stakeholders – Cruise Passengers	Page 48
Strategy – Competitors – Choices for Cruise Passengers: Pacific Coast, Mediterranean, etc.	Page 55
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Climate Change – More Intense Tropical Storms Disrupting Cruises	Page 57
Anecdote – Carnival Cruise Lines Strategy Report	Page 61
Tactical – Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Shared Portal: www.myCaribbean.gov for Cruise Marketing	Page 74
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Regional Tourism Coordination	Page 7?
Implementation – Year 1 / Assemble Phase – Consolidate Organs into CU	Page 96
Implementation – Foreign Policy Mandates at Start-up – Collective Bargain with other Cruise Destinations	Page 105
Implementation – Security Provisions at Start-up	Page 106
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Shared/Single Currency – Cooperative Central Bank & Cruise Line Pay cards	Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract – Ensure level playing field	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives	Page 176
Advocacy – Improve Homeland Security – Emergency Management Readiness	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Tourism – Cruise Passenger Pay Card/Currency	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Cruise Tourism – Fostering more Port-side Commerce	Page 194
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management – Cruise Ship Incidence Readiness	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Bank Regulations – Cruise Passenger Pay cards	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Develop Ship-Building – Cruise Ship Dry-Dock Maintenance – Deal-making	Page 209

The issues raised in the foregoing article weigh heavy on a lot of Caribbean commerce. For example, we have a thriving rum industry in the region, with products deemed the best in the world. An objective of rum producers is to market their wares to the 10-million-plus cruise visitors. An unchallenged cruise line policy, dissuading onshore beverage purchases, would undermine this rum industry goal.

The cruise lines have invested heavily in new amenities and duty-free shopping options on board their newer ships. See photos and VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Disney Fantasy Shopping Areas on the Disney Cruise Line – https://youtu.be/OvjxlzoetrY

Published on Apr 22, 2012 – A look at shopping on the Disney Fantasy including Sea Treasures, Mickey’s Mainsail, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and White Caps. Visit http://www.wdwinfo.com for more information on Disney Cruise Line.

While these onboard retailers may be in direct competition with port-cities, it is the Go Lean assertion that there is market enough for all these stakeholders; onboard and onshore. There is no need for anti-trust practices.

Consider these previous blog/commentaries that drilled deep on the Go Lean vision and opportunities for the cruise industry:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210	Cruise Ship Commerce – Getting Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4639	Tobago: A Model for Cruise Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3956	Art and Science of Collaboration
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5307	8th Violent Crime Warning to Bahamas Tourists (including Cruises)
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889	RBC EZPay – Ready for Change and Cruise Industry Pay Cards
Issues Creating New Cruise Industry Opportunities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3225	Caribbean less competitive due to increasing aviation taxes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2207	Hotels are making billions from added fees
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=242	The Erosion of the Middle Class

The Caribbean region and the cruise line industry must do better … and work together to grow this industry.

In the end, these changes will be for the better; for the Greater Good and to promote a better partnership for all cruise industry stakeholders.

We welcome the 10 million cruise visitors and the many cruise ship operators. Let’s work together … to make the Caribbean destination a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Socio-Economic Change: Impact Analysis of SGE’s

Posted on July 20, 2015 in Economics, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This purpose of the book Go Lean … Caribbean is the elevation of the economic engines in the region. The book serves as a 5 year roadmap to foster new developments and empowerments in the region. If successful – this is the likelihood as past performance is the best indicator of future success – there will definitely be socio-economic changes.

Click on photo to download Report!

Mastering socio-economic changes require strenuous effort – it is heavy-lifting. This submission completes the series – 3 of 3 – on this subject; previously, this commentary considered …

1. the manifestation of changes in everyday life – values, habits and nuances, looking across a timeline from the 1960’s versus today;

2. the high suicide rate among the elderly frustrated with acute changes.

This commentary considers that under the Go Lean roadmap, there will be many community investment endeavors; therefore many times there will be the need for “impact analyses”. The roadmap calls for the installation of Self-Governing Entities (SGE) as job-creating engines in many communities; these sites are ideal for technology laboratories, medical campuses, corporate parks, industrial sites, educational facilities and other forms of establishments situated inside bordered facilitates. These types of installations will thrive under the strategies and tactics of the Go Lean roadmap. They allow for an efficient process to launch and manage projects and physical installations in the region, but the SGE concept does require governmental concurrence and maybe even public approvals, as in referendums, at the initiation.

SGE’s are part-and parcel of the prime directives of the Go Lean roadmap, defined by these 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion in GDP and 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.

How are the impact analyses to be conducted in the region? What is the art and science of this socio-economic field of study? Consider the headlines and abstract of this academic study from the University of Wisconsin:

Title: Socio-Economic Impact Analysis
University of Wisconsin – Community Guide to Development Impact Analysis. Posted 05/2/2011; retrieved 07-17-2015
By: Mary Edwards

As Wisconsin communities continue to grow, local officials and community members are constantly challenged by the need to balance fiscal, social, economic, and environmental goals. One aspect of this challenge is deciding how much and what types of new development the community can accommodate without compromising the day-to-day quality of life for residents. Socio-economic impact assessment is designed to assist communities in making decisions that promote long-term sustain-ability, including economic prosperity, a healthy community, and social well-being.

Assessing socio-economic impacts requires both quantitative and qualitative measurements of the impact of a proposed development. For example, a proposed development may increase employment in the community and create demand for more affordable housing. Both effects are easily quantifiable. Also of importance, however, are the perceptions of community members about whether the proposed development is consistent with a commitment to preserving the rural character of the community. Assessing community perceptions about development requires the use of methods capable of revealing often complex and unpredictable community values.

This chapter provides an overview of socio-economic impact assessment, including what it is, why it is important and guidance on how to conduct a socio-economic impact assessment.

WHAT IS SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT?

A socio-economic impact assessment examines how a proposed development will change the lives of current and future residents of a community. The indicators used to measure the potential socio-economic impacts of a development include the following:

• Changes in community demographics;
• Results of retail/service and housing market analyses;
• Demand for public services;
• Changes in employment and income levels; and
• Changes in the aesthetic quality of the community.

Quantitative measurement of such factors is an important component of the socio-economic impact assessment. At the same time, the perceptions of community members about how a proposed development will affect their lives is a critical part of the assessment and should contribute to any decision to move ahead with a project. In fact, gaining an understanding of community values and concerns is an important first step in conducting a socio-economic impact assessment.

The socio-economic impacts of a proposed development on a community may actually begin the day the project is proposed. Changes in social structure and inter-actions among community members may occur once the new development is pro-posed to the community. In addition, real, measurable and often significant effects on the human environment can begin to take place as soon as there are changes in social or economic conditions. From the time of the earliest announcement of a pending policy change or development project, attitudes toward the project are formed, interest groups and other coalitions prepare strategies, speculators may lock up potentially important properties, and politicians can maneuver for position.

WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS?

Because socio-economic impact assessment is designed to estimate the effects of a proposed development on a community’s social and economic welfare, the process should rely heavily on involving community members who may be affected by the development. Others who should be involved in the process include community leaders and others who represent diverse interests in the community such as community service organizations, development and real estate interests, minority and low income groups, and local environmental groups. In addition, local agencies or officials should provide input into the process of assessing changes in the social environment that may occur as a result of the proposed development (e.g., providing estimates and information demographics, employment and service needs).

WHY CONDUCT A SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT?

Conducting a social impact assessment is important for several reasons. In general, it is used to alert the community, including residents and local officials, of the impact and magnitude of the proposed development on the community’s social and economic well-being. The assessment can help communities avoid creating inequities among community groups as well as encourage the positive impacts associated with the development.

HOW TO CONDUCT A SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The following section provides a two-step process for conducting a socio-economic impact analysis. The process is designed to establish a framework for evaluating cur-rent and future proposed developments in a community.

TWO PHASES OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT

1. Defining the scope of the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment

2. Identifying and Evaluating Development Impacts

  A. Quantitative Changes

     A.1 DEMOGRAPHIC IMPACTS

     A.2 DATA SOURCES

     A.3 HOUSING MARKET IMPACTS

     A.4 RETAIL MARKET IMPACTS

     A.5 EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME

     A.6 PUBLIC SERVICES

     A.7 AESTHETIC IMPACTS

  B. Community Perceptions

     B.1 QUALITY OF LIFE

…

This is just the headlines; find the full White Paper at: http://www.lic.wisc.edu/shapingdane/facilitation/all_resources/impacts/analysis_socio.htm

i.e. Sample Economic Impact Study

Click on photo to download Report!

The Go Lean roadmap does not ignore the controversies associated with impact analyses. Many times these studies are abused to justify spending public money to benefit private interests. This is another example of Crony-Capitalism; consider the VIDEO here of how public financing of sports stadiums have been abused in the US:

Appendix VIDEO – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Stadiums (HBO) – https://youtu.be/xcwJt4bcnXs

Published on July 12, 2015 – Cities spend massive amounts of public money on privately-owned stadiums. Cities issue tax-exempt municipal bonds that — wait, don’t fall asleep!
Content warning: Some profanity!

