Tinian could play an ace

While our economic policy is roughly on par with that of Namibia, it’s
refreshing to see something approaching normalcy is being considered. I
refer to some voices in Tinian that have floated this idea: Reducing fees
on casinos will induce more investment on the island. That is, of course,
a sensible outlook.

Tinian is, indeed, the CNMI’s ace in the hole for muscling in tourists. If
the airport ever gets sufficiently improved so it can host international
flights, and if the CNMI doesn’t manage to economically implode (that’s a
mighty big “if,” I’ll admit), Tinian could enjoy a real boom.

And the healthy reverberations from that boom would reach Saipan, too.
Gaming is a natural compliment to tourism, and would give the CNMI a much
needed advantage over Guam.

In fact, gaming has already benefitted the Commonwealth. When I last
checked, you could ride for free–yes, free–on the Tinian Dynasty’s ferry
boats to Tinian. Return fare is just $20. How can you beat that deal?
You can’t. And it wouldn’t exist if the Dynasty wasn’t here.

If Tinian is to have any chance of realizing its potential, it will have to
acknowledge that developing an economy is like growing a fruit tree: It
takes years before you can really pick the fruit. Low taxes and fees,
reasonable regulations, and a business friendly environment will fertilize
the investment grounds. By contrast, yanking the financial branches off
the thing when it’s young will kill it, and no investors will plant their
funds in such toxic soil.

The issue, then, is whether or not there is sufficient maturity amongst
those who control policy here (and the electorate is certainly an element
in this) to understand how economic development really works. You can
draw your own conclusions on that note.

Will the CNMI clean up its act and improve its image? It’s not up to me to
decide. Unless it does, though, Tinian’s potential will remain just that:
potential. Tinian’s success will therefore be a function of its own
policies, as well as the policies of the Commonwealth at large.

Though casinos are a real ace in the hole, the CNMI is casting about for
easy answers, because it is at a complete loss for intelligent economic
action. A Free Trade Zone is fun to talk about, high-tech industries are
neat to consider, becoming an international banking center would be
cool…but none of these ideas are rooted in any knowledge of the economic
issues, and none of them are realistic cures for the real problems.

The sun is setting on the CNMI economy, and the feds don’t get all the
blame. Local policy is destructive, but if the Commonwealth wants to live
at the economic level of American Samoa, then the Commonwealth is free to
do so. I certainly won’t try to stop that from happening–why should I?
Give the people what they want, that’s what I say.

But it’s possible that the people–some of them, at least–on the fair
island of Tinian want to develop their economy, and reduce taxes and
regulations on businesses so they can attract investors. The issue will go
to the voters. It will be interesting to see what they decide.