Friday, December 10, 1999

Democracy a la venezolana

At this moment in time, everything is black or white. It is either "yes" or "no". There is no possibility for a "yes plus" or a "no minus". Normally, when hesitant, one is the target of all type of efforts to win you over. Currently one is ignored and irrevocably branded as an enemy by both sides

In these circumstances, to put one’s head into today’s debate about the constitution is risky unless this is done firmly within the traditional Venezuelan concept of neither one, nor the other, but just the contrary.

At an interesting conference by Alberto Rial on competivity in times of crisis which I attended, the eternal conflict was raised once again about how to straighten out our path to the future. In this sense, in order to plot a proper course, which we wish to do, it would be necessary to leave by the wayside a series of cultural values which could lead to the possibility of becoming irreversible Swiss, which we do not wish to do.

One of the few sectors that has showed incredible vitality in these times of economic recession is the lottery. It has now become the most important capital market in the country, to the point that it has probably also become the nation’s biggest creator of jobs after the consolidated public sector.

In order to rise to the occasion and to find democratic solutions that fit within the framework of our reality and our national values, the following occurs to me:

The Parliamentary Lottery Law

Art. 1 – Of Congress. Congress should be composed of 200 members, of whom 40, whose five-year term expires, should be retired every year on the 19th of April. A new group of 40 would be elected to replace them.

Art. 2 – Of the Election of Members of Congress. The election of the new members of Congress will be done by way of a lottery among all Venezuelans who have achieved an academic degree above Bachillerato (High School). They must also have expressed their desire to participate and to serve the Nation as a Member of Congress and have purchased a ticket worth Bs. 25,000.

Since some people may question the seriousness of this proposal, I would like to highlight some of its more favorable aspects.

Anyone that has studied finance should remember the story of the blindman throwing darts against a board on which are pasted the names of all stocks traded on Wall Street. By investing on the first 100 he hits, he has a much better chance of striking it rich, than someone who spends even 1$ looking for the sage advice of a banker on share selection.

None of the Members of Congress that are selected will have had to invest one single minute, or dime, in the task of cementing those relationships of dependence and conflict of interest that induce action by authorities that so often harm national interest.

The limited duration of Congress (five years), without a real chance of hitting the lottery again, will stimulate the members to do the best they can during their tenure. On top of this, the cost of the ticket to participate will cover the cost of the process.

If we did this, we would undoubtedly have much better representation of the country’s good intentions. Evidently, as in every average, many would be useless. This is most common today. However, those that do cut the mustard, would be able to work in a much healthier environment.

With today’s systems it is perfectly possible to insure a truly random selection in which the only innocent hand is God's.

Finally, much to my sorrow, I realize that the prospects that this proposal will be implemented are very slim. The reason for this