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Kaieteur News
Wednesday September 25, 2019
The present global monetary system must change to prevent social upheaval DEAR EDITOR, Inflation is the rate at which prices of goods and services rises and therefore the purchasing power of the currency is decreasing. I will argue that inflation has done more harm than good and is by design. People with assets like gold, property or stocks benefit from inflation because that increases the value of their assets. Those who hold cash, which is the vast majority, dislike inflation
because their cost of living increase and their cash get to purchase less. From 1800 to 1900, the world experienced deflation and an increase standard of living. According to inflation calculator what cost $1000 in 1800 would cost $ 489.40 in 1900 or $2043.30 in 1800 would have the same purchasing power of $1000 in 1900. This is a deflation of 51% and an increase in purchasing power of 104%. It was a time of prosperity. It is a myth that an economy must experience inflation to have growth and
prosperity. This system of an economy based on debt was started with the creation of central banks. It became global when the US Central Bank, called the Federal Reserve, was created in 1913 Central banks affect the money supply by buying or selling government securities. To increase the amount of money in circulation central banks purchase securities from commercial banks and institutions. This helped to free up bank assets and allowed them to have more money to
lend. The opposite is done to take out money out of the system as no money is pegged to a gold standard central banks can increase the amount of money in circulation as required. This in my opinion is the main cause of inflation. Banks only have to have a fraction of what they lend, usual around 1/10. The amount of money in the system is always increasing through loans from commercial banks. A bank can lend up to 10 times what it has using the central bank system. The borrower and his
asset is the collateral. The central bank print the money for the commercial bank to lend, hence money is created primarily by debt. Since borrowing increase the money supply and therefore increase inflation. Remember the borrower must pay back with interest since the money he borrows will value less by the time he pay it back and the lender has to make a profit. This system hurts the poor since they have no tangible assets that will appreciate. The rich benefits from this system because they have asset and are
therefore getting richer. Consequently, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The present global monetary system must change or the gap between the rich and poor will increase to a point that it can cause social upheaval. Guyana uses the central banking system. Only 3 countries don’t use it- Cuba, North Korea and Iran. This system was designed by the wealthy to benefit them. What can a regular person do - gain knowledge and use it. Yours truly, Brian E. Plummer
After the excesses of the Coalition Govt. post 2015, my support changed to criticism DEAR EDITOR, I don’t know Mr. A.A. Fenty. By all accounts of people that I trust, he is a sincere and patriotic Guyanese, and a longstanding and committed supporter of the APNU. But his letter in a newspaper on 23rd September, 2019 suggests that this last feature – loyalty to the APNU – was lost as a result of the unlawful manipulation of our Constitution by the Grangerled Government. Mr. Fenty expresses his disgust at President Granger’s ‘bullyism’ and informs that the APNU has as a result lost his vote. Mr. Fenty is not alone in his disillusionment with and rejection of the Coalition
Government. I also voted for change in 2015, and lent my support to the pre-election campaign of the APNU-AFC coalition. After the excesses of the Coalition Government post 2015, my support changed to criticism, in similar vein to what Mr. Fenty expresses but I want Mr. Fenty to understand that this disgust with the corruption and incompetence by this Government (which reflects the corruption and incompetence by its predecessor) was the catalyst which compelled the founders of A New and United Guyana to act. This is simply because the alternative – to do nothing while the two large and equally harmful parties vie for
power, personal wealth and aggrandisement of their leaders at the expense of the country – is not acceptable. The majority of Guyanese remain polarised and will vote blindly for the party of their ethnicity. The more discerning among them will justify their party loyalty by the increasingly hollow refrain: ‘the lesser of two evils’. But there is an increasing number of honest and sincere women and men of integrity who supported the Coalition, but now recognise the game and the players, and see Granger for what he is, and reject him. There is equally an increasing number of honest and sincere men and women who supported the PPP, but were repelled by the venal corruption of that party, and were affronted when Jagdeo
The ABCEs are within their right to establish conditions under which they will release their taxpayers’ money DEAR EDITOR, One of the requirements of a good leader is a good conscience. Conscience itself is a curious word because it requires having a sound value system, which itself requires being able to distinguish between universally acceptable rights, and universal wrongs, which more often than not are founded on religious teaching of one form or another. One of the consequences of a failed, or lack of, conscience, is the destruction of welfare,
because by the world’s standards, leaders who do not have a conscience commit all kinds of cruelty with justification which ultimately lead to the destruction of human welfare, I am not at all enamored by some of the positions of David Hinds, and in this case, Lincoln Lewis. Reference Lincoln Lewis’ recent missive responding to the recent declaration by the US, UK and EU on Guyana’s crisis in government, we wish to observe that the Guyanese
penchant for condoning injustice has cost us 28 years under the PNC, 23 years under the PPP. There is no end to our moribund dysfunctionality as we continue to view the ABCEs as interfering imperialists. Lincoln Lewis among the many so-called leaders continue to be satellites to whichever party suits them. The Constitution is clear that elections should be held in 90 days. The Chief Justice (Continued on page 27)
presented Irfaan Alli as that party’s presidential candidate, adding insult to injury. A New and United Guyana speaks to this group of Guyanese. We wish to point out that, by doing nothing, by not voting or by voting for ‘the lesser of two evils’, you permit the status quo of a democratically elected dictatorship for yet
another election cycle. We are well aware of the betrayal of trust by the AFC, and that it will be hard to trust a new Third Force. Nevertheless, this does not change our reality: the best hope for Guyana lies in ensuring that the excesses of any Government, which is formed after 2020 are controlled by an independent Parliament. And the only way for Parliament
to be independent is for a third party or third parties to hold the balance of power in that House. This is the start of the solution, and it is possible, because there are many sincere, loyal, patriotic Guyanese from both sides of the political divide who have had enough. We can break the cycle. The first step is an independent Parliament. Timothy Jonas
APNU – AFC Leaders violating the Constitution and the rule of Law DEAR EDITOR, The Parliamentary vote of no- confidence against the APNU-AFC Government was since 21 December 2018. The ruling of the CCJ affirmed the validity of the noconfidence vote on June 18, 2019, and called on President, David Granger, to call national elections in keeping with the Constitution and the rule of law. The CCJ’s call was also directed at GECOM and its secretariat, to obey the Constitution and the rule of law, and noting that GECOM, a full time body, with perhaps a bloated staff, is required to be in a state of readiness to conduct election within 90 days. These wilful and brazen violation of the Constitution and the rule of law, by essentially a PNC government, moved Guyana away from the democratic norms, and
closer to dictatorship with the confident reliance on the police, the army, the public service, GECOM partisan staff for its continued usurpation of power, as was the case of the of the dictatorship of PNC government from 1968 t0 1992. History seems to be repeating itself in 2018 – 2020 by the PNC dominated government. The vast majority of the population of Guyana applaud and are grateful to the many voices of individuals, organisations, and the international community condemning the constitutional and rule of law violations, principally to hold on power. Unconstitutionally and illegally? These illegal actions of the Government, the President, Vi c e Presidents, Ministers, Government Members of the National Assembly, some GECOM
Commissioners, and GECOM senior staff, and heads of the Public Service Ministries must be condemned and sanctioned. International sanctions must be applied on these groups in the interest of democracy in Guyana. The international community has options as was done in relation to some other countries. Such options include but are not limited to: overseas travel restriction; suspension of travel visas, whether ordinary or diplomatic; revocation of visas; and freezing of assets overseas. The majority in Guyana feel confident that such actions by North American and European countries will help to restore and protect democratic norms of obedience to the Constitution of Guyana and the rule of law. Yours faithfully, Joshua Singh