The strength of a country is determined first and foremost by the strength of its economy. Those who say this is not so are snake oil salesmen.

The term “snake oil salesman” is used to describe someone who sells, promotes, or is a general proponent of some valueless or fraudulent cure, remedy, or solution. We have many in Jamaica.

Everything turns on the resilience of the economy. This is incontrovertible. The rise and fall of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is a classic reminder that there are no countries with weak economies and strong institutions.

Here, at home, some who knew better, who had, for example, generous years of schooling at the most august places of learning globally, systematically fooled thousands into thinking that snake oils or quick fixes would remedy long-standing problems. We are today paying for their trickery.

As we draw closer to our 17th local government election, snake oil will be released in great quantities. Beware!

GUARDING AGAINST SNAKE OIL

There is an asinine and sinister narrative being spewed that the massive improvements in the economy, especially in the last eight years, are not being felt on the ground. This is snake oil salesmanship. Consequently, I believe it is the duty of all well-thinking Jamaicans to expose the rotten ingredients in the worthless elixir being offered by these people.

Consider this: ‘Unemployment continues to fall at record rate.’ The news item said, among other things, “With 47,000 more Jamaicans said to have entered the employed labour force up to July this year, the country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.5 per cent as it continues to trend downward and at record out-turns.

“The latest figure, as reported by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) on Wednesday, was 2.1 percentage points lower than that of July 2022 when the rate stood at 6.6 per cent. It also follows April’s record out-turn when it first dipped to the historic 4.5 per cent rate.” (Jamaica Observer, October 19, 2023)

Charlatans spout that the record unemployment is not benefiting the people. They say they have a better solution. They say they will create high-paying jobs. Curiously, they do not say what these high paying jobs are, how they will be created, and how soon? If it looks like snake oil and smells like snake oil, it is undoubtedly snake oil.

SOCIALISM IS FUELLED BY DEPENDENCY

“Power over a man’s subsistence amounts to power over his will,” said Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s Founding Fathers. Believe it! There are some among us, not illiterates, but well-schooled “topanaris” types, who desperately want to control the subsistence of what was traditionally called the working class.

I believe that is the root of the sustained inveighing against the record low unemployment in our country. I am not surprised. Why? Socialism, no matter how some try to sugar-coat it, means common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

Years ago socialists openly sold this fraudulent doctrine. Today, most of them have conveniently dropped certain damaged nomenclatures. Many are speaking the language of conservative capitalism. Others say publicly they are fervent disciples of fiscal discipline. We must not be fooled by their contortions; instead, we must look at their record. The Good Book says, “By their fruit we shall know them.”

Thousands of men and women who were not in a job months ago are today employed. This is not snake oil. They are not just working for themselves, they are benefiting thousands of households. Some economists say that the average worker in Jamaica is benefiting at a minimum two other Jamaicans. The fact is there is no economy which started out with all high-paying jobs. It is an incremental process, keenly tied to improvements, especially in national levels of education and training, security, commercial and judicial advances, institutional building, expansion and upgrades, plus cultural and geographical advantages.

“Yuh have to creep before you walk.” You have to start at the point at which you find yourself by maximising your natural advantages, piggybacking on these, and scaling up from there onwards. The snake oil salesmen would have us believe they have a magic wand to circumvent this immutable process.

Those who tacitly, or otherwise, tell folks that it is better to be on the street corners “rubbing out their hand middles” than working in a call centre, for example, are con artists. They mean Jamaica no good. But we have seen the employment — pun intended — of this ‘lazy man strategy’ before. Recall when hundreds of women were employed in the garment industry in the 1980s. Some branded it as slavery. Did they give anyone a job? They did not!

IMPOSTERS AND DECEIVERS

Leigh Hunt, renowned British poet and essayist, said, “The same people who deny others everything are famous for refusing themselves nothing.” We must be very wary of these types.

I see nonsense again being splashed into the public square that the country should slow the rate at which the national debt is being repaid. Where does this convolution come from? It comes from an innate motivation to redistribute that which has not been produced. The fact is the faster Jamaica brings her debt stock within the boundaries of international standards, the more leverage she will have to deal with additional domestic matters. One does not need a degree in economics to realise this.

I agree with the approach of the Andrew Holness Administration: ignore the snake oil salesmen and continue to agilely repay the national debt. Indeed, Jamaica was once branded as a basket case due to high debt. I am happy we have regained respect regionally and internationally.

For those who are mired in political antediluvian thinking, whether because of voluntary ignorance or deliberate intellectual rigor mortis, here is a brief insight into how low debt is beneficial to all Jamaicans: “The Caribbean island of three million people has emerged as a rare bright spot, while most emerging markets have been hit by global interest rates and a strong US dollar that has made repaying debt harder. Investors have poured into Jamaica’s global bonds, with the extra yield demanded to hold its debt 187 basis points over Treasuries on Friday, compared to 454 basis points for emerging markets, according to JPMorgan Chase and Co data.

