This Question arose from the generous "offer" from the Chinese government to loan or "make available" $1 billion dollars to the Bahamas government to use for infrastructure and to benefit the country. Forget for a second that this is an exorbitant/generous offer and that mama always said "aint nothing in this world free" and just pretend for a moment that this $1 billion dollars comes without any strings attached. What do you think the Bahamas govt would & should do with the money? And what would you do if you were made Lord & Emperor of the Bahamas.

*disclaimer:: Lord and Emperor Title of the Bahamas does no exist*

I like every one else was shocked to hear about this $1 billion dollar loan entity that comes with a 8 million guaranteed "grant." For a country with a 2012 GDP of ~$11 billion, a 1 billion dollar loan is nothing to scoff at. That's 10% of GDP, and yes at a 2% interest rate it is a bargain, but why is the question? Hmmmm?!

Photo credit: epSos.de / Foter.com / CC BY

It has been suggested that the money can be used for infrastructure, but after the last government infrastructure program, the Bahamas road works project, I am hesitant to see another government run project of such magnitude with little benefit to the country and excess cost. We would need $2 billion for an estimated $1 billion dollar project.

What is needed is a stimulus bill that will increase the entire net worth of the country, and I am not talking about making the gross net worth of Lyford Cay quadruple, I am talking about the hard core Bahamian lower to middle class. And with an average GDP per capita at $24,279 that means our middle class has a lot of room to grow. So basically, if you are making more than $25,000 you are doing better than half the country. This is not on par with the high society countries but we are doing better than a lot of other countries.

As a country addicted to foreign investment we seem to only know how to spend money our money on bringing other people with money into our country and thus driving up the residential cost for local individuals. I think it is time for a change, a time to build the wealth within the country as oppose to bringing new wealth into the country. Its not the same thing, because those people will eventually leave.

However if we are going to invest in the country, I suggest we look to receive a return on our investment. If we are borrowing at a 2% interest rate we should look for economical investments that can fiscally grow the economy greater than 2% per annum, Here are a couple of my suggestions:-

1. Invest in tertiary education (i.e. The College of the Bahamas)

Over the past year the present administration has received a lot of scrutiny over the proposed budget overhauls specifically at the College of the Bahamas, that mandated a tuition increase for students currently attending the C.O.B. This debate turned into a volatile issue marking a black eye on the present administrations views on affordable education. Personally I stand on the opposite side of the aisle and view the current education cost as fiscally conservative, compared to the escalating cost of education world wide. However, I do believe that a serious investment needs to be made into the quality of education provided by C.O.B. as this is the brand of the Bahamas. C.O.B should be striving for a brand beyond a local educational resource, but instead striving to become a Caribbean University where individuals from all over the Caribbean come to study, think University of the West Indies. This can be a very lucrative adventure attracting millions of dollars influx into the country. We are set on luring tourist to vacation for a week or two and bring the dollars along with them. Imagine if you had 5,000 students each year coming from all over the Caribbean to stay for 9 months out of the year, that would surely feed the local economy.  However, to achieve this investments C.O.B would need to build dorms to house incoming students, build teaching centers, hire more faculty, qualified faculty and as the current status of the University does not impart graduate degrees these individuals would be coming from outside of the country and thus the salary would need to commensurate. Under this proposal the University of the Bahamas could become the Pillar of the local community that it aught to be, think Yale or Princeton. Nothing exists in those cities except those institutions. They define the locale, and drive the economy. Higher level institutions generate income by licensing their scholastic capabilities, especially government funded institutions. think a department of Statistics that publishes, yearly data on the country/economy. We should be striving to make C.O.B. the place to go before wanting to go anywhere else. That should be the standard.