According to this VIDEO, there is an obvious potential for socio-economic studies to be abused. The goal of a socio-economic study is generally to bring about socio-economic development, usually by improvements in metrics such as GDP, life expectancy, literacy, levels of employment, etc.

The Go Lean roadmap embraces the practice of socio-economic studies – done right – it provides turn-by-turn directions on how to elevate the Caribbean economy while mitigating any pattern of abuse. As a planning tool, the roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence, pronouncing the need for regional integration (Page 11 & 13) to foster the foundation to forge a better future. The declarative statements are as follows:

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

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

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

Change has now come to the Caribbean. The driver of this change is technology and globalization. The Caribbean region cannot only consume the innovations being developed around the world; we must develop and innovate ourselves. The structure of SGE’s are perfectly designed for this endeavor; innovators and developers can create their “own world” so as to foster the best practices for Research & Development (R&D) with no intrusion from municipal authorities. This is a win-win! The bottom-line for the developers may be their “bottom-line”, but for the community, it would be the Greater Good.

The subject of SGE’s has been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4037	How to Train Your ‘Dragon’ – Case Study for Foreign Investments and SGE’s
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3473	Haiti to Receive $70 Million Grant to Expand SGE-like ‘Caracol Industrial Park’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3276	A Role Model – Ideal for SGE’s – Shaking Up the World of Cancer
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2800	The Geography of Joblessness – The need for SGE’s
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2750	Disney World – Role Model for Self Governing Entities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2003	Where the Jobs Are – Ship-breaking under SGE Structure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214	Fairgrounds as SGE and Landlords for Sports Leagues
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=286	Puerto Rico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – Model of Medical SGE

Sports is also pivotal to the Go Lean roadmap. This was demonstrated in our prior consideration of the economic impact analysis of basketball great LeBron James returning to Cleveland after a 4-year stint in Miami. That consideration summarized that his absence was worth $50 million a season for that metropolitan area.

So thusly this subject of the “business of sports” is a familiar topic for Go Lean blogs as these previous blogs have detailed:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4019	The Business of the Super Bowl … and Commercials
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3414	Levi’s® Stadium: A Team Effort … for the San Francisco Bay
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244	Sports Role Model – espnW.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2222	Sports Role Model – Playing For Pride … And More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171	Sports Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2152	Sports Role Model – US versus the World
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1446	Caribbean Players in the 2014 World Cup
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1341	College World Series Time – Lessons from Omaha
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214	The Art & Science of Temporary Stadiums – No White Elephants
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1148	Sports Bubble – Franchise values in basketball
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020	Sports Revolutionary: Advocate Jeffrey Webb
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=498	Book Review: ‘The Sports Gene’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=334	Bahamians Make Presence Felt In Libyan League
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=318	Collegiate Sports in the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=60	Could the Caribbean Host the Olympic Games?

This Go Lean roadmap seeks to implement the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). While the CU/Go Lean effort is to harness the individual abilities of athletes to elevate their performance, the real focus is harnessing the economic impact for the relevant communities. Modern sports engagements cannot be analyzed without considering the impact on “dollars and cents” for the community. The Go Lean book calls for solid business plans to develop sports stadia and arenas at CU-owned Fairgrounds This intent was also pronounced early in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14):

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

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

Economic Principles – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Economic Principles – 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 Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 48
Strategic – Staffing – Sporting Events at Fairgrounds	Page 55
Tactical – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy – New High Multiplier Industries	Page 68
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Self-Governing Entities – i.e. ESA	Page 80
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Administration	Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration	Page 83
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Education Department	Page 85
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver – Embrace of Project Management Arts & Sciences	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas	Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Local Government – Parks & Recreation	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works	Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Sports	Page 229
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Sports Leagues	Page 234

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs declare that the Caribbean needs to learn lessons from other communities, especially when socio-economic studies have been used (or abused) to justify community investments in infrastructure.

The design of Self-Governing Entities allow for greater protections from Crony-Capitalistic abuses. While this roadmap is committed to availing the economic opportunities of sports and accompanying infrastructure, as demonstrated in the foregoing VIDEO, sport teams and owners can be plutocratic “animals” in their greed. We must learn to mitigate any plutocratic abuses; see the Appendix – Additional Reporting below.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This roadmap will result in positive socio-economic changes throughout the region. Just consider the Fairgrounds SGE model; the end result for these ventures into the business of sports is projected as 21,000 direct jobs at Fairgrounds and sports enterprises.

Overall, with these executions, the Caribbean region can be a better place to live, work and play. As demonstrated by this discussion on sports stadia, there is a lot of economic activity in the “play” element; the same applies even greater with “live and work” elements. The practice of socio-economic studies must therefore be earnestly engaged in the Caribbean region, especially for projects involving community investments. This is not easy; this is part of the process to elevate the Caribbean region. This heavy-lifting – ensuring that investments get the proper return for the applicable stakeholders – is worth the effort; this ensures the Greater Good. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean…Caribbean now!

————-

Appendix – Additional Reporting: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/six-lies-about-the-marlins-stadium-6380692

Title: Six lies about the Marlins stadium

By: Miami New Times Community Newspaper; posted May 5, 2011; Retrieved July 20, 2015

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Better than America? Yes, We Can!

Posted on June 30, 2015 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Is America the “Greatest Country in the World”?

Perhaps this was arguable in the past? Today? Hardly … see VIDEO here; (excuse the profanity):

VIDEO: America, the Greatest? –

Published on Oct 21, 2012 – Jeff Daniels, who portrays news anchor Will McAvoy in the HBO Series “The Newsroom”, delivered a stunning, hard-hitting, accurate, and intelligent monologue/response when asked why America is the greatest country in the world. A sobering outlook on the state of the USA. (CAUTION ON THE ADULT LANGUAGE).

Even in the past when the “Greatest” label was arguable, it didn’t apply to everyone! America was the Greatest Country, maybe, if you were:

White, Anglo-Saxon, Rich, Male and Straight

But if you were any of the following, then God help you:

Black
Brown – Hispanic
Native American
Jewish
Catholic
Woman
Gay
Persons with Disabilities (Physical or Mental)
Slavic – Eastern European
Muslim
Communists
Atheist
Poor

Yes, building a multi-cultural society is not easy. The book Go Lean … Caribbean describes the challenge as heavy-lifting. America has failed at this challenge, hands-down. In previous blog- commentaries, many defects of American life were detailed, (including the propensity for Crony-Capitalism). See the list of defects here: Housing, education, job hunting, prisons, drug crime prosecutions, and racial profiling.

But despite this list and the reality of this subject, America tries …

This is an important consideration for the planners of Caribbean empowerment. The Caribbean, a region where unfortunately, we have NOT … tried.

The social science of Anthropology teaches that communities have two choices when confronted with endangering crises: fight or flight. The unfortunate reality is that we have chosen the option of flight; (we have no ethos for fighting for our homeland).

The book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that no society can prosper with a high abandonment rate – reported at 70% for educated classes. The primary mission of the Go Lean book is to “battle” against the “push-and-pull” factors that draw so many of our Caribbean citizens away from their homelands to go to the US. While we cannot change/fix America, we can…

Lower the “push” factors!

The purpose of the Go Lean book is to fix the Caribbean, to be better than America. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to pursue the quest to elevate the Caribbean region through empowerments in economics, security and governance. It is the assertion that Caribbean citizens can stay home and effect change in their homelands more effectively than going to America to find the “Greatest Country in the World”. The book therefore asserts that the region can turn-around from failing assessments by applying best-practices, and forging new societal institutions to impact the Greater Good for all the Caribbean. This point was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these acknowledgements and statements:

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

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

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like … Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations… On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities like New York City, … Canada, the old American West and tenants of the US Constitution.

This is the quest of Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap, to reboot the region’s societal engines; employing best-practices and better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and mitigate challenges/threats to the region’s public safety.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines	Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion GDP	Page 68
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Assemble All Regionally-focus Organizations of All Caribbean Communities	Page 96
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – American Model: Kennedy’s Quest for the Moon	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned New York City – Managing as a “Frienemy”	Page 137
Planning – Lessons Learned from Detroit – Turn-around from Failure	Page 140
Planning – Lessons Learned from Indian Reservations – Pattern of Ethnic Oppression	Page 141
Planning – Lessons Learned from the American West – How to Win the Peace	Page 142
Planning – Lessons Learned from the US Constitution – America Tries – Each Generation Improves	Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218

The threats of the repressive American past have not always been domestic; there have been times when American dysfunction have reached across borders, including Caribbean countries, and disrupted the peace and progress. This is an important lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering the history of “American Greatness”; the following previous blog/commentaries apply:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5506	Edward Snowden Case Study: One Person Making a Difference
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4166	A Lesson in History: Panamanian Balboa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789	A Lesson in History: America’s War on the Caribbean

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to empower and elevate Caribbean societal engines to make us better than the American eco-system. Tall order?

