In Monday's Tribune Business, the Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance was touting the "preliminary results" an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study that says VAT "will have a "positive" impact on the Bahamian economy's growth and employment prospects in the medium term" that "would also result in reduced inflationary pressures". Read more here… and here…
Note he said in the "medium" term and never mentioned the immediate impact.''
Bearing in mind the medium term in economic speak means 5 to 10 years out.
Maybe they'll enlighten us about the economic impact for years 1 to 5?
For example:
1. Will prices of goods and services rise?
2. How much will prices rise?
3. Has VAT caused unemployment in other jurisdictions when implemented?
4. Has VAT slowed economic activity/business when implemented in other jurisdiction?
What is even more curious is this study is only recently underway. How can they even set a rate for VAT at 15% before they know the outcome of their own study?
I'm reminded of that saying about silence being a form of contempt?
Absolute nonsense.Show me the track record & the country where it has worked & been successful.What the Tribune & other papers need to do is put on the front page not the business section exactly how bad this will be for our country & show where it has been so bad in other countries.
Legendary football coach George Allen said upon accepting the head coaching position with the Washington Redskins, “The Future is Now”.. Had Coach Allen taken a “medium-tern” view of his new job, he would have soon been out of a job.. Trading for proven, experienced players in exchange for unproven players, Washington ended the season playing in the Super Bowl.. With the owners open checkbook, George Allen always made the future now..
Is there an underlying lesson here to ponder, perhaps so?? In the Bahamas, our future is Now as we are a debt and deficit ridden economy.. We don’t have a 5 to 10 years horizon to see if VAT is a failure as time is running out.. The historical evidence of failure of VAT speaks volumes for itself..
The Bahamas is now at the Crossroads and government must use some good old common sense and put the government on a crash diet to ride the nation of the excess fat that characterizes our bloated government.. There is only one way to lose weight and that is to cut the fat.. “The Future is Now” as we may not have much of future in the long run and for that matter in the medium run..