by Rick Lowe
Ballooning deficits and declining GDP is leaving public finances in The Bahamas devastated, further enslaving future generations to a public debt that will exceed $4 billion before we read John Maynard Keynes, 410 page treatise, General Theory of Employment Interest and Money and Ludwig von Mises 930 page masterpiece, Human Action, A Treatise on Economics, from cover to cover.
But don't believe me, read the Prime Minister's address to Parliament by clicking here...
Read the other releases to Parliament here...
For the first time in the history of The Bahamas the line item(s) that will take up the largest percentage of government revenue has changed from education to debt servicing.
This is a game changer for sure, but no one political party (FNM or PLP) is to blame, as they have all been irresponsible with the fiscal management of our country. Since 1967 they have borrowed and printed money with reckless abandon.
It is easy for Mr. Perry Christie, leader of the Official Opposition PLP to say the budget "offers no blueprint for the way forward".
Why would we expect him to say anything else. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for his solutions either. Remember Mr. Christie and his colleagues helped get us in this predicament as well.
Have the cuts outlined in Mr. Ingraham's speech gone far enough? It's doubtful.
Will the debt increase more than they have predicted? Probably.
What can we do about it? Start reducing government to its proper role as outlined in our Constitution would be a step in the right direction.
One other point. We had better start to come to the realisation that expecting too much from government has put us here. Expecting them to fix the mess will likely bring more hardship.
We have some difficult days ahead.