Yes, we can!

According to the foregoing VIDEO (and the Appendix below), other communities have done it. Consider Europe, all grown up now.

We can apply these models and lessons from these societies to obtain success. This vision is conceivable, believable and achievable!

Yes we can … make the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

———

Appendix VIDEO – Comedic Commentary – Bill Maher: America Isn’t #1 – https://youtu.be/T8UqdPKbpWM

Uploaded on Jul 11, 2009 – Bill Maher rants on America letting people know we need to reclaim that title and to quit replying on old adages.

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Move over Mastercard/Visa

Posted on June 24, 2015 in Economics, Industries, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

The book Go Lean…Caribbean describes a new regime for Caribbean economic circles: a world where most payments are conducted via electronic means. While this may be the future for the Caribbean, frankly it is already the reality for North America and Western Europe!

In the Caribbean, we are behind the times; we party like its 1969!

Electronic Payments schemes are no longer optional. These must be deployed, as soon as possible, to forge the change necessary to elevate Caribbean society. The trend has started; see the news article here of a card payment scheme deployed recently in the Bahamas:

Title: More Than 4,000 Residents Now Using Social Services Debit Card
By: Ricardo Wells, Staff Reporter, The Tribune – Bahamas Daily Newspaper – Posted 05/19/2015; retrieved 06/24/2015 from: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/may/19/more-4000-residents-now-using-social-services-debi/

MORE than 4,000 residents of New Providence are now part of the Department of Social Services’ modernised food assistance programme.

Officials announced yesterday the approval of an extra 1,501 clients from the Horseshoe Drive Centre to the programme, joining 780 clients registered at the Wulff Road Centre, 874 at the Fox Hill Centre and 1,660 at the Robinson Road Centre, bringing the total to 4,365 in possession of the new pre-paid debit card.

Social Services Minister Melanie Griffin said that although the new pre-paid cards do not resolve all of the issues and problems that exist in the department’s food programme, they allow “clients that are truly in need the ability to shop and purchase needed food items with ease and comfort”.

Mrs Griffin explained that the cards provide users with the ability to not only to limit their contact with centres, but gives them more freedom by allowing them to determine how much they spend in one location and the ability to shop at different establishments in one payment period.

According to the Yamacraw representative, all three are features not allowed by the previous voucher system operated by the department.

“It was a long, hard road getting to this point but with the addition of each centre, we gained more experience and improved the processes involved,” said Mrs Griffin.

She added: “We now turn our efforts to the introduction of the card in Grand Bahama and the FamilyIslands as we intend for this payment method to be utilised throughout the Bahamas.”

Officials from the department indicated that the implementation process is already under way in Grand Bahama with people registered for assistance now being reassessed.

The department suggested that the new cards would first be issued at the Eight Mile Rock Centre and then throughout Freeport.

In November, officials introduced the new debit card in conjunction with Bank of The Bahamas (BOB).

It is designed to curb abuse of the food coupon system, and is seen as a key reform to how the government distributes aid to poor Bahamians.

Mrs Griffin said last year that the card was one feature of wide-ranging upgrades to the Bahamas’ social safety net, a programme being financed with $7.5m from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In January, the government had approved a five per cent increase in the Department of Social Services’ food assistance budget to counteract the impact of VAT on the poor.

Last June, the Department of Statistics said that since 2001, poverty levels in The Bahamas have risen by 3.5 per cent, while more than 40,000 people in the country live below the poverty line – defined as an annual income of less than $5,000 a year.

Other examples abound. The Go Lean book (Page 353) identifies the system deployed in American states and territories (including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) branded EBT (Electronic Benefits Technology).

We must therefore examine models used around the world to facilitate these payment systems. The Go Lean book specifically draws attention to the model of the Mastercard/Visa Interchange and Clearinghouse; (Page 172). The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). This Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

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

This Go Lean/CU/CCB roadmap defines that despite coins and notes, the regional currency, the Caribbean Dollar (C$), will be heavily-targeted as a cashless currency. So the CCB will settle all C$ electronic transactions in the style of the MasterCard-Visa Interchange & Clearinghouse. See the definition in the Appendix below. The book relates (Page 172) how this activity would be a fundamental revenue source for Caribbean governance; as the Mastercard/Visa model now enjoys interchange and clearance fees in excess of 1% – 2% of transaction amounts; (pricing is based on different transaction/industry/card types + flat fees). The Appendix summarizes total revenue for a recent year at $30 Billion for US operations alone. Yes, the pennies add up!

(The latest Visa Bankcard Acquiring fees, effective 16 April 2015, are detailed here on their website: http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/Visa-USA-Interchange-Reimbursement-Fees-2015-April-18.pdf)

According to the foregoing news article, why would the Bahamas government pay interchange fees to the American entity that is the Mastercard/Visa clearinghouse. The money on deposit originates in the Bahamas, the currency is Bahamian Dollars and the merchants are Bahamian. Why is there a need to share the transaction revenue outside the border with an American entity?

This reeks of Crony-Capitalism!

This subject and application vividly depicts the need for a local Caribbean solution of the technology and processing for card transaction interchange. This is the quest of the Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap.

However, this issue is about more than just technology, it relates to economics as well. A previous blog/commentary related how electronic payments provide the impetus for M1, the economic measurement of currency/money in circulation (M0) plus overnight bank deposits. A mission of Go Lean is to increase M1 values, thereby facilitating the dynamic called the “money multiplier” – creating money “from thin-air”. This is a BIG deal!

The Go Lean/CU/CCB movement declares: “Move Over Mastercard/Visa!”

We must model the Mastercard/Visa clearinghouse and learn lessons from their good, bad and ugly history.

It is argued that this interchange is classic Crony-Capitalism, the use of the public trust for the pursuit of private profits. This is evident with their monopolistic integration of bankcard processing despite being two separate for-profit entities (association/ cooperative of banks). This is a familiar charge against this clearinghouse; they have been constantly accused of these abusive practices:

Price-fixing
Regulators in several countries have questioned the collective determination of interchange rates and fees as potential examples of price-fixing. Merchant groups in particular, including the U.S.-based Merchants Payments Coalition and Merchant Bill of Rights, also claim that interchange fees are much higher than necessary,^[14] pointing to the fact that even though technology and efficiency have improved, interchange fees have more than doubled in the last 10 years. Issuing banks argue that reduced interchange fees would result in increased costs for cardholders, and reduce their ability to satisfy rewards on cards already issued.

Consumer welfare
A 2010 public policy study conducted by the Federal Reserve concluded the reward program aspect of interchange fees results in a non-trivial monetary transfer from low-income to high-income households. Reducing merchant fees and card rewards would likely increase consumer welfare.^[15]The Merchants Payments Coalition is fighting for a more competitive and transparent card fee system that better serves American consumers and merchants alike. Because swipe fees are hidden, consumers are unable to weigh the benefits and costs associated with choosing a particular form of payment. Eliminating hidden swipe fees is advocated as a means to realize an open market system for electronic payments.^[16]

Creating the optimized CU/CCB governance is “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap. The strategy is to implement the CCB and C$ currency with a regulatory framework fortified by best-practices, technology and infrastructure, to facilitate the electronic payments needs of the Caribbean community.

The roadmap posits that to adapt and thrive in the new global marketplace there must be more strenuous management, technocratic optimizations, of the region’s governance … and payment systems. This is the charge of Go Lean roadmap, opening with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 – 13) and these pronouncements:

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

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law…

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 foregoing article, demonstrates that this region is ready for a local payment-card clearinghouse solution. The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the proper controls for electronic payments/virtual money in the Caribbean region:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles	Page 21
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier Principle	Page 22
Community Ethos – “Light Up the Dark Places”	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives	Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Central Banking	Page 73
Implementation – Assemble Central Bank Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Currency Union / Single Currency	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce	Page 129
Anecdote – Caribbean Currencies	Page 149
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Black Markets – e-Payments	Page 165
Advocacy – Government Revenue Options – Interchange Fees	Page 172
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives – Cooperative Banking	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cruise Tourism – Smartcard scheme	Page 193
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – e-Government Services	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce – Card Culture	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations – Credit Card Banking	Page 199
Appendix – Alternative Remittance Modes – Prepaid Card Option	Page 270
Appendix – Electronic Benefits Transfers in the Caribbean Region	Page 353

The points of effective, technocratic payment system stewardship, were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5542	Economic Principle: Bad Ethos of Rent-Seeking – Something for nothing
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425	Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889	RBC EZPay – Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3617	Bahamas roll-out of VAT leading more to Black Markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2074	MetroCard – Model for the Caribbean Dollar
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350	PayPal expands payment services to 10 markets
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906	Bitcoin virtual currency needs regulatory framework to change image
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	One currency, divergent economies

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, the banking establishments and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. We must “protect our own house” and work towards our own future. We do not need Mastercard/Visa clearinghouse to do what we can do ourselves; see the VIDEO here.

