This is a article by Dr Richard W. Rahn in The Washinton Time on
January 16, 2012.
Belize has being lead by Beggars and thieves ever since we got our Independence.
We as a country has never had a strong leader,but sadly, instead we got a group of wishy washy idiots that eventually turns out to be Prime Minister.Both Political party cannot see no further than their nose.
How can they call them self Leaders when they have no vision.
Thales of Two Small Countries
by Richard W. Rahn
Richard W. Rahn is a senior fellow
at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth.
Added to cato.org on January
16, 2012
Cayman is rich, and Belize is poor.
Why? Both are small Caribbean countries with the same climate and roughly the
same mixed racial heritage, and both were English-speaking British colonies.
Belize (the former British Honduras) received its independence in 1981, while
Cayman is still not fully independent but is self-governing at the local level,
with its own currency, laws and regulations.
Belize should be richer: It has a
larger population than Cayman (345,000 as contrasted with Cayman's 54,000).
Belize has a much larger and more varied land area with many more natural
resources, including gas and oil, and some rich agricultural land that Cayman
lacks. Both have nice beaches, but Belize has the second-largest barrier reef
in the world after Australia and also has Mayan ruins. Yet Cayman, with fewer
points of interests, has done more to attract tourists.
Back in the early 1970s, Cayman was
as poor on a per capita basis as is Belize today. Both countries had ambitions
to be tourist and financial centers. Cayman succeeded and has about six times
the real per capita income of Belize. What did Cayman do right and Belize do
wrong?
Perhaps most important is that
Cayman had and maintained a competent and honest judicial system, which gave
foreign investors confidence that their property would be protected. Cayman
also has a very low crime rate. Tourists and other visitors walk around freely
day or night in Cayman without fear. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for
many parts of Belize, where crime is often a problem. In addition, many judges
in Belize are poorly trained, incompetent and, in some cases, corrupt. These issues
cause foreign investors to consider higher-risk factors for projects in Belize
as contrasted with Cayman.
CAYMAN
VS. BELIZE
|
|
Belize
|
Cayman
|
Population
|
344,700
|
54,397
|
Life Expectancy at Birth
|
68.23
years
|
80.68
years
|
Unemployment Rate (2010)
|
11.2%
|
6.7%
|
GDP per Capita (PPP, 2010)
|
$8,080
|
$46,000
|
Sources: CIA World Fact Book, IMF,
Government of the Cayman Islands, World Bank
|
Belize has a more investor-friendly
tax system than the United States, but Cayman has no corporate or individual
income taxes on noncitizens and citizens alike—advantage Cayman. The problem
for Belize is that it is competing with the likes of Cayman, Bermuda, the
Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands, but not the United States. Also, the
regulatory environment in Cayman is largely free of corruption, which is not
true in Belize.
The latest Index of Economic Freedom
ranks Belize as the 77th most economically free country in the world (out of
179). If Cayman were large enough to be ranked, it almost certainly would be in
the top 10. There is a very high correlation between economic freedom and per
capita income. Any country can decide to become more free. Belize ranks a
miserable 93 out of 183 countries ranked by the World Bank's Doing Business
project.
It is obvious why Cayman is rich and
Belize is poor, and it comes down to one word: governance. If Belize would
clean up its courts, fully protect property rights and adopt the best economic
practices of its competitors, it could quickly become rich. For instance, it
takes an average of 44 days to get all of the required permits to open a new
business. In some countries, such as Estonia, Singapore and even the Commonwealth
of Virginia in the U.S., the required paperwork to open a business can be done
online. Thus, days have been reduced to just a few hours.
There is no reason any country has
to remain poor. Countries are not poor because of climate, lack of natural
resources or race. Countries as locationally varied as Singapore, Mauritius,
Korea, Chile, Estonia and Cayman have become relatively rich over the past few
decades. Those countries that are still relatively poor are poor because they
have not put in place the necessary institutions, political structures and
policies.
The United States and a number of
other wealthy nations are becoming less free and thus, not surprisingly, are
growing more slowly.
Belize could become rich and the
U.S. and Cayman could become poor. It all depends on whether the political
entities elect wise and courageous leaders.
This is what most people in Belize knew already. Except for our Leaders.
