Sweep aside the cobwebs. Get modern!

A lot of folks ask me why I moved out here. One reason I came to Saipan–the main reason, maybe–is that this young economy needed some fresh blood, analytically speaking.

I had seen some old, dusty tomes that passed for economic “planning,” and they were dripping with that ancient, leaden, wordy, bureaucratic attitude that went out of fashion elsewhere long before disco died.

We sure don’t need disco, but the Commonwealth does need a modern approach to economic planning if it wants to get ahead.

Economic analysis, even in the last decade or two, has changed by leaps and bounds. Even the very tools of thought have changed, and the newer generation–those of us who could program computers before we could drive cars–can create computer models and crank out calculations that, in days of old, couldn’t be done on a small scale.

Economic theory has changed and evolved, too. For example, the “Laffer curve,” which deals with tax rates and policy, and was a major cornerstone of supply side economics, came down the pike about the time I hit my first frat party. Professor Laffer–who taught cross town at the University of Southern California–was kind enough to expound on his brainchild when he was bold enough to venture on to UCLA’s turf. That was exciting stuff; the stuff that has produced economic miracles.

Supply side theory, computer technology, and, well, the whole evolving world of economics means that if you want a modern economy, you’d better use modern economics.
By contrast, the CNMI is now all tangled up in the dusty cobwebs of old, crusty approaches.

The world is one of those crazy economic growth spurts, fertilized by the industrial revolution of Information Technology, that means the rich countries are getting richer, and the poor ones are staying poor. The Commonwealth has to get ahead, or it will fall behind. Getting ahead these days means using a modern outlook, and we can’t do that if we’re still mired in the dust of yesteryear’s failed policies.

And that’s “Failed” with a capital “F.” Let’s take a look at the basic economic benchmark, Per Capita (meaning “per person”) Gross Domestic Product. This is strongly tied to the average person’s yearly earnings, which is a subject near and dear to everyone’s heart.
And on this Gross Domestic Product note, we look mighty poor compared to our southern neighbor, Guam. We stand at $8,367 per person. Guam is more than twice that at $18,766. Economically, Guam is kicking our butt.

Sure, Guam has the military pumping money into its economy. But the CNMI has far more tourism potential (that’s “potential,” mind you, as yet unrealized) on these beautiful islands. And we’ve got a manufacturing sector that sells more money’s worth of garments in a year than the military spends in Guam in a year.

The CNMI can become a wealthy place, but it will have to take a modern approach in a modern world. The old ways have failed you. Why don’t you try the new?