VIDEO – Toy Story 3 Visa Debit Card Commercial https://youtu.be/VbVa0cPAJ1g

Uploaded on May 18, 2010 – Visa Bankcard TV Commercial demonstrating the substitution for cash, depicting characters from the Disney-PIXAR movie, TOY STORY 3: Woody and the gang tries to save Buzz.

The responsibility to transform the Caribbean’s payment systems should be that of Caribbean stakeholders; our duty and accountability alone. This is the attitude that leads to the ultimate goal: to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

————

Appendix – Mastercard/Visa Interchange Fees
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interchange_fee)

Interchange fee is a term used in the payment card industry to describe a fee paid between banks for the acceptance of card based transactions. Usually it is a fee that a merchant’s bank (the “acquiring bank”) pays a customer’s bank (the “issuing bank”) however there are instances where the interchange fee is paid from the issuer to acquirer, often called reverse interchange.

In a credit card or debit card transaction, [(like Mastercard and Visa)], the card-issuing bank in a payment transaction deducts the interchange fee from the amount it pays the acquiring bank that handles a credit or debit card transaction for a merchant. The acquiring bank then pays the merchant the amount of the transaction minus both the interchange fee and an additional, usually smaller, fee for the acquiring bank or independent sales organization (ISO), which is often referred to as a discount rate, an add-on rate, or passthru. For cash withdrawal transactions at ATMs, however, the fees are paid by the card-issuing bank to the acquiring bank (for the maintenance of the machine).

These fees are set by the credit card networks,^[1] and are the largest component of the various fees that most merchants pay for the privilege of accepting credit cards, representing 70% to 90% of these fees by some estimates, although larger merchants typically pay less as a percentage. Interchange fees have a complex pricing structure, which is based on the card brand, regions or jurisdictions, the type of credit or debit card, the type and size of the accepting merchant, and the type of transaction (e.g. online, in-store, phone order, whether the card is present for the transaction, etc.). Further complicating the rate schedules, interchange fees are typically a flat fee plus a percentage of the total purchase price (including taxes). In the United States, the fee averages approximately 2% of transaction value.^[2]

In recent years, interchange fees have become a controversial issue, the subject of regulatory and antitrust investigations. Many large merchants such as Wal-Mart have the ability to negotiate fee prices,^[3] and while some merchants prefer cash or PIN-based debit cards, most believe they cannot realistically refuse to accept the major card network-branded cards. This holds true even when their interchange-driven fees exceed their profit margins.^[4] Some countries, such as Australia, have established significantly lower interchange fees, although according to a U.S. Government Accountability study, the savings enjoyed by merchants were not passed along to consumers.^[5] The fees are also the subject of several ongoing lawsuits in the United States.

Interchange fees are set by the payment networks such as Visa and MasterCard.

In the US Card issuers now make over $30 billion annually from interchange fees. Interchange fees collected by Visa^[6] and MasterCard^[7] totaled $26 billion in 2004. In 2005 the number was $30.7 billion, and the increase totals 85 percent compared to 2001.

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Taylor Swift withholds Album from Apple Music

Posted on June 23, 2015 in Economics, Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The music business is first and foremost a business – Unknown Author

Caribbean people love music. The promoters of the roadmap for a new Caribbean, based on the book Go Lean…Caribbean, love music. The book identifies 169 genres of music pervasive in the Caribbean region, think Reggae, Merengue, Soca, Compas (Haiti). But the book and the news article/VIDEO below relate that the challenge in the music business is the business functionalities itself. Consider these additional quotations from musical greats about this current and historic dilemma:

Music is spiritual. The music business is not. – Van Morrison

Music and the music business are two different things. – Erykah Badu

I happened to come along in the music business when there was no trend. – Elvis Presley

The desire to hit a big home run is dominating the music business. – Billy Corgan

At the end of the day, there’s only a few major stars in the music business, and then there’s all these people that are aspiring to be that. – John Legend

One of the stars of contemporary music, Taylor Swift (see Appendix below), has now reached-out and reached-in to impact this industry, the music business. She has used her financial wherewithal, immerse popularity, huge influence and massive following to force change in this industry. Despite the historical abuse, this one person is making a difference … here and now!

This aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean which posits that one person can advocate in a community and transform it for change. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU seeks to empower the economic engines of the region, including the music and performing arts industry. The book vividly depicts how Caribbean music is great, but the Caribbean music industry is in shambles. It is difficult for artists and stakeholders to make a living in this industry in this region. This assessment is not due to any lack of music consumption or music appreciation, but rather due to the lack of a music retailing eco-system.

As depicted in the following VIDEO, most music consumption now take place via the electronic media (internet downloads, streaming, mobile devices, etc.). This is a trend that has been undermining the music industry for 2 decades now, and yet the industry stakeholders have been slow to adapt to this transforming world. This is a parallel reality for Caribbean life in general: Agents of Change (Technology, Globalization) have “rocked” the societal engines, and yet the region has still not adapted adequately. The same as one person, Taylor Swift, is hereby making an impact; this commentary asserts that a similar transformation can occur here at home, in many different arenas in society. See this source news article and VIDEO here:

Title: Taylor Swift Withholds Album From Apple Music
By Blogger: Barbara Chai
Source: Wall Street Journal Online Blogs; posted June 21, 2015; retrieved from: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/06/21/taylor-swift-writes-open-letter-to-apple-we-dont-ask-you-for-free-iphones/

Update 12:00 a.m. Monday: A tweet posted late Sunday on the account belonging to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president who oversees Internet services and software, said: “#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period.” An Apple spokesman confirmed that the company has changed course.

Taylor Swift announced she won’t allow her latest album, “1989,” to be included in the new streaming service, Apple Music, because she says Apple won’t pay artists during the initial three-month trial period.

In an open letter to Apple posted on Tumblr, Swift wrote:

I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.

Last fall, Swift pulled her entire catalog from Spotify after a dispute over “1989.” She later joined musicians such as Jack White and Madonna in allowing her music — except for the latest album — to be played on Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal.

In an article in The Wall Street Journal last year, Swift wrote that she remained optimistic about the music industry, saying “In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace.”

In Sunday’s message to Apple, the pop-culture superstar said she is speaking for “every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much.” She wrote:

I realize that Apple is working towards a goal of paid streaming. I think that is beautiful progress. We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out.

Swift, who has been photographed in the past while listening to her music on an Apple device, closed with: “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”

Swift’s label, Big Machine Records, confirmed she wrote the letter and that she is withholding the album from Apple Music.

Read the full letter here.

VIDEO – http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/apple-pay-artists-after-taylor-swift-shames-company-letter-n379476

The issue of Internet & Communications Technologies (ICT) and its effects on community commerce has been exhaustingly considered by the Go Lean movement (book and blog/commentaries). The old business models simply do not work anymore. There is the need to employ leading edge technologies to facilitate a better model for this new world of electronic commerce. This point has been of sharp debate in public forums. Consider a sample of the comments here from many on this Wall Street Journal article; across the board, they are both pro-and-con:

11:40 am June 21, 2015 – Dan wrote:
These “artists” are paid entirely too much already. Produce a product once, and get paid every time it’s used.

11:42 am June 21, 2015 – Kevin wrote:
Taylor got paid more than every CEO except 3 last year. Where’s the outrage from the left demanding she charges less for her albums to reduce inequity?

11:48 am June 21, 2015 – Fair is fair! wrote:
Apple is marketing their sight. No reason the artists should pay Apples marketing.
Good for you Taylor to stand up for your fellow artists!

11:54 am June 21, 2015 – Steve wrote:
I love Apple in many ways, but believe they should pay the artists during the free trial period. It doesn’t matter if the artist is already the highest paid or not. It is the principal, this progressive company which revolutionized the way we listen to music a decade ago, should adhere to. It should be a win / win situation for all involved.

12:24 pm June 21, 2015 – Michael Ball wrote:
Apple is sitting on one of the biggest war chests on the planet. There is no reason that any artist should be forced into underwriting Apple’s R&D.

This is just bad behavior. Good on Taylor for calling them out. Takes a big voice to take down a big bully.

And to “Dan” above: that’s also the economic model of the software business… Do you take issue with that, as well?

12:35 pm June 21, 2015 – Johnny Nevo wrote:
GREAT!!! I always loved her, but THIS is the best.. Screw Apple. Apple is attempting to CONTROL the music business… like in the old days of Payola. Without even hearing it I will buy this CD. I remember a great anecdote from a Bob Dylan . Club owner says to Bob, “you got a great sound, but you have to play here for FREE, to get some experience.”

