A MASTERPIECE. You might humbly declare that this is NOT an exhaustive
prescription, but i can tell you that it sure would go a long way to
resuscitate a SICK economy. Thank you very much for your contributions. I
shall study this further and get back to you.
KB


>From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Some Policy Recommendations For The Alliance
>Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 16:03:41 EDT
>
>Timeless verities don't come very often with economics; especially when it
>comes to translating intellectual advancements into policy recommendations
>that will renew and resuscitate dilapidated economic structures and
>outlooks.
>Certainly, this philosophical shackle was what greatly hindered the
>creeping
>revival of a reformulated, rethought and exciting but cautious Keynesianism
>-
>or the economics of QWERTY as it is popularly referred to - in America's
>academia in the mid- to late 1980s. Partly, this obstacle to translate this
>Keynesian intellectual advancement into policy application is a reflection
>of
>the dangers involved with the reckless translation of intellectual
>developments into brash policies that have resulted in not only policy
>disaster but also intellectual cul-de-sacs. As Paul Krugman commented on
>this
>intellectual dilemma:
>
>"The rise of the economics of QWERTY felt like an intellectual revolution
>to
>those who participated in it; phrases like "paradigm shift" were used
>routinely. Yet when it came to actual policy applications, the professors
>were cautious. There were at least three reasons for that caution. One is
>that while an acknowledgment of the importance of QWERTY refutes the
>near-religious faith of conservatives in free markets, it is not all easy
>to
>decide which direction the government should pursue. We've already seen how
>subtle the issue of strategic trade policy becomes once one tries to deal
>with real-world complications. So unlike, say, the rational expectations
>school, the new economic theorists did not find that their theory
>translated
>readily into policy recommendations. That does not devalue the significance
>of the theory: it is unreasonable to expect each intellectual advance to be
>ready for immediate policy consumption. Nonetheless, the failure of QWERTY
>to
>yield easy policy conclusions has been a real disappointment." [Paul
>Krugman,
>Peddling Prosperity, pp 243-4, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1995]
>
>We need not despair like Krugman but we mustn't be brash about the
>intellectual arguments that prove our case vis-a-vis the current state of
>the
>Gambian economy. Indeed, in translating what amounts to the intellectual
>advances we have made thus far in the struggle to rescue the Gambia from
>the
>economic freefall she is inevitably doomed to teeter precariously in the
>event of another Jammeh maladministration there is a need for caution.
>Therewith, the watch word in every policy recommendation for the revival of
>the Gambian economy is that of caution and the avoidance of what Krugman
>called "near-religious faith" policy recommendations and or applications.
>That concession is not to say that with the intellectual advancement we've
>made thus far, there are no timeless economic verities with which the
>Gambian
>economy can be resuscitated with. Rather, we mustn't act injudiciously and
>brashly in policy recommendations and or applications. But, above all, we
>must be exercise restraint and tread very cautiously in what policy we
>ultimately recommend and apply to the resuscitation of the Gambian economy.
>
>To the extent that this is true, i will in my policy recommendations
>exercise
>caution and recommend conditionals and transitional phases in cases that
>require some degree of eventual shelving out. If the Alliance believes, as
>i
>certainly do, in liberal and bourgeois economics, then the ultimate task of
>the Alliance is to begin an initially cautious but eventually a radically
>liberalising of all economic structures of the Gambian polity. Should this
>be
>the case, then here i shall briefly enumerate some key policy
>recommendations
>for the Alliance:
>
>1. An Independent Central Bank of the Gambia: The Alliance should
>reformulate
>the current Central Bank from its current anachronistic and politically
>malleable structures to one of independence from the meddling of the
>political class ala the Federal Reserve, the Bundesbank et al. The legal
>remit of the Independent Central Bank should be one of a constitutional
>guaranteeing of the independence of the Bank to carry out its mandate
>without
>the interference of politicians. The economic remit should be one of  a
>monetarist thrust that religiously adheres to stated inflationary targets
>and
>any such liberal economics that aids monetary stability. There should be a
>modicum of democratic values in some of the deliberations of the Bank
>especially its Open Market Committee or Monetary Policy Committee which
>shall
>be responsible for setting of interest rates and monitoring of inflationary
>trends of the economy. Such democratic values should help in offsetting
>some
>of the dangers associated with discretionary nature of the deliberations of
>independent central bankers. The three recommended democratic values are
>relative transparency, probity and accountability as and when they are
>appropriate and when they will not the efficacy of the Bank.
>
>2. Fiscal Conservatism: By fiscal conservatism, we refer to it to mean
>fiscal
>discipline which reflects responsibility and caution in government
>expenditure and borrowing. Unsustainable and profligate fiscal imprudencies
>shouldn't be tolerated and expenditure and borrowing - be it domestic or
>external ones - should primordially reflect stated and sustainable fiscal
>targets.
>
>3.  Free Enterprise, Market And Trade: The economic philosophy of the
>Alliance should be one that grants as much economic freedom as is
>economically feasible. The Alliance should promote an economic milieu that
>aids free enterprise and trade and where undergirds its economic
>liberalisation programme, privatise those public corporations and
>parastatals
>that have been empirically determined as economically feasible for
>privatisation. Free trade should attempt to free the economy of
>un-necessary,
>inimical and nefarious government activities or interventions as in cases
>like the dubious attempts at distorting the free market operation of
>foreign
>exchange markets.
>
>4. Less And Less Foreign Loans, More And More Foreign Investment: Although
>the originator of this economic mantra in the region, the Liberal gov't of
>Wade has, as of yet, to show signs of actuality in the pursuit of a gradual
>shelving of loans, aid and grants for inward foreign and domestic
>investment.
>It certainly remains the case that as a long term economic plan and with
>the
>current unsustainable nature of the Gambia's debt portfolio, the Alliance
>is
>better off critically studying the modalities of such a policy that seeks
>to
>shelve out dependency on grants, aid and loans as means to economic
>development. This should overall reflect an intent on the part of the
>Alliance to introduce an economic philosophy of economic and freedom
>independence.
>
>5. A Free Market For Agriculture: The Alliance must help our poor farmers.
>As
>an interim measure, the Alliance must guarantee our poor farmers that
>before
>the structural problems associated with the marketing of agricultural
>yields
>are sorted out, their yields will not lie around idly whilst they are in
>need. The Alliance must intervene with a pro- poor marketing programme that
>will guarantee the sale of agricultural yields. Where it is vital to rural
>economics and life, agriculture ought to be subsidised to help in its
>revitalisation. This is by no means a declaration for long-term statist and
>collectivist agricultural economics. This is but a transition phase which
>will eventually be shelved as soon modalities exist that support a free
>market for agriculture.
>
>6. A Council Of Economic Advisers: Because of the disastrous nature of the
>economy the Alliance is going to inherit, they are definitely going to need
>a
>lot of technical and seasoned economic advice on how to sort out the
>nation's
>finances, policy applications and the diagnosis of potential economic
>pitfalls. The Council of Economic Advisers should be constitutionally
>legislated to offer independent advise, recommendations and diagnosis of
>the
>economy for the president; and their deliberations should at an appropriate
>period be made available to the public. A modicum of democratic values like
>accountability, transparency and probity should be incorporated to the
>Council's deliberations where appropriate and be expected of the Council
>and
>members of the Council.
>
>These recommendations are by no means exhaustive and most certainly not a
>panacea for all of the Gambia's economic woes. I strongly believe that with
>caution, clarity and, above all, commitment these policy recommendations
>will
>greatly enhance the efforts of the Alliance to build a Gambia of liberal
>tolerance, decency and progress.
>
>Hamjatta Kanteh
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------