THE STATE OF THE BELIZE ECONOMY IN ELECTION YEAR 2012 DEBATE.

THE STATE OF THE BELIZE ECONOMY, PRIORITIES AND THE ELECTION YEAR 2012.

Can the PUP make an issue out of corruption by the UDP? I think the answer would be no? If you live in a glass house, why throw stones.

BARROW and his UDP have a lot going for him. From his pre-election interview last night on TV, he is NOT GOING TO RESIGN in favor of new BLOOD, like Patrick Faber as party leader. As they say, POWER CORRUPTS and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So far, the incumbent UDP record except with small glitches, is pretty good. They took the deal they were handed at the last election and BARROW in a one man show of a EL CAUDILLO, or MAFIA DON controlled government events, that saw Belize come through the WORLD FINANCIAL DEBACLE and subsequent recession, very well for three difficult yearS. KUDOS to BARROW on that, and I believe ALL, or most of the voters, particularly the SWING VOTERS realize that. More good news, that the Economy showed 2.7 or something GDP growth in 2011. The forecast is 3.0 GDP for 2012. If one of the two exploratory oil drilling companies actually find a pool of oil, then we are going to break the 3.2 GDP barrier, which shows POSITIVE GROWTH and economic expansion. We can only wait and see. I was happy to see, where Mr. Barrow had given instructions to the bureaucracy to step up the assistance to starting small businesses, recently. Innovation and attack are needed by a moribound bureaucracy, who clearly do not know how to serve and LEAD. Certainly, for NATIONAL self sustainability, that should be the emphasis. We cannot rely on oil ponds alone. There doesn´t seem to be enough of it, to do more than pay off the known interest rate costs on our Belize Bonds, created by the PUP created debt. That however, allows us to use what we get from GST taxation and other fees, to run this big bureaucracy of ours, for the size of our population.

One of the puzzles is EDUCATION. I cannot for the life of me, understand how TERTIARY higher education, is producing nothing but dunces? Here we are, spending tons of money, the biggest part of our tax revenues to educate people higher than PRIMARY SCHOOL. Yet, they do nothing with this HIGHER EDUCATION financed by our tax dollars, but complain and cry they cannot find SALARIED JOBS. What kind of nonsense is that? Our tax money should be giving HIGHER EDUCATION TO PEOPLE who will create small businesses to start off with, to create EXPORTS and to hire the less educated people in the country via salaried jobs. It is the poor and uneducated that need salaried jobs in most places, outside of the MENNONITE 60,000 population who are creating jobs, businesses, exports and other things, by teaching themselves. Our EDUCATED ELITE need to be creating EXPORT businesses. I certainly have no sympathy, or understanding for people with DEGREES of higher ACADEMIA, bellyaching that there is no work in Belize. The OPPORTUNITIES ARE SO MANY, we cannot enumerate them.

Either we cut back on higher education financed by tax revenues, or the tertiary education establishment start revising WHAT THEY ARE TEACHING, to suit our local population level, the environment, and what our population need and want, as a developing 2 nd or 3rd world small country. Which is LEADERS IN BUSINESS from people with DEGREES. Self Starters, who can use that fancy tax paid supported education we are giving them, to create businesses. In summation, the EDUCATION system is off track. The EDUCATION system needs to come back to the NEEDS of our society. The SAD thing is, I don´t believe they are capable? We are not the industrialize European countries. I don´t believe our existing educational leaders have a clear idea of what to do, and certainly they have proved they do not know, HOW TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED to build our nation for future generations of Belizeans. Our tax money spent on EDUCATION should produce results and that result will be a growing GDP past the 3.2 level. PM BARROW has said, he wants more results out of our bureaucracy, for small businesses. I agree, but think his effort is too MILD. Self sustainability needs many MORE SMALL BUSINESSES, particularly those that EXPORT.