The music industry, in the US and here at home, needs reform and to transform. The first step is to recognize that intellectual property is property. Far too often, people think that unless they can touch-and-feel, that the value appreciation is not the same. This is how our society values chattel goods. It is what it is!

The required change calls for a new “community ethos”:

“that fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period” – Go Lean … Caribbean Page 20.

Early in the book, the contribution that intellectual property (music, film, electronic games, art exhibition, literature, etc.) can make to a society is pronounced as an ethos for the entire region to embrace. This is featured in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 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.

Like Taylor Swift, the Caribbean has also featured transformative musical artist; (think Bob Marley, he impacted the music, culture and economics of the region). It would be sad if such intellectual property was not properly compensated in the world of commerce. This must be fixed, for the success of future generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists – musical geniuses – to follow. But it is only justice that past artists get due compensation for their talents and hard work as well. The music business dictates income, jobs and economic opportunities for its stakeholders. The opening Declaration of Interdependence addressed these concerns explicitly, (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/CU roadmap asserts that change has come to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of the region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. We know there are musical talents in the Caribbean, a “new” Taylor Swift or a “new” Bob Marley; these ones are waiting to be fostered. But these ones need the eco-system of a music industry that is effective and efficient! Not the Crony-Capitalism of the past; (or according to the foregoing article, the crony practices that were proposed by Apple)!

One woman, in this case … made a difference! Her advocacy reminds us of the famous quotation:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke.

“Kudos” to Taylor Swift!

The prime directive of the book Go Lean…Caribbean is to elevate the regional society, but instead of impacting America, the roadmap focus is the Caribbean first. In fact, the declarative statements are as follows:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 2.2 million new jobs, many in the arts and encompassing intellectual property.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant societal engines against economic crimes, like digital piracy.
Improvement of Caribbean governance – with appropriate checks-and-balances – to support these engines.

The roadmap specifically encourages the region, to lean-in to open advocacy with these specific community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Intelligence Gathering	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Close the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness – Appreciation of the Arts	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good – Needs of the many outweigh the few	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Single Market of 30 Member-States with optimized economic engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Foster Currency System to allow for Electronic Payments	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Security Apparatus Against Economic Crimes & Threats	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Department of Commerce – Communications & Media Authority	Page 79
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Department of Commerce – Performance Rights Organization	Page 81
Anatomy of Advocacies – Examples of Individuals Who Made Impact	Page 122
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership – Individual Contributions	Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime – Federal Jurisdiction for Economic Crimes	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis – Policing the Internet	Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce	Page 198
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations – e-Purse and Internet Commerce	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood – And the Media Industries	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts – Respect for Intellectual Property	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music – Payment Eco-System	Page 231
Appendix – Trade S.H.I.EL.D. – For Interdictions in Digital Piracy	Page 264
Appendix – Caribbean Musical Genres – 169 in the 30 Member-States	Page 347
Appendix – Copyright Infringement – Catching a Thief in Music	Page 351

The Caribbean region wants a more optimized economic and security apparatus, to protect citizens, their property and institutions; including the owners of intellectual property. This includes, among others, software developers, artists and musicians.

The music industry has often been victimized by Crony-Capitalism and the eventual “abuse of power”. We must do more now; we must do better. This Go Lean book posits that “bad actors” – even music company executives – will emerge to exploit inefficient economic, security and governing models.

The Go Lean book explicitly acknowledges that optimizing the needs for artists and their art is not an easy feat; this requires strenuous effort; heavy-lifting. This is the quest of the CU/Go Lean roadmap: an optimized technocracy with better oversight for the regional industrial footprint, including the music/art-related industries.

Other subjects related to art, music and intellectual property for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentary, as sampled here: commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5423	Extracurricular Music Programs Boost Students As Artists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5251	Bahamas Attempts to Transform Society with Inaugural Carnival
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	Building a City on ‘Rock and Roll’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568	Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2415	How ‘The Lion King’ Music/Play roared into history
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2291	Forging Change: The Fun Theory
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1909	Music Role Model Berry Gordy: Transformed America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Music Role Model Bob Marley: Legend Transformed the World
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Do Not Want From the US – #9: Cultural Neutralizations

Caribbean music is great! Caribbean music business…not so much!

This is not just a Caribbean issue. Yet, we can show the world a better model. But our goal is not to change the world; only change the Caribbean; to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix – Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989; age 25) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed with the independent label “Big Machine Records” and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift’s self-titled debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. Her third single, “Our Song,” made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the “Hot Country Songs” chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 2008 Grammy Awards. In 2015, Taylor Swift has become the youngest woman ever to be included on Forbes most powerful women list. She made number 65 on the Forbes annual list of the most powerful women in the world.

Swift’s second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me,” Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. The album won four Grammy Awards, making Swift the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Swift’s third and fourth albums, 2010’s Speak Now and 2012’s Red, both sold more than one million copies within the first week of their U.S release. Speak Now’s song “Mean” won two Grammy Awards, while Red’s singles “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” were worldwide hits. Swift’s fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was released in 2014. It sold more copies in its opening week than any album in the previous 12 years, and made Swift the first and only act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in the opening release week. The singles “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, and “Bad Blood” have all reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Swift is known for narrative songs about her personal experiences. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Nashville Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Swift’s other achievements include seven Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, 11 Country Music Association Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and one Brit Award. She is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums—including 27.1 million in the U.S.—and 100 million single downloads. Swift has also had supporting roles in feature films including Valentine’s Day (2010) and The Giver (2014).

As of March 2011, it was reported that Swift had 5.7 million followers. That figure is now posted at 59,300,000. See here:

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Economic Principle: Bad Ethos of Rent-Seeking

Posted on June 11, 2015 in Economics, Ethos

Go Lean Commentary

Imagine a person making a resolution to improve their health…
… but they smoke cigarettes.

The expectation first would be:

Quit smoking!

One does not have to be a medical doctor, a PhD or a genius to glean this logic. It is now just common sense. Alas, common sense is not so common!

This commentary is not about smoking. It is about economics and public choice theory; see VIDEO’s below. In particular this commentary is about the bad Economic Principle referred to as “rent-seeking”. (This aligns with alternate Economic Principles regarding sources of income; other commentaries detailed the concepts of profit-seeking and wage-seeking). This is a big deal! Imagine a government public health department gifting cigarettes to people as a public health policy. Yes, it is that bad! This is the formal definition of “rent-seeking”:

Rent-seeking is an attempt to obtain economic rent (i.e., the portion of income paid to a factor of production in excess of that which is needed to keep it employed in its current use) by manipulating the social or political environment in which economic activities occur, rather than by creating new wealth. Rent-seeking implies extraction of uncompensated value from others without making any contribution to productivity. The classic example of rent-seeking, according to Nobel Laureate Economist Robert Shiller, is that of a feudal lord who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee (or rent of the section of the river for a few minutes) to lower the chain. There is nothing productive about the chain or the collector. The lord has made no improvements to the river and is helping nobody in any way, directly or indirectly, except himself. All he is doing is finding a way to make money from something that used to be free.^[5]

“Finding a way to make money from something that used to be free”! How evasive is this practice? How can we identify it and how can we stop it?

The Caribbean is in crisis! Surveying the economic landscape of the region, we see a preponderance of rent-seeking as public policy in one member-state after another; see international Examples below. Alas, the book Go Lean…Caribbean, quoting famed economist Paul Romer (Page 8), declares that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Currently the region features unsustainable societal abandonment rates, exhaustive unemployment rates and near-Failed-State statuses.

The premise in this commentary is not an easy one. Just like it is common sense for a smoker to quit in order to preserve health/wellness, it is hereby acknowledged that this is “easier said than done”. Common sense is not so common! This heady discussion of advanced concepts in economics is an example of the heavy-lifting required to elevate Caribbean society.

The Go Lean book seeks to reboot and reform the economic engines of the Caribbean by being technocratic in applying best practices from the field of Economics. This intent is declared at the outset of the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Page 10) for the region to work in unison to remediate the broken systems of commerce:

Preamble: As the colonial history of our region was initiated to create economic expansion opportunities for our previous imperial masters, the structures of government instituted in their wake have not fostered the best systems for prosperity of the indigenous people. Despite this past, we thrust our energies only to the future, in adapting the best practices and successes of the societies of these previous imperial masters and recognizing the positive spirit of their intent and vow to learn from their past accomplishments and mistakes so as to optimize the opportunities for our own citizenry to create a more perfect bond of union.

