The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mr Freundel Stuart, in a cri de coeur called on UWI to put out graduates who are not simply looking for jobs but intellectuals who generate and elucidate ideas since we in the West Indies cannot afford to lose the battle in the area of ideas.He said that we may not win in areas like oil, commodities and military hardware, but we can be equal, or better still, superior, in the realm of ideas.
He noted that UWI is not commenting on the issues critical to the development of the region. He wondered that if the supposedly leading thinkers in the society are not doing this then who should?Juxtapose PM Stuart's comment with the situation in which Barbados has now found itself; its inability because of its decaying economic model to fund its imports that are crucial to the maintenance of its standard of living.
Barbados is being helped by the IMF and has imposed an austerity plan to stabilise the economy; cuts in government spending, firing public sector employees to reduce aggregate demand for imports.But PM Stuart knows and implies that Bdos, as the rest of the region, needs new ideas, new companies, new global exports if it is to develop its economy.He knows that all in the region cannot compete on oil and commodities and the only alternative left is ideas, our brains, knowledge and innovation.
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