Our great lousy location advantage disadvantage

The CNMI’s biggest advantage is: location.

And our biggest disadvantage is…well, er, location as well.

It’s easy to describe our fair islands to folks and for us to mention in the same breath that we’re “isolated” while at the same time “conveniently close to Tokyo and Seoul.”

On a smaller scale, taking an inter-island view, is Tinian isolated from Saipan, or conveniently close? Sure, it’s only a few miles away, but those are the longest few miles I’ve ever seen. No news, this, to the traveling public after the repo-man snared the Tinian Dynasty’s high speed ferries. Fortunately, the Dynasty teamed up with Pacific Island Aviation and filled the void with affordable air service in comfortable airplanes.

A collective sigh of relief ran through the community when the boats were ordered released from the repo-man on Monday.

But the loss of the high speed ferries sent a shock wave through the community, as it reminded us how dependent we are on specialized transportation services.

Such services don’t come cheap. Airplanes and boats are notoriously expensive to own and operate (just ask anyone who has something that flies or floats). This economic factor has sentenced many a tropical island region to backwater status, because there just isn’t enough economic activity to support the expenses of getting some serious transportation.

It’s not always a case of pure and random victimization by geography, though. A friend of mine started a flying business in an island chain that I won’t bother to name. The local officials were so nasty, corrupt, and vile that they quickly made life miserable for the flying business. So the guys that ran it said the hell with it, and simply abandoned the entire business and fled from the region. They became instant bad guys for that, because the locals were left without any air transportation.

One of the airplanes is still out there, I’ve been told, being eaten away by the jungle, rotting under the sun while people look at it and bemoan the fact they don’t have any air service.

Which brings to mind, of course, Ed’s First Law of Economics: “Poor countries aren’t messed up because they’re poor. They’re poor because they’re messed up.”

A hospitable business environment will enhance our transportation situation, a hostile environment will cripple it. Can you imagine, for example, the cost of shipping if we didn’t already have a garment industry to support that industry? If our hotels are driven out of business by federalization of wage and immigration laws, then how will we receive any airline service?

We’re up against a tangent to what is known as “economies of scale.” Meaning: bigger is better. A garment industry and hotel industry bring an entire transportation industry that wouldn’t otherwise exist here. This happy circumstance makes shipping and flying cheaper for all of us, even for those of us who have no direct connection to the garment or hotel industries.

The economics of the situation are childishly simple. A fundamentally healthy business environment will raise the quality and affordability of transportation…which will, in turn, make the business environment even better.

Conversely, a lousy business environment will see transportation assets fleeing for more productive places, which, in turn, will further sour the business environment. It’s so simple even the village idiot can grasp it…but not every one does; and if you’re in the market for a used airplane–cheap–I know an island where you can find one. It’s a real fixer-upper.