Rasheed Griffith on the need for a Caribbean think tank

Worth another link!  Here is one bit:

In my opinion, the first priority for a Caribbean think tank or program should be to advocate for the implementation of dollarization, which involves the replacement of all existing Caribbean currencies with the United States Dollar (USD) as the sole currency. This idea is based on the numerous fiscal and monetary shortcomings exhibited by Caribbean governments. The benefit of this proposal is its widespread latent approval and straightforward nature, making it easier to garner support and understanding among the Caribbean people…

The domestic money of Caribbean countries are only useful in the tiny land area of the earth where they are issued. For example, Barbados is 166 square miles and the Barbados Dollar (BBD) only has value in that small space. Why exactly should people be forced to exchange their labour for money that has such a limited use?

You might say that they can easily exchange the Barbados Dollar (BBD) for USD. But that is untrue. Barbados maintains strict capital controls because it cannot allow people to exchange too much BBD for USD as that would cause a crisis for the fixed exchange rate. This is a kafkaesque policy since virtually everything imported into and exported from Barbados is priced and invoiced in USD.

Moreover, the government abuses its position as the issuer of money. Primarily to finance its spendthrift operations by arbitrarily creating new money. This is the evident across the region. In Trinidad & Tobago, the government limited citizens to only a $250 USD allotment for international purchases on credit cards. This forced the black market rate to unprecedented levels, with everyone desperate to acquire USD. It came to a point where some services would give discounts if you pay in USD.

Basic point: Caribbean people are severely disadvantaged by being forced to use money that has no global acceptance. Caribbean governments will perpetually mismanage their domestic money to the detriment of citizens.

The manifesto covers many other issues, interesting throughout.

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