One of the basis of understanding this complex economic subject of “rent-seeking” is the review of the book The Rise and Decline of Nations by Economist Mancur Olson; in this publication, the writer traced the historic consequences of rent-seeking. He argued that the extremes of laissez-faire (the traditional economic philosophy in North American economies) and a command socialist economy (popular in Europe) would avoid rent-seeking, while a mixed economy would be subject to it. Dr. Olson claimed two distinct groups (actors) with separate agendas: an encompassing organization with the broader social collective interest, versus the narrower distributional coalition – the special interest – who would naturally be a rent-seeking group that would slow down economic growth. See this detailed encyclopedic definition of the width-and-breadth of rent-seeking, here:

Encyclopedia Reference: Rent-Seeking
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

In the field of Economics and public choice theory – the application of economic thinking to political issues – “rent-seeking” is seeking to increase one’s share of existing wealth without creating new wealth. The effects of these efforts are reduced economic efficiency [in the community] through poor allocation of resources, reduced actual wealth creation, lost government revenue, and increased income inequality,^[1] and, potentially, national decline.

Attempts at capture of regulatory agencies to gain a coercive monopoly can result in advantages for the rent-seeker in the market while imposing disadvantages on competitors. (The term regulatory capture directly refers to a form of political corruption that occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or special concerns of interest groups that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating). The term “rent-seeking” itself is attributed to Economist Gordon Tullock in its modern sense with political connotation but with antecedents and common sense back to Ricardo.^[2]

The idea of rent-seeking was developed by Gordon Tullock in 1967.^[2] The expression rent-seeking was coined in 1974 by former World Bank Chief Economist Anne Krueger.^[3] The word “rent” does not refer here to payment on a lease but stems instead from Adam Smith‘s division of incomes into profit, wage, and rent.^[4] The origin of the term refers to gaining control of land or other natural resources.

Georgist economic theory – economic value derived from natural resources should belong equally to all residents of a community – describes rent-seeking in terms of land rent, where the value of land largely comes from government infrastructure and services (e.g. roads, public schools, maintenance of peace and order, etc.) and the community in general, rather than from the actions of any given landowner, in their role as mere titleholder. This role must be separated from the role of a property developer, which need not be the same person, and often is not.

In many market-driven economies, much of the competition for rents is legal, regardless of the harm it may do to an economy. However, some rent-seeking competition is illegal – such as bribery, corruption, smuggling, and even black market deals.

Rent-seeking is distinguished in economic theory from profit-seeking, in which entities seek to extract value by engaging in mutually beneficial transactions.^[6] Profit-seeking in this sense is the creation of wealth, while rent-seeking is the use of social institutions such as the power of government to redistribute wealth among different groups without creating new wealth.^[7] In a practical context, income obtained through rent-seeking may contribute to profits in the standard, accounting sense of the word.

Examples
An example of rent-seeking in a modern economy is spending money on political lobbying for government benefits or subsidies in order to be given a share of wealth that has already been created, or to impose regulations on competitors, in order to increase market share.

A famous example of rent-seeking is the limiting of access to lucrative occupations, as by medieval guilds or modern state certifications and licensures. Taxi licensing is a commonly-referenced example of rent-seeking. To the extent that the issuing of licenses constrains overall supply of taxi services (rather than ensuring competence or quality), forbidding competition by livery vehicles, unregulated taxis and/or illegal taxis renders the (otherwise consensual) transaction of taxi service a forced transfer of part of the fee, from customers to taxi business proprietors. [Labor unions also fit the definition of rent-seeking].

The concept of rent-seeking would also apply to corruption of bureaucrats who solicit and extract ‘bribe’ or ‘rent’ for applying their legal but discretionary authority for awarding legitimate or illegitimate benefits to clients.^[8] For example, tax officials may take bribes for lessening the tax burden of the tax payers; [and politicians take campaign contributions].

Regulatory capture is a related concept which refers to collusion between firms and the government agencies assigned to regulate them, which is seen as enabling extensive rent-seeking behavior, especially when the government agency must rely on the firms for knowledge about the market. Studies of rent-seeking focus on efforts to capture special monopoly privileges such as manipulating government regulation of free enterprise competition.^[9] The term monopoly privilege rent-seeking is an often-used label for this particular type of rent-seeking. Often-cited examples include a lobby that seeks economic regulations such as tariff protection, quotas, subsidies,^[10] or extension of copyright law.^[11] Anne Krueger concludes that, “empirical evidence suggests that the value of rents associated with import licenses can be relatively large, and it has been shown that the welfare cost of quantitative restrictions equals that of their tariff equivalents plus the value of the rents” ^[12]

Economists have argued that innovation in the financial industry is often a form of rent-seeking.^[13][14] [A common everyday examples in American life would be: Wall Street on the ‘right’ and labor unions on the ‘left’].

[A local example stems from the Bahamas 2^nd city of Freeport. That city provides a monopoly to the local petroleum retailing company, Freeport Oil Company, Limited (FOCOL). On one occasion that retailer limited gasoline purchases to the more expensive premium option only, as opposed to the standard choices; see story here: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2013/aug/02/focol-comes-under-fire-grand-bahama-residents/]

Possible consequences
From a theoretical standpoint, the moral hazard of rent-seeking can be considerable. If “buying” a favorable regulatory environment seems cheaper than building more efficient production, a firm may choose the former option, reaping incomes entirely unrelated to any contribution to total wealth or well-being. This results in a sub-optimal allocation of resources – money spent on lobbyists and counter-lobbyists rather than on research and development, on improved business practices, on employee training, or on additional capital goods – which retards economic growth. Claims that a firm is rent-seeking therefore often accompany allegations of government corruption, or the undue influence of special interests.^[18]

Rent-seeking can prove costly to economic growth; high rent-seeking activity makes more rent-seeking attractive because of the natural and growing returns that one sees as a result of rent-seeking. Thus organizations value rent-seeking over productivity. In this case there are very high levels of rent-seeking with very low levels of output. Rent-seeking may grow at the cost of economic growth because rent-seeking by the state can easily hurt innovation. Ultimately, public rent-seeking hurts the economy the most because innovation drives economic growth.^[19]

Government agents may initiate rent-seeking – such agents soliciting bribes or other favors from the individuals or firms that stand to gain from having special economic privileges, which opens up the possibility of exploitation of the consumer.^[20] It has been shown that rent-seeking by bureaucracy can push up the cost of production of public goods.^[21] It has also been shown that rent-seeking by tax officials may cause loss in revenue to the public exchequer.^[8]

Mancur Olson traced the historic consequences of rent seeking in The Rise and Decline of Nations. As a country becomes increasingly dominated by organized interest groups, it loses economic vitality and falls into decline. Olson argued that countries that have a collapse of the political regime and the interest groups that have coalesced around it can radically improve productivity and increase national income because they start with a clean slate in the aftermath of the collapse. An example of this is Japan after World War Two. But new coalitions form over time, once again shackling society in order to redistribute wealth and income to themselves. However, social and technological changes have allowed new enterprises and groups to emerge in the past.^[22]

A study by economists David Laband and John Sophocleus in 1988^[23] estimated that rent-seeking had decreased total income in the US by 45 percent. Both economists William Dougan and Tullock affirmed (1991) the difficulty of finding the cost of rent-seeking. Rent-seekers of government-provided benefits will in turn spend up to that amount of benefit in order to gain those benefits, in the absence of, for example, the collective-action constraints highlighted by Olson.

Nobel Prize-winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz has argued that rent-seeking contributes significantly to income inequality in the United States through lobbying for government policies that let the wealthy and powerful get income, not as a reward for creating wealth, but by grabbing a larger share of the wealth that would otherwise have been produced without their effort.^[26][27] (See related VIDEO here). Economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Stefanie Stantcheva (2011) had analyzed international economies and their changes in tax rates to conclude that much of income inequality is a result of rent-seeking among wealthy tax payers.^[28]

This historic information is being considered in conjunction with the book Go Lean…Caribbean; a publication designed to elevate the region’s economy (create 2.2 million new jobs), security and governing engines. The book features a roster call for some All-stars of the field of Economics; (1700s, 1800s, 1900s & today). Consider this list of those quoted directly:

Paul Romer	1955 –	Page 8
Adam Smith	1723 – 1790	Page 67
Arthur Okun	1928 – 1980	Page 153
James M. Buchanan	1919 – 2013	Page 169
Elinor Ostrom	1933 – 2012	Page 183
Norman Girvan	1941 – 2014	Page 255
Alfred Marshall	1842 – 1924	Page 258
Jacob Mincer	1922 – 2006	Page 258
Gary Becker	1930 – 2014	Page 258
John Geanakoplos	1955 –	Page 276
David Hume	1711 – 1776	Page 318
John Maynard Keynes	1883 – 1946	Page 318

A review of the work of these great men and woman constitute “Lessons in Economic Principles”. Why would these lessons matter in assessing today’s Caribbean status and fate?

The Go Lean book explains the 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)

In psycho-therapy the approach to forge change for an individual is defined as “starting in the head (thoughts, visions), penetrating the heart (feelings, motivations) and then finally manifesting in the hands (actions). The people of the Caribbean must change their feelings about elements of their society – elements that are in place and elements missing. This is referred to as “Community Ethos”, defined as: “the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period; practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.

Rent-seeking is not one of the community ethos that is being urged for the Caribbean; just the opposite, it is a bad ethos to avoid!

