Golding moves aggressively to boost GDP

[Don1]

STATIN to add prostitutes, ganja farmers to data
published: Wednesday | October 15, 2008

Prostitutes, higglers and ganja farmers could soon find their output captured in local official data as part of efforts by the Statistical Institute of [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] (STATIN) to accurately measure the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"We will try to capture underground production, legal and illegal," Anette McKenzie, deputy director general of STATIN, said yesterday, as the agency launched its Jamaican [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]System[/COLOR][/COLOR] of National Accounts.
According to McKenzie, prostitution is already captured in the data and efforts will be made to capture information on the under ground and informal economy.
It is a move that has been welcomed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who noted that the informal sector is estimated to be 40 per cent of the formal economy.


more..http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead4.html

[Gamma]

40 %?!!

prostitution and ganja farming and all the spinoffs is still illegal! decriminalise it fuss....there is a level of hypocrisy here that don't sit well with me.

i am sure i can think of a myriad of reasons why it would look good to have a higher gdp...but good god man!!!!

[Willi]

LoL

Tru dat.

BTW, it wouldf not be a higher GDP, just a higher REPORTED GDP. The True GDP is what it is.

Here is a sensible editorial:

EDITORIAL - Opportunity in crisis
published: Wednesday | October 15, 2008


In his speech to manufacturers last week, Prime Minister Bruce Golding spoke of the potential dangers to Jamaica from the global financial crisis with a sense of realism that had hitherto been lacking from his administration.

But while Golding altered the tone of the conversation, we do not gather from the Government that sense of urgency with which we expected it to act.

Of course, the PM announced that a group of technocrats from the financial sector regulatory monetary policy oversight agencies will meet regularly with the finance minister to review the global crisis and make recommendations on how Jamaica ought to respond. That is good, but not sufficient.

As we warned earlier, what started off as a problem of banks and financial markets has evolved into a far uglier monster. It is now a global economic crisis that has the weak and vulnerable underfoot, preparing to stomp down. For, even if the measures being pursued by the United States and western European nations are successful in taking stakes in banks and unfreezing credit to stabilise markets, the die is already cast on a global recession. People already feel themselves poorer.

Prospects not too bright
So, the Jamaican authorities have already lowered their generous forecasts for tourism growth and other key areas of exports will soon feel the pinch. The US$2 billion in remittances, the largest inflow of foreign exchange, will probably hold up this year, but the prospects are not too bright going forward unless the United States and Britain can dig their way out of recession faster than most people predict.

We do not expect the administration, faced with these realities, to panic. We would hope, however, that Golding and his colleagues would see it as an opportunity to mobilise Jamaicans, at all segments of the society, into more than the passive response that is evident. We expected the kind of mood that was captured briefly at budget time when prices were soaring and Dr Christopher Tufton was preaching new approaches to agriculture.

It is not too late, however, for the Government to capture the moment. Golding can start by acting on our proposal for a 'war cabinet' on the economy, comprising the ministers with responsibility for key economic sectors. This group would be charged with identifying, outside the big weekly gathering of ministers, critical recovery programmes and have them implemented with urgency.

Dealing with this crisis
Second, we do not believe that all wisdom rests with the Government. As we suggested previously, it would make sense that the Vale Royal talks between the Government and Opposition be reconvened to deal with this crisis, removing it, hopefully, from being a partisan football that it is threatening to become. Such a meeting, of course, would not preclude a parliamentary debate called for by the shadow finance minister, Dr Omar Davies. Except that such a debate would be more about exploring options and ideas and bringing the public into the process, rather than taking partisan shots.

We believe, too, that the Government ought to initiate a broader national dialogue on economic and investment strategies
with a clear and single-minded aim of achieving growth.

[Islandman]

Why stop there? What about gun smuggling, extortion, protection money etc.

Must be a nice amount of GDP being missed there too.

[Jawge]

Chickens coming to roost:
Our society disdains the concept of hard work and discipline.

[Willi]

What about church collection, scrap metal dealing, garbage recycling, kidnapping ransom, etc.

[Willi]

We also disdain the rule of law.

See Dr. Abel column.

[Gamma]

can alway count on yuh fi some utter nonsense on a regular basis!

[Jawge]

I rest my case.

[Gamma]

dat case rest LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

[Jawge]

good

[1of1]

Whats his motivation to do this,

[Karl]

STATIN to add prostitutes, ganja farmers to data
published: Wednesday | October 15, 2008

Prostitutes, higglers and ganja farmers could soon find their output captured in local official data as part of efforts by the Statistical Institute of [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Jamaica[/color][/color] (STATIN) to accurately measure the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"We will try to capture underground production, legal and illegal," Anette McKenzie, deputy director general of STATIN, said yesterday, as the agency launched its Jamaican [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]System[/color][/color] of National Accounts.
According to McKenzie, prostitution is already captured in the data and efforts will be made to capture information on the under ground and informal economy.
It is a move that has been welcomed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who noted that the informal sector is estimated to be 40 per cent of the formal economy.


more..http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead4.html

[Don1]

Whats his motivation to do this,

He did promise economic growth.. didn't he??

By any means necessary.

[Muadib]

Your slip is showing yet again.

The reasons were given in the article...it is also not a recent effort and was started BEFORE the current administration.. feel free to make up other 'reasons' however.. by any means neccessary indeed.