Caricom : Cash, Citizenship and Babies

 

We note with some trepidation, the efforts made to maintain socio economic progress in the region. While we are not unaware that these efforts, are perhaps made with the best of intensions by our governments, we think it exceedingly necessary, to offer some comment and concerns. We are of the strong belief, that if we do not make realistic and prudent decisions now, we will continue to be constantly finding ourselves in dire economic straits. We are concerned with the undeniable fact, that COVID-19 and its deleterious effects on regional economies, can force our leaders to embrace policies that may not be in the best interest of future generations.

There are some countries that have already embarked on citizenship by investment programs. Contrary to popular belief, such programs are not only found in struggling economies. They offer citizenship to often wealthy individuals who in turn invest in the country. However, all those who seek this facilitation do not always invest but engage in leisure and other activities. It is known that such programs attract not only investors but others of dubious character.

Quite recently , in an effort to replace and earn much needed foreign exchange, that has been wiped out because of the effects, that COVID has had on the tourism industry, some countries are offering foreign professionals , who work from home, to consider working from “de islands”. This initiative has gained considerable international attention.

The marketing of this venture is centered around the low levels of COVID within the region. Tourism planners believe, that rather than work from their North American homes, professionals will be enticed to come to the region, on a temporary citizenship program. They will work in a more attractive environment, and enjoy the beautiful beaches and laid-back atmosphere, while avoiding the stress and anxieties of COVID in their countries. The entire idea seems to be: “Work while living like a tourist”.

Such ventures seem quite innocent or non-threatening, but we seriously believe, they are essentially non sustainable because they are short-term measures, that impinge on the resources of the countries and create benefits such as temporary employment. We are not convinced that creating relatively low-income jobs, and then returning to their respective homes, will have any spin off, in the creation of needed skills to the local populations.

Finally, we must express our views about the desire to increase populations in some regional countries, that are faced with aging and decreasing population growth. Many social scientist and economic planners suggest that some islands are simply not producing enough babies. They predict that unless some populations increase, there will be insufficient citizens to not only service but to create additional services. In other words, a concomitant fall in production will ruin the economies and make them less competitive.

However, we fear that any increase of regional populations by importing people from outside the region, may not be in our best interest. Our economies are already fragile, and, in many cases, we are still grappling with basic issues such as: proper water supply, public health, housing and environmental challenges. We are already importing more than we export and we have witnessed that COVID in a matter of months, have sunk our tourism industry almost to the bottom of the economic ocean. There is a considerable body of thought, that opines the Independence Experiment, is still a work in progress, often undermined by exogenous developments.

We therefore must look at socio-economic policy from many angles. We have seen what unbridled cultural penetration has done to us in the last half century. The policies that have been raised in this article, force us to suggest that the debacle which remains, is not how the region looks today, but how it will look in the next fifty years.