‘A`saina, anybody home?’

Harmony seems missing in the tunes heard in the villages these days. Though it’s heartfelt expressions, the lyrics speak of hopelessness. The sighs are indications of irregularity in the pulse of the community that could implode shortly.

Some tried to blame mounting disharmony with their amnesiac disposition of recent past. But how do you explain anything to folks who are literally hurting, trapped in their daily struggle for survival?

I’ve heard tons of expletives erupting all over a grocery store about the cost of basic goods skyrocketing. Obviously, it wasn’t the usual hearty conversation when Chamolinians meet.

You wonder what happened here under indigenous self-government after 37 years? It’s clear toxic half-cocked leadership has ditched the NMI into bankruptcy.

Many fell for quick fixes, helping the guys and gals feather up their nests. The elitist cabal simultaneously ignored the people who elected them into office. Was this part of the bargain? The issue is about the “economy” and how its downward spiral has inflicted a more vicious hardship on households all over the archipelago. Sad that policymaking is stuck on the prohibition of panty-hanging in Garapan, cockfights and single lane road resolution.

Let’s break down the term economy to layman’s level so we understand the beast with clarity. The bottom line: The economy relates to your annual income versus family obligations. Has your yearly income improved over the last 10 years? If the answer is in the negative, and I’m sure it is, then the so-called economy is still flat on its face. It hasn’t helped you at all. Therefore it hasn’t improved or reached at least the recovery level. This as the price of everything around you skyrockets!

Are you supporting kids in college today? Have you been able to send money recently? Have you ably met paying for the first family home consistently? Have you been able to replace the old family car? How have you dealt with the cost of health premiums (insurance) and deductibles? Do you have disposable income after meeting all family obligations at least for a cold drink?

I’m not a cheerleader of doom for I know the dire consequences of the deepening economic dystopia—where nothing works—the elected elite caught dazed in the midst of it all. And just as other cheerleaders spout focus on tourism, the vehicle disappears into the sunset. Asiana cuts down flight frequency to once a day while Delta Airlines reduces service by this winter. How then do we ferry visitors from nearby? I’m tempted to look for the “flying congressman” but his kiting operations has gone belly up.

Our canoe is sinking steadily sitting in the harbor. The captain sizes up the seaworthiness of the boat, what with torn sails and the lack of paddles to guide it out of the channel. Like the steady depletion of funds in the coffers, the boat steadily sinks as bad weather sets in and water inundates it. A`saina, anybody home?

Politics vs profit
Sophomoric rhetoric must be the most devastating hangover politicians continue to use to this day on the poor economic posture of the CNMI. It goes to show two prominent inadequacies: 1). No clue what healthy economy entails. 2). None of them has ever run a business to understand first hand that it survives on profit alone!

I mean when your business consistently dips into red ink no matter if you recite, I Have A Dream, it’s not going to bring it back unless it starts raking in pennies, nickels, and dimes. No amount of faulty perception and syntax is going to help either.

When legislators use “circuitous logic” to drive everything into the ditch of bankruptcy, it’s obvious it hasn’t used critical scrutiny and analysis in its review process. Seesuzzzz!

The wind…
A layman’s simplistic view is to impose austerity and cut expenses. Nonetheless, it’s far more complicated than meets the eye. For instance, we might decide to cut structural deficit to bring down expenses. But is it a realistic alternative when new revenue is scarce to cushion such decision? Moreover, we would have to figure out how much of the debt is structural or cyclical.

Government is allowed deficit spending for as long as it doesn’t exceed certain percentage of its gross domestic product—total annual revenue—under an accrual system. It’s good to be on full guard, though how we navigate the treacherous seas of significant reduction in revenues and mounting obligations and deficit. We may even have to defer to an old Latin proverb: “If the wind will not do, take to the oars.”