“S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Services raised their credit scores for Jamaica by a notch in the past month, citing Government’s push to carry out structural reforms and reduce debt.” (Bloomberg, October 23, 2023) Simply put, the faster Jamaica gets rid of the long-standing millstone of choking debt, the more money she will have to better pay public servants and build schools, hospitals, roads, and so forth.

Hoodwinkers and masqueraders who tell us that delaying debt repayment is good economics are like the proverbial man who built his house upon sandy soil. When the storm came his house was smashed at the foundations and blown away.

Lower debt is not just useless numbers on a paper as some would want the unsuspecting to swallow.

A relatively stable dollar, which we have had for the last several years, is not just a figment of some people’s imagination. These are substantial achievements which help to determine how much we pay over or don’t at the cashier’s counter when we buy food. They help to decide prices at Coronation Market, where many, like me, shop; the cost of gasoline at the pumps; the amount we pay for electricity and water; and tons of other goods and services which we need on a daily basis.

“SAMFIE” INTELLECTUALISM

High inflation is the cruellest tax upon the poor. Those who criss-cross the country telling folks that relatively low inflation, which Jamaica has had for the last several years, is inconsequential are involved in an elaborate scheme of deception.

Food inflation is rising all over the world. Those who say they have some kind of magic strategy to lower food inflation if they are given back the keys to Jamaica House are riding on cruel hoaxes. Can they stop the Russian war with Ukraine? This unfortunate war has negatively affected grain prices on the international market. For example, when a ship carrying thousands of tons of grain is sunk by Russian missiles in the Black Sea, the terrible impact is felt in Jamaica.

Facts matter! Ponder this: ‘World Bank’s Banga says geopolitics pose biggest, but not the only, risk to world economy’. Reuters news noted among other things: “Geopolitical tensions heightened by the Middle East conflict pose the biggest threat to the world economy right now, but other risks are also at play, World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Tuesday.

” ‘The US 10-year Treasury (yield) just crossed 5 per cent briefly yesterday, these are areas we haven’t seen. So, yes, that is right there lurking in the shadows,’ Banga said, referring to a rise in the benchmark for borrowing costs around the world, which further threaten an economic slowdown.

” ‘And then, how long before the next pandemic?’ Banga said during an event at the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh.

” ‘There is so much going on in the world and geopolitics in the wars that you’re seeing, and what just happened recently in Israel and Gaza. At the end of the day, when you put all this together, I think the impact on economic development is even more serious,’ he said.” (Reuters, October 24, 2023)

There is no magic wand to wave to magically correct the impact of these global events on Jamaica. Those who say otherwise are double-dealers and conmen.

A SORT OF BABBLE

It seems to me that someone has advised the leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition Mark Golding that he needs to be more animated on the hustings.

Some noted psychologists warn that it is important for leaders to keep their cool as often as possible since this facilitates more coherent thinking. I agree.

Last Sunday Golding spoke at a conference in my home parish of St Mary. He chided the Holness Administration for the recent fare increase. Golding, perhaps channelling former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, said the Administration was “wicked and uncaring” for not cushioning the impact on the commuters.

Golding said the Administration needed to “remove the hedge fund tax and cap the Special Consumption Tax (SCT) on fuel and use the surplus to protect the consumer”.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz has rejected Golding’s suggestion as “fiscal indiscipline”. “Vaz said Golding’s proposal, which he likened to the economic policies of the 1990s, is an attempt to score ‘cheap political points’.” (The Gleaner, October 24, 2023) I agree.

Additionally, as I understand it, the effect of Golding’s proposal means the rich and the most vulnerable would benefit alike. I much prefer targeted approaches similar to the one which was revealed in Parliament by Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke. Recall, Clarke noted: “We will establish a special provision in the amount of $2 billion to provide targeted support to those who are most adversely affected, and who have the least ability to absorb the impact of high gas and energy prices.” (Jamaica Observer, May 9, 2022)

But something else struck me about the mentioned Gleaner news item. “Vaz said Opposition spokesman on transport Mikael Phillips was a part of that group and was “fully aware” of the outcome of the fare increase discussions. He noted that the announcement was made in Parliament and said that there was no objection from the parliamentary Opposition.

Vaz also said it has been a week since the first phase of the increase took effect and that, to date, the Opposition party has not issued an opposing statement.

So is the communication line between Golding and Phillips clogged? Was Phillips on a frolic of his own? Or is this simply another instance of rank political opportunism, as Vaz has said? There is clear dissonance here. To me, it reduces what Golding said to a sort of babble.

The Opposition seems trapped in confusion.