Economics on Wednesday

A s every year I write you my letter of wishes for the Panamanian economy for next year, so that you remember us and keep us as a country with economic growth, but that we can achieve economic development among our fellow citizens. 2020 has been a special year, ever since we started fighting an invisible enemy last march, which has taken the lives of about 3,500 Panamanians and has already infected (at least those who have been tested) more than 200,000 of our fellow citizens. I want to thank you because, despite how irresponsible a part of the Panamanian people is, who only think of parties, we have not had such a regrettable situation (and hopefully we do not get to this). I thank you for the health of the vast majority of Panamanians, and that this will continue in 2021. But what we also need is to generate a lot of jobs. Unemployment must close at close to 20% (18% by September 2020) by the end of 2020, and I would like to ask you to lower this unemployment to less than 10% by ...

The water market isn't something new, what is new is to market water in financial markets, just as crude oil and gold are traded. Panama is a country with a lot of freshwaters, we have more than 2,000 km of coastlines in the country, in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, plus that of the islands. Besides, we have lots of rivers of all sizes and flow, throughout the country, some stronger than others.   But when it rains, even the meekest and small creek becomes a danger to those who live in its surroundings. We have abused our rivers in many ways, dumped them with garbage, turned them into sewage, and even throwing them with industrial waste dumps, and with this, we pollute our oceans, without anyone doing anything about it. We have filled them with hydroelectrics - mirrors, and pass-through types - but we are not able to make the water reserves for the dry season of the year. If we go back to ancient history, not all cities were settled near the sea or a river, and someh...

We have written a lot about the private sector and its role as an engine of the economy, although governments often tend to forget this and pretend that the state will bear the economic growth, obviously inefficiently, which puts unnecessary weight on public finances and then on taxes. Even though I am convinced that the government has to be as small as possible, it is easier to say it than to do so, especially under the current circumstances, but if there is a will, this can be done. The government should focus on alleviating the life of the private sector so that they could be able to grow and generate taxes and create more jobs. Employment generates tax revenues for both staff and businesses. And when there is employment, the wealth of the nation grows, and therefore the wealth of all citizens. The government wanted to bring wealth to those most in need. In the case of Panama it is done through a large number of subsidies, none of them with an expiration date, unfortunately. Besid...

The Pandemic has brought us many forums through Zoom, with easy accessibility, where many of us have been able to learn new things, learn things we didn't have time to find out before, and attend as many webinars and meetings as humanly possible. We've learned in many cases, in others not so much. We've agreed on many topics, but not on others. In my case in particular, I have a serious problem with most of the recommendations of IDB, World Bank, IMF, GAFI, OECD, EU, UNESCO, UN, and any global/international/regional organization that tries to comment on our country (or any other), without actually knowing it. If there is one thing that is true in our country, it is that its economy is a hybrid, it does not behave the same as that of developed countries, since it has many peculiarities, which are generally forgotten by many experts. One of the most important is that since 1845 the US$ circulates in our country unofficially with the entry of the Americans who crossed our ...