VIDEO – The Rent Seeking of Both Left and Right – https://youtu.be/OqrDkegqyDo

Published on Jun 22, 2012 – For an alternative to our anti-democratic system check out Jim Rogers latest project to create a system that will hold politicians feet to the fire, and to put shackles on lobbyists so that they can no longer control the system. One day we might have a system that’s controlled by the people and is for the people.
This is an idea put forth for Americans but it can easily work in any other part of the world.

This bad ethos stems from an attitude of entitlement; to get something … for almost nothing. The Caribbean was colonized originally under this community ethos; a previous blog/commentary related how Papal Bulls and Royal Charters enabled entities to exploit Caribbean markets and trade with very little investment of their own. A direct quote from that commentary relates:

Most of the property and indigenous wealth of the Caribbean region is concentrated amongst the rich, powerful and yet small elite; an oligarchy. Many times these families received their property, corporate rights and/or monopolies by Royal Charter from the European monarchs of ancient times. These charters thus lingered in legacy from one generation to another … until …

The Go Lean book presents a roadmap on how to benefit from the above economic principles – and how to empower communities anew – without continuing rent-seeking practices. (For this reason this commentary opposes reparations for slavery and colonialism).

The consideration of the Go Lean book, as related to this subject is one of governance, (national, municipal and corporate governance), the need for technocratic stewardship of the regional Caribbean society. This point was also pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) with these acknowledgements and statements:

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

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

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit …. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/communities like … Germany, [and] Japan ….

This Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to provide better stewardship for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean region. The CU is motivated by the positive community ethos of the Greater Good!

In general the Go Lean roadmap stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to transform and turn-around the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states/ 4 languages into a Single Market	Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy – Economists are Technocrats	Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion GDP – Adam Smith Case Study: Father of Modern Economics	Page 67
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change – Award exploratory rights in exclusive territories	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)	Page 104
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #3: Proactive Anti-crime / Corporate Governance Measures	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Glass-Steagall Case Study	Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy – Government’s Role: Protect Property Rights	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs – 2.2 Million New Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources	Page 183

In considering this economic history, the CU/Go Lean roadmap is motivated to create value for Caribbean communities, not skim off the top with rent-seeking practices. The mandate is simple:

Foster good economic habits; abandon bad habits.

(At one point, smoking was encouraged, but now it is universally assailed; this demonstrates that communities can mature).

This is not common ground; this is a higher ground!

With the proper stewardship, we can create jobs, value, wealth, trade networks, an educated society, plus develop new products and services that the world demands. Adherence to these best-practices – and aversion to bad community ethos like rent-seeking – would help us make our Caribbean community better to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————–

Appendix VIDEO: Public Choice – Rent Seeking – https://youtu.be/4H2TicrHC8I

Uploaded on Mar 1, 2007 – based on the textbook “Microeconomics for MBAs”

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Crony-Capitalism, Freeport, History, Model, Power, Transform

[Top]

American Defects: Inventory of Crony-Capitalism

Posted on June 9, 2015 in Ethos, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

The American Dream: You have to be asleep to believe it!

Thus the conclusion of famed comedian and society commentator, the late George Carlin*; see VIDEO in the Appendix below; (excuse the graphic profanity).

This conclusion also aligns with the familiar consideration of the planners for a new Caribbean society, the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean and accompanying blogs.

The American Dream tends to be a nightmare for Caribbean citizens of Black and Brown ethnic persuasions that emigrate there. And yet, the Go Lean book relates that these people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out of their beautiful homelands to live, work and play in America.

The book relates the reason for this societal abandonment as “push-and-pull”:

“pull factors” – alluring economic opportunities awaiting a life in America
“push factors” – lack of economic prospects in the Caribbean homeland.

The mission of the Go Lean movement is to minimize these “push and “pull” factors. This commentary today is one of two considerations on the folly of leaving the Caribbean for American shores.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap seeks to reboot the region’s economic, security and governing engines; employing better strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

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

Previous blog/commentaries have asserted that the American Dream is a nightmare for Americans as well. That this “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” is often a sandbox for the rich and the powerful. This is qualified in the manifested threat of Crony-Capitalism.

This commentary therefore is a running inventory list of all the Crony-Capitalism models that proliferate in the Unites States of America:

Models of American Crony-Capitalism detailed in Go Lean…Caribbean blog/commentaries:

Big Defense Many theorists indicate that the “follow the money” approach reveals the Military Industrial Complex work to undermine peace, so as to increase defense spending for military equipment, systems and weapons.

Big Media Cable companies conspire to keep rates high; kill net neutrality; textbook publishers practice price gouging; Hollywood insists on big tax breaks/ subsidies for on-location shooting.

Big Doubters There are professionals who work to undermine the Greater Good by spewing doubt on scientifically-established causes; consider Climate Change, Tobacco and Concussions.

Big Oil While lobbying for continuous tax subsidies, the industry have colluded to artificially keep prices high and garner record profits ($38+ Billion every quarter).

Big Box Retail chains impoverish small merchants on Main Street with Antitrust-like tactics, thusly impacting community jobs. e-Commerce, an area of many future prospects, is the best hope of countering these bad business tactics.

Big Pharma Chemo-therapy cost $20,000+/month; and the War against Cancer is imperiled due to industry profit insistence.

Big Tobacco Cigarettes are not natural tobacco but rather latent with chemicals to spruce addiction.

Big Agra Agribusiness concerns exacerbate greenhouse gases, bully family farmers and crowd out the market. Plus they fight common sense food labeling efforts and engage in abusive labor practices with migrant workers.

Big Data Brokers for internet and demographic data clearly have no regards to privacy concerns.

Big Banks Wall Street’s damage to housing and student loans are incontrovertible.

Big Weather Overblown hype of “Weather Forecasts” to dictate commercial transactions, while ignoring the responsibilities and realities of Climate Change.

Big Real Estate Preserving MLS for Real Estate brokers only, forcing 6% commission rates, when the buyers and sellers can meet without them.

Big Salt Despite the corrosiveness of salt on roads and the environment, it is the only tactic used to de-ice roads. Immediately after the weather warms, the roads must be re-constructed, thus ensuring a continuous economic cycle.

Big Energy The For-Profit utility companies always lobby against regulations to “clean-up” fossil-fuel (coal) power plants or block small “Green” start-ups from sending excess power to the National Grid. Their motive is to preserve their century-long monopoly and their profits.

Big Legal Even though it is evident that the promotion of Intellectual Property can help grow economies, the emergence of Patent Trolling parties (mostly lawyers) is squashing innovation. These ones are not focused on future innovations, rather just litigation. They go out and buy patents, then look for anyone that may consume any concepts close to those patents, then sue for settlements, quick gains.

Big Cruise Cruise ships are the last bastion of segregation with descriptors like “modern-day-slavery” and “sweat-ships”. Working conditions are poor and wages are far below anyone’s standards of minimum. Many ship-domestic staff are “tip earners”, paid only about US$50 a month and expected to survive on the generosity of the passengers’ gratuity. The industry staff with personnel from Third World countries, exploiting those with desperate demands. Nowhere else in the modern world is this kind of job discrimination encouraged, accepted or tolerated.

Big Jails The private prison industry seem motivated more by profit than by public safety. They attempt to sue state governments when their occupancy levels go too low; a reduction in crime is bad for business.

Big Auto Automakers, like General Motors (GM), conspired with oil and tire companies to eliminate streetcars in cities all across America. The conspiracy was to create an inferior urban transportation (bus) system that would drive the demand for automobiles. The end result was a guarantee of sales of tires, gasoline for these industry stakeholders

Big Housing The American legacy is one of the institutional segregation in American cities. The practice was administered by real estate agents and housing officials executing policies to elevate property values and generational wealth for White families at the expense of a life of squalor for Non-Whites.

Big Charities Big Not-For-Profit organizations that fleece the public under the guise of charities but retain vast majorities of the funding as administrative costs, thusly benefiting mostly the charities’ executives and staff rather than the intended benefactors.

Big Education For-Profit schools make a lot of profit while providing very little education to its customers: students. They charge tuition amounts higher than public colleges, while providing educational programs of little value and repute. The issue underpinning this dilemma is the easy availability of guaranteed student loans from the US federal government. The Crony in this case is a direct consequence of a rich pool of federal monies.

Big Music The music business is a bad business. Many in the industry exploit artists for their genius but fail to pay for their talent via legal loopholes. The latest case is that of Apple Music launching a new streaming service, where they choose to not bill the end-customer during the 3-month trial period so they also choose not to pay the artists. This is a clear disrespect of intellectual property, as if the music creation has no value.

Big Interchange The Mastercard/Visa interchange is a monopolistic collusion that ensures transaction fees remain high with no competitive downward pressure. They get a slice of every Mastercard/Visa debit and credit transaction.

