When pain makes sense

Optimism is in short supply these days. Yet, just as a glass half-empty is a glass half-laden, a crisis as well bears the two sides of catastrophe and redemption. The simple truth of human nature will probably be key to defining the former and exploiting the latter: No one reforms until he has to. For the last decade or so, the future of the CNMI appears so secure, something that elicited praise from federal watchers. One Washington think-tank described the CNMI as a “laboratory of economic liberty,” a rather lavish way to depict the CNMI as a “success story.” But the idea that the CNMI had done the economy one better also encouraged an unfortunate sense of triumphalism.

So no one nags the CNMI to — even for a fleeting moment — look at the other side. That, too, is human nature: What’s there to set up defenses against when the queue of customers keep coming? Hindsight, of course, has a way of making things obvious. The growth, in fact, came close to a hoax; the bulk of it was simply a spillover from the riches of Asia. And nowhere has the precariousness of the economic cord that binds the CNMI and its Asian markets been made more pronounced than in the continual drop in tourist numbers. Only then have policy-makers gotten serious about the need to diversify.

As long ago as early 1997, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce had talked about drafting a so-called economic portfolio to set the path of the CNMI into the next century. The portfolio was to have formed the backbone of an economic blueprint, to be called Commonwealth 2000. The idea was to ease an overload in infrastructure by defusing an overheat from the rapid pace of economic activity. The panel — an otherwise collection of impressive resumes — was to have determined the type of industry best suited for the CNMI. Aahhh, as it happened, the plan never went beyond the creation of the panel.

Now, the government is learning the bitter lessons. It had quit soft-pedaling the mounting evidence of a financial paralysis by cutting the budget. Rep. Karl T. Reyes, the fiscal chief in the House, recently indicated a lowering of the already watered-down budget. Agencies, notably the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Public School System, had also cut back on personnel costs. But much remains to be desired from government. As the CNMI experiences a slow strangulation, more layoffs seemed called for.

Politicians, of course, would cringe at the notion of losing potential votes from the redundancies what with an election barely seven months away. Some floated the idea of saving jobs by shortening the working time of employees. This can be done by enacting revenue-raising measures, so they say. Fellas, the government is only trying to be polite. For how else could it possibly whip up cash than in raising your taxes?

The CNMI has been thrust into a period of downsizing by the financial fallout. But just as pain will no doubt figure prominently, the situation also presents an opportunity to use recent events to rebuild the economy on a sounder foundation of risk and reward — and, in so doing, to begin to tap into long-ignored potentials. The stability of the American flag, for one, offers a good starting point for the CNMI to attract investments.

Perhaps the government could demonstrate its seriousness to mend its ways by dismantling a bloated bureaucracy and smoothing the way for foreign investors. Former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio is right. There isn’t much cash to be scrounged domestically. Funny that the government seems to think investors would owe a debt of gratitude if they’re let in. Investors come not because this is Saipan, nor that workers could be had for $3.05 an hour, but that the conditions are right.

There was little doubt about the misgivings of many over the volatility of tourism as a major industry. Some argue that the inherent wild swings could be disastrous at times. Perhaps. But all the more reason to wonder how much farther a CNMI that did put its priorities right might still go. The quicker the CNMI can move through the stage of, let’s hope, remedy, the sooner it will pull itself out of the slump.