Introduction The detailed figures presented in last Sunday’s column on Guyana’s sugar production for the years 1961 to 2010 (on the basis of 3-year averages) and the accompanying chart reveal three notable features.
Per unit cost/price of gold As we saw last week, despite Guyana’s long historical association with gold discovery and exploration it is ironic to name as an upside potential/achievement that is facing the economy over the near-to-medium term, the prospects of large-scale gold production coming on-stream by 2014.
In the present series of columns I had introduced oil and natural gas exploration and development as the first upside potential/achievement for consideration.
Features This week I start a discussion on the upside potential/opportunities facing the Guyana economy.
This week I shall consider the remainder of the downside risks facing the economy over the short-to-medium term.
Last week I had briefly assessed the downside risks of significant interruptions to capital and remittance flows into Guyana’s economy.
Introduction In this and the coming weeks, I shall continue my assessment of the short-to-medium term prospects for the Guyana economy.
Recently a number of readers have asked me to offer an opinion on the prospects for the Guyana economy over the short-to-medium term.
Introduction Last Sunday’s column sought to make the argument that, despite the fact government activity in the economy is so huge and it operates as a drag, impeding economic performance and growth, there are at least eight economic functions that the government is best situated to accomplish.
Introduction In last Sunday’s column I argued that government activity is operating as a drag on the national economy.
Introduction In last week’s column I discussed two concepts which readers should find useful as we proceed to evaluate the impact of government activity on the economy of Guyana.
Introduction Last week I demonstrated how huge government activity is in Guyana’s national economy.
Last week I described the three categories of government expenditures which feature in measures of these, if we are to make a reasonable determination of the size and likely impact of government activity on the economy.
To the average Guyanese the image of the government is one of ‘big government.’
Rationale In last Sunday’s column, I made a call for the establishment of a statutory independent non-partisan and professionally-staffed Budget Office to be located in the National Assembly (NABO).
Introduction Two fundamental considerations take pride of place in the substantive evaluation of Guyana’s government budget, 2011 and therefore provide a logical starting point for my forthcoming columns.
The budget next time As on previous similar occasions, beginning next week I shall suspend further discussion of the topic under present consideration in my Sunday columns, in order to present an evaluation of the 2011 National Budget.
High expectations As I tried to make clear in last week’s column, the global economic crisis-induced shift in international economic governance and authority away from the G7 club of rich countries, to the
From G7 to G20 The shift in the authority for superintending the international economy from the G7 club of rich nations to the G20 grouping, which includes the emerging economies of China, India, Brazil and Russia, was initiated by United States President Bush in 2008 when both the US and the global economy were engulfed in an economic recession, financial crisis and credit crunch, such as the world had not witnessed,
‘A truly-global crisis!’ Utilizing the IMF’s terminology for the economic classification of countries worldwide, as a group the “emerging economies” have been clearly out-performing the “advanced economies” during this protracted period of global economic recession, financial crisis and credit squeeze.
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