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Lessons of History
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Posted on Apr 30 1999
The Asian Crisis may be a blessing in disguise for it has given us a clear picture of our economic strengths and weaknesses which when critically reviewed demonstrates the fragility of resource-poor island economies.
It has also given us a glimpse of the unstabling and ruinous effects of changes in federal policy to which the governance who would be adversely affected were never consulted so to hear their often inaudible sentiments.
Furthermore, it has given us an inkling that our perceptually warped vision or ill-conceived protectionist policies have further envenomed lasting investments in these isles. We hope that we’ve learned the lessons of the combined experience we’ve seen over the last several years.
How sad that we never prepared to stave off any further assault on the local economy. In the process, we hastily approved counterproductive strangling laws that stifle economic growth like it’s the latest fad in provincial politics. How comforting though that as these policies hit the private sector, we begin to see the light that they’ve done more harm than good.
While politicians and bureaucrats may mean well, they don’t necessarily have the wherewithals to plan ahead for eventualities that may make life more miserable for the people they represent in our governmental institutions. More often than not, approaches to serious problems are undertaken on an ad hoc basis, the net result being nothing more than mediocrity.
It’s about time that both the public and private sectors converge to discuss the obvious need to retain the services of Think Tank Groups who can put together reasoned analysis on what can and can’t work for our fragile island economy. They are more adept to going about researching issues that matters to us with a journalistic mind set. The government of Japan has started down this road so politicians and bureaucrats can get a clear vision of what must be done to deal with the challenges of the next millennium. The NMI must follow suit. Si Yuus Maase`!
