We are told that in ancient Rome, Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus hired an assistant to follow him as he walked through the Roman town’s square. The assistant’s only role was to, whenever Marcus Aurelius was praised, whisper in his ear, “You’re just a man. You’re just a man.”
Aurelius was well known for his philosophy and many consider his reign as the golden age of the Roman Empire.
If there is anything we learnt over the last week and a half of Budget debate, it is how arrogance and hubris can damage any government’s messaging and the extent to which the Keith Rowley administration has lost touch with the ordinary citizens and is now in need for someone to follow them around and whisper in their ears, “You’re just a man. You’re just a man.”
I have chosen just a few of the offending quotes from members of the Government benches which have caused unease among many members of the population.
It began with the Member of Parliament for Tobago West Shamfa Cudjoe, when she said: “You hear the cries of everybody want everything right now...What are we prepared to do? What kind of sacrifices are we prepared to make?
Cudjoe added: “Everybody wants everything for nothing. Everybody wants everything but willing to give up nothing...We sit here healthy and strong, looking good, well-fed because somebody else had to sacrifice then so that we can have now.”
For the Member of Parliament for Port-of-Spain South, Keith Scotland, citizens should return to the use of coal pots and ride a bike to work.
Scotland said: “I have a suggestion. For me, in order to lose weight, I will ride to court. I will take a bike in order to save fuel, that’s my solution.”
The Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales suggested that we spend less money on macaroni pie and ham.
Of course, the PM and his Gary Sobers, Stuart Young, could not allow the opportunity to pass them by without telling us that they know what is best for the country and everyone else must trust them and they have all but saved us from the end of time.
The self-congratulatory statements never end, including that the Government placed the country in a position to get maximum benefit from the higher energy prices.
Mr Prime Minister and Minister Young, there is nothing, no agreement, no make-believe statement that could let anyone with any knowledge of the energy sector come to a conclusion that a fall of 1.3 billion standard cubic feet per day of natural gas, the closure of Train 1 as a result of low output, and the reduction of oil production by 18,000 barrels per day, can be compensated by any deal that remains known only to you and your Cabinet.
There is nothing, Mr Young, no amount of chest thumping that can convince anyone who knows about the energy sector that the bid rounds, including your latest deep-water bid round, have not failed.
Perhaps in the interest of transparency, you could tell us what is the reason for the delay in awarding the deep-water blocks? You are already a month behind your own schedule and I can tell the country today that the quality of those bids left a lot to be desired.
I am on record as saying I support the Government’s attempt to cap the fuel subsidy at $1 billion. This is a step in the right direction, but in asking the country, most of whom are on fixed incomes, to make additional sacrifices, you must show that you understand the magnitude of what is being asked and not seek to attack citizens for “liking freeness.”
Mr Prime Minister, you have collective responsibility and you were part of the then-Patrick Manning administration that was party to this subsidy and others increasing over time. Revisionist history only fools those who are unable to recall events.
So yes, some of the policies are right, but the country also suffers from a lack of a clear vision, of goals that we can achieve if we work together and stay the course you want us on.
If we pay more for fuel, can we expect an investment into a bus service that will, over time, offer us an alternative? What is that plan? How long will it take? What is the cost? Is CNG, as the cheaper alternative, no longer an option?
You must give us credible plans, Prime Minister. Shouting down to us will not help us go forward as a country.
On a daily basis, one of the first things I get in my email is a newsletter from the New York Times, in which the major issues facing Americans are draw to my attention.
Yesterday, the Times’ morning newsletter paid attention to the challenge of the US Federal Reserves, or Central Bank, as it tries to rein in the inflationary pressure faced by ordinary Americans, while at the same time trying to avoid the crashing of the economy because of the impact of high interest rates.
The central problem that the Fed is facing is how do you keep business activity growing but at the same time reduce the pace at which prices are rising and hurting ordinary citizens.
According to the Times, this is no easy feat because the Fed is trying to “keep unemployment low and prices relatively stable. Yet those two goals are sometimes in conflict: A strong economy can lead to more jobs but quickly rising prices, while a sluggish economy can lead to fewer jobs but slower price increases. The Fed aims to balance those extremes.”
What the Fed does is important to T&T in so many practical ways. Its determination to slow down the US economy and rein in prices has led to higher interest rates.
It means that it is now more expensive to borrow in the US and in USD, but it also means that rates on deposits are slightly better.
When you add to this situation the monetary policy announcement made last Friday by our own Central Bank, that it needs to keep an expansionary monetary policy to encourage growth in the economy, it means that it would make more sense to keep your US dollars in American accounts than here in T&T, with the risk of some level of capital flight.
There are, of course, those who would argue that the CBTT needs to keep the policy in place because unlike Europe and the US, where inflation has run as high at 10 per cent, in T&T it is more manageable and beyond that, the green shoots of economic recovery have to be encouraged.
It is the rising interest rates environment which also prompted an announcement by First Citizens to the T&T Stock Exchange yesterday, saying it had pulled out of negotiations with the Inter-American Development Bank for a US$175 million loan to fund is Environmental Sustainability and Governance initiatives because of the increased cost of borrowing and having enough forex to fund its activities in the short to medium term.
The decision of First Citizens to pull out of the loan process is directly related to the actions of the US Fed and the increased forex entering the system from global high prices for energy commodities.
We are living in challenging times and unless we are able to have a clear way forward in bringing the country together, then we will be in more trouble.
I end with this quote from Marcus Aurelius and just maybe those in Government led by the Prime Minister, would consider it.
“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this, too, will be swept away.”
Curtis Williams was last seen buying a tank of LPG because he has no intention of going back to any coal pot.