2. Invest in sustainable Energy Cost

Over the past several decades we have watched the deterioration of the energy grid in the Bahamas under the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. The city is constantly experiencing blackouts with local residents constantly left without energy during essential periods. Additionally, these costs have grow exponentially over this period suggestively due to inefficiencies of execution and lack of technologically driven advances under all of the administrations. I do not think anyone believes that a single administration has gotten the BEC conundrum correct. And every year when the temperature hits 100 degrees when you need you A/C relief. there seems to be a problem with the generator on Blue Hill Road, or the electricity cost too much to run it. So you are left to simmer to a slow boil in the night heat while being bitten by mosquitoes. With the entire world realizing the issues with oil price fixing, by international organizations and choke holds on supply the world has started to embrace resources like natural gas. Now I am not saying that is a viable option for the Bahamas as we probably do not have the natural resources or the infrastructure to farm natural gas, but there are other options. Being a tropical location one of the major resources is sunlight, I understand that solar panels are deemed inefficient and become out dated as technology advances, but the way I look at it if the government is going to run a deficit, which it is at BEC, it might as well be running a deficit using solar energy. And some companies have found ways to turn trash/methane at city dumps into energy to fund specific infrastructure, can we explore this option? Also there are options like off shore wind turbines, a resource that China has championed, understandably as country with 1 billion people their need to invest in renewable types of energy sources is an economical imperative.

3. Increase in agricultural production

It is no secret that as an island nation, we are required to import a large percentage of our produce and live stock to maintain economic demand. It has created a vicious cycle that requires us to send a lot of money outside of the country to bring food in. Investing in the agriculture and live stock would decrease our demand on imported food, and keep more money in the country while providing jobs for skilled workers. This idea has been suggested and re-suggested every time an election comes around, however elections come and go and still the issue remains. I will not pretend to understand the intricacies of the agriculture industry, specifically what kinds of crops will grow, the inefficiencies of the market etc. But what I do know it does not make any sense having to walk into a grocery store to buy Chiquita Bananas that have been imported from Honduras, when there is Banana tree that can and will grow in your back yard. Something seems a little off with that. I am not saying we need to grow everything we make, but what I am saying is that we can increase our portion of the pie that is grown locally, to off set cost. Some skilled workers are attempting this venture in the private market because they see the demand. One group that comes to mind is Field to Fork, a local grown group striving to achieve what has been deemed impossible by local government, growing fresh vegetables to sell locally. Additionally, I understand that the farming industry is a major aspect of our food supply. And I understand that growing and maintaining a robust livestock/poultry supply may be quite expensive as it is perceived that we do not have the land/resources adequately maintain poultry livestock farms at cost compared to imports that can sustain nation demand. But what I do not understand is, how is the cost of a chicken more expensive than a fish in the Bahamas? Or better yet why does conch cost so much? In my lifetime I have watched the price of conch salad go from $5 a bowl to $11 presently in the span of about 20 years. And as the ingredients are conch, tomato, onion, lime onion and pepper, either tomatoes and onion are getting priced out of this world or the cost of conch has increased dramatically. With option #2 being the more viable option, the major reason I can think for that is, to keep up with the global demand of our fine fisheries product we have priced ourselves out of the water. Yes we know that Americans can and will pay good money for imported grouper, snapper or conch, but why are we paying foreign costs at home? Also, I understand typically schools of popular fish can be grown in farms.  There are tuna farms in Asia, salmon farms in the US along with catfish and tilapia, is this not possible with snapper? Seems like this idea should be explored.

The Laws of economics, states that in order to reduce a deficit you need to produce more than you spend. I understand the government is spending a lot of money in an attempt to kick-start the economy ($250 million deficit) and I applaud their efforts. However, I can not applaud a 40 year old pony for doing the same old tricks. Yes we know that tourism brings in money, and yes there are foreign countries who can bring business to these shores. Mega Hotel with biggest casino in Caribbean *Yawn* been there done that with Atlantis. Bankers putting money in Bahamian bank accounts, that's nothing new. Sporting events, bringing money to the country.......sure that will last.

But how are we making the country better? How are we making the lives of the average Bahamian better?Trickle down economics?! Don't be fooled by the Chinese, there may be a billion of them but ~30% of the population lives under what is known as the poverty line, $2 a day, that's 400 million people. And over 70% live on less that $5 a day. So when you wonder why do the Chinese have $1 billion to lend away, its because someone else is paying the price.

So if we are going to sell our soul to the Chinese, let's make sure it counts!