Big Sports Public financing of sports stadiums to benefit private owners of sport teams many times abuses the finances of communities, who may then struggle or shortchange vital services in order to service the debt/bond obligations for the stadiums.

Big Hair The media has dictated what is beautiful in America and is making women comply…at all cost. Systematic messaging that Black Hair is less than preferred has resulted in a US$9 Billion industry for Black Women and their fake hair, weaves and chemical products.

Big Lobby Big Business lobby with their money to dictate their priorities, despite conflicts-of-interest for elected officials, at the expense of the Greater Good.

Big Labor The H-1B program allows for foreign workers to be imported only if no local resources are available. This process is so corrupted! American corporations bring in STEM resources from countries like India and pay them less, after having American workers train them. Both the American and foreign workers are abused in the process.

Big Shipping Jones Act mandates that for a ship to go from one US port to another US port it must be American-made and American flagged. This protectionism guarantees excessive shipbuilding profits and a small number of shipping options for US Territories, so high consumer prices.

Follow the money …

The Caribbean must do better! And we must dissuade our citizens from emigrating to this broken American eco-system.

The Go Lean roadmap provides turn-by-turn directions on rebooting Caribbean society, the economic, security, and governing engines for each member-state and the region as a whole. (America is out-of-scope for our efforts). The roadmap features mitigations and remediation to lower the “push” factors so that Caribbean citizens do not feel the need to flee their homelands.

This is easier said than done. As a planning tool, the roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence, pronouncing the dread of threats of the Caribbean Brain Drain (Page 13):

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.

The book also acknowledges that all the reasons for societal flight may not be economic; sometimes there are security concerns as well. So this consideration, plus an aversion to local Crony-Capitalistic practices, is front-and-center in the same Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12):

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.

Even a benign reason like education is factored in the Go Lean roadmap, recognizing that educational engagements may send good students/citizens to a “land of no return”. The opening Declaration of Interdependence therefore pronounces this requirement on 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… This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

The Caribbean is urged to do better. We can reboot and reform our society. We can succeed in elevating our communities and dissuading our most precious resources – our people – from abandoning our beautiful homeland.

The “grass is not greener on the other side”; America should not be the destination of our hopes and dreams. We can work on our Caribbean Dreams right here at home.

The people and governing institutions in the region are all urged to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. Let us all work to make our homeland better places to live, work, and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix * – George Denis Patrick Carlin^[1] (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008)

He was an American comedian, social critic, actor, and author. Carlin was noted for his “black comedy” and his thoughts on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Carlin and his “Seven dirty words” comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a 5–4 decision affirmed the government’s power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.

He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians: One newspaper called Carlin “the dean of counterculture comedians.”^[2] In 2004, Carlin was placed second on the Comedy Central [Cable Network] list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor.^[3] The first of his 14 stand-up comedy specials for [cable channel] HBO was filmed in 1977. From the late 1980s, Carlin’s routines focused on sociocultural criticism of modern American society. He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture. He was a frequent performer and guest host on [TV show] The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era, and hosted the first episode of [sketch-comedy show] Saturday Night Live for broadcast network NBC]. His final HBO special, “It’s Bad for Ya”, was filmed less than four months before his death. In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carlin

————

Appendix VIDEO – George Carlin ~ The American Dream- https://youtu.be/acLW1vFO-2Q

Excuse the profanity!

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Crony-Capitalism, Diaspora, Model, Power

[Top]

Big Defense	Many theorists indicate that the “follow the money” approach reveals the Military Industrial Complex work to undermine peace, so as to increase defense spending for military equipment, systems and weapons.
Big Media	Cable companies conspire to keep rates high; kill net neutrality; textbook publishers practice price gouging; Hollywood insists on big tax breaks/ subsidies for on-location shooting.
Big Doubters	There are professionals who work to undermine the Greater Good by spewing doubt on scientifically-established causes; consider Climate Change, Tobacco and Concussions.
Big Oil	While lobbying for continuous tax subsidies, the industry have colluded to artificially keep prices high and garner record profits ($38+ Billion every quarter).
Big Box	Retail chains impoverish small merchants on Main Street with Antitrust-like tactics, thusly impacting community jobs. e-Commerce, an area of many future prospects, is the best hope of countering these bad business tactics.
Big Pharma	Chemo-therapy cost $20,000+/month; and the War against Cancer is imperiled due to industry profit insistence.
Big Tobacco	Cigarettes are not natural tobacco but rather latent with chemicals to spruce addiction.
Big Agra	Agribusiness concerns exacerbate greenhouse gases, bully family farmers and crowd out the market. Plus they fight common sense food labeling efforts and engage in abusive labor practices with migrant workers.
Big Data	Brokers for internet and demographic data clearly have no regards to privacy concerns.
Big Banks	Wall Street’s damage to housing and student loans are incontrovertible.
Big Weather	Overblown hype of “Weather Forecasts” to dictate commercial transactions, while ignoring the responsibilities and realities of Climate Change.
Big Real Estate	Preserving MLS for Real Estate brokers only, forcing 6% commission rates, when the buyers and sellers can meet without them.
Big Salt	Despite the corrosiveness of salt on roads and the environment, it is the only tactic used to de-ice roads. Immediately after the weather warms, the roads must be re-constructed, thus ensuring a continuous economic cycle.
Big Energy	The For-Profit utility companies always lobby against regulations to “clean-up” fossil-fuel (coal) power plants or block small “Green” start-ups from sending excess power to the National Grid. Their motive is to preserve their century-long monopoly and their profits.
Big Legal	Even though it is evident that the promotion of Intellectual Property can help grow economies, the emergence of Patent Trolling parties (mostly lawyers) is squashing innovation. These ones are not focused on future innovations, rather just litigation. They go out and buy patents, then look for anyone that may consume any concepts close to those patents, then sue for settlements, quick gains.
Big Cruise	Cruise ships are the last bastion of segregation with descriptors like “modern-day-slavery” and “sweat-ships”. Working conditions are poor and wages are far below anyone’s standards of minimum. Many ship-domestic staff are “tip earners”, paid only about US$50 a month and expected to survive on the generosity of the passengers’ gratuity. The industry staff with personnel from Third World countries, exploiting those with desperate demands. Nowhere else in the modern world is this kind of job discrimination encouraged, accepted or tolerated.
Big Jails	The private prison industry seem motivated more by profit than by public safety. They attempt to sue state governments when their occupancy levels go too low; a reduction in crime is bad for business.
Big Auto	Automakers, like General Motors (GM), conspired with oil and tire companies to eliminate streetcars in cities all across America. The conspiracy was to create an inferior urban transportation (bus) system that would drive the demand for automobiles. The end result was a guarantee of sales of tires, gasoline for these industry stakeholders
Big Housing	The American legacy is one of the institutional segregation in American cities. The practice was administered by real estate agents and housing officials executing policies to elevate property values and generational wealth for White families at the expense of a life of squalor for Non-Whites.
Big Charities	Big Not-For-Profit organizations that fleece the public under the guise of charities but retain vast majorities of the funding as administrative costs, thusly benefiting mostly the charities’ executives and staff rather than the intended benefactors.
Big Education	For-Profit schools make a lot of profit while providing very little education to its customers: students. They charge tuition amounts higher than public colleges, while providing educational programs of little value and repute. The issue underpinning this dilemma is the easy availability of guaranteed student loans from the US federal government. The Crony in this case is a direct consequence of a rich pool of federal monies.
Big Music	The music business is a bad business. Many in the industry exploit artists for their genius but fail to pay for their talent via legal loopholes. The latest case is that of Apple Music launching a new streaming service, where they choose to not bill the end-customer during the 3-month trial period so they also choose not to pay the artists. This is a clear disrespect of intellectual property, as if the music creation has no value.
Big Interchange	The Mastercard/Visa interchange is a monopolistic collusion that ensures transaction fees remain high with no competitive downward pressure. They get a slice of every Mastercard/Visa debit and credit transaction.
Big Sports	Public financing of sports stadiums to benefit private owners of sport teams many times abuses the finances of communities, who may then struggle or shortchange vital services in order to service the debt/bond obligations for the stadiums.
Big Hair	The media has dictated what is beautiful in America and is making women comply…at all cost. Systematic messaging that Black Hair is less than preferred has resulted in a US$9 Billion industry for Black Women and their fake hair, weaves and chemical products.
Big Lobby	Big Business lobby with their money to dictate their priorities, despite conflicts-of-interest for elected officials, at the expense of the Greater Good.
Big Labor	The H-1B program allows for foreign workers to be imported only if no local resources are available. This process is so corrupted! American corporations bring in STEM resources from countries like India and pay them less, after having American workers train them. Both the American and foreign workers are abused in the process.
Big Shipping	Jones Act mandates that for a ship to go from one US port to another US port it must be American-made and American flagged. This protectionism guarantees excessive shipbuilding profits and a small number of shipping options for US Territories, so high consumer prices.