caribny posted:Mars posted:Billy Ram Balgobin posted:Everyone who is coming from Guyana on visit to NY are saying the economy has slowed down and things are getting worse. Why should we not believe at least a little of what they have to say.
What do you expect PPP soupies to say? They are peddling that lie so that it sinks in for 2020.
Well I am hearing for people who were fervent supporters of the coalition that the economy has slowed from the point of view of the average person. Even the vendors complained.
I think that what we can debate is the reasons why. While there is growth at the macro level, it isn't getting down to the man in the street. The Canadians spend their money, pay their fees and royalties, but I suspect the multiplier effect isn't that high, so there is less seepage into the general economy.
This isn't to suggest that the PPP did anything to support the economy between 2008-2014. Gold, remittances, and money laundering all created a bubble economy, that was going to bust as soon as gold prices dropped.
Maybe it isn't as bad as it could be, when we look at Suriname, with a similar economy, which definitely isn't doing 3%.
The real economy is just about the same as nothing drastic has changed from the PPP days to now. Drugs money flowing freely is down but if you want the crime situation to improve, the drug problem has to be tackled. You can't have it both ways. If you let drugs run out of control like in Jagdeo days, crime will run out of control. Remittances are down because less drugs money is being laundered and this trend started a couple of years ago. A significant amount of remittances is drugs money being legally washed in the system.