This is being written on the last day of 2021…by which time your Eyewitness had given up hope that he’d be getting a respite from the “politricks” of Guyana because of the holidays. The PNC’s reversion to the days before we’d worked out a social contract between the governors and the governed was accomplished in a snap when they created that bedlam in the National Assembly on Thursday. Life, your Eyewitness realised, was once again gonna be “nasty, brutish and short” in the coming year and beyond.
Your Eyewitness was reminded of the old story of “The Scorpion and the Frog” – which his grandfather had told him during his dissolute prepubescence. The scorpion wanted to cross a swollen river, and asked the frog to swim across with him on the latter’s back. The frog asked the scorpion if he thought he was stupid…since the scorpion would sting him. The scorpion replied that if he did that, they’d both die…and that didn’t make sense. The frog was persuaded, but halfway across, the scorpion did sting him. As he was going down, he asked, “Why?” And the scorpion replied, “It’s my nature”!!
And so, dear reader, the nasty bedlam that erupted in the National Assembly – which guarantees the political death of the PNC for the next two decades – was because even the younger cadre of PNCites couldn’t help themselves. It’s their nature – which was signalled by the choice they’d made to join (or remain) with a party that had just tried to rig an election before the entire world!! As they’d done for decades during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s!
Back in 2015, the PNC had persuaded the AFC to carry them across the elections river – with their Indian support – even though the latter had earlier insisted that would make them “Dead Meat”. The PNC had retorted that they weren’t mad, and they’d behave themselves, since to do otherwise would mean their rejection at the polls. But, lo and behold, they’d barely left the Governance bank when Granger fired 7000 mostly Indian sugar workers!! One could hear Ramjattan pleading, “Why, David?? Why?” as his support base shrivelled up. And, of course, all Granger could say was, “It’s our nature!!”
In your Eyewitness’s estimation, the PNC had a good thing going with their call for the PPP to hold off for a while on passing the NRF. They’d gotten the support of some individuals and groups – not the TUC or TIGI, that’s reflexively anti-PPP – but Article 13 and, more importantly, the GEORGETOWN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – who wanted more time for consultations. Lots of folks thought, “Why rush the brush?”
But that’s all “gone fuh channa” with the bullyism at the ACCC!!
…so reject old economic shibboleths
One of the major features of the just rejected PNC’s Natural Resource Fund Act, which the PPP rejected, was a “Macroeconomic Committee”. They would’ve used the esoterica of Macroeconomics to issue formulae to determine how much funds could be withdrawn from the Natural Resource Fund. The Act had stated, “There shall be persons with at least 10 years of experience of applied macroeconomics and shall hold a minimum of a master’s degree in economics or a related field from a reputable university.”
Now, your Eyewitness had problems with this requirement from the beginning – apart from the illegitimacy of the entire Act. First and foremost, which school of macroeconomics would these worthies be coming from? Marxist political economy? Keynesian? Neo-Keynesian? Classical Free Market/Laissez-faire? Neo-Liberalism? The Chicago School? Who decides?
But what’s most important of all is the world’s experience with “macroeconomists”. Not a single one of them – barring a single INDIVIDUAL (Roubini) – predicted the global economic crash of 2008!!
He belonged to no school!!
…projections
One thing we should learn is that we can’t make absolute predictions where humans are involved. By thinking about what’s going on – self-reflexivity – they can veer from their past behaviour and overturn predictions.
The PNC…?
