THE launch of an online petition by an economist who had previously protested her political neutrality suggests that these professionals have a lot of time on their hands.
So, for all economists with downtime, here are a few worthy online petitions you could initiate:
- To the Governor of the Central Bank, to intervene and stop commercial banks from digging-out-we-eye with climbing interest rates and various charges and fees even as they record historic, billion-dollar profits and the small man endures worsening hardship;
- To the national authorities, to step in and even out things as banks, large corporations, the pharmaceutical import monopolist, big media and other commercial giants report increased profit while 6,000 small businesses have collapsed. Statistics confirm that the rich is getting richer. In the US, billionaire Mark Cuban is providing medication without mark-up to assist the small man.
- To the Government, to regulate the inflow of refugees and other migrants, especially at a time when one in five workers is on the breadline and our social services are under pressure.
- To the Government, to demand that they improve the Ease of Doing Business environment so investors would once more look to T&T. There has been a steady flight of investors, with even WiPay, owned by a Trini, heading to greener pastures in Jamaica. The World Bank rates T&T 105th in the world, lower than Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere.
- To the Government, to do something about the cost of food, which is at a 40-year high and projected to become more expensive as a result of international production and supply issues.
- To manufacturers, distributors and consumer protection agencies, to deal with the hush-hush downsizing of essentials – called “shrinkflation” – while charging the same prices.
- To the Government, to tell us who instructed the illegal termination of the OAS Constructoro contract, a decision that would cost taxpayers $852 million. This has a smell similar to the scrapping of legal action against World Gas-to-Liquids overlords, in that failed billion-dollar Pointe-a-Pierre project.
- To the Airports Authority, for permitting a foreign coffee shop in the most prized place, while the world lavishes praise on our doubles and callaloo.
- To the authorities, to please confront the crime scourge, which has made T&T the most violent small State in the world.
- To TSTT, to explain the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars while telecom companies around the world are recording profits through innovation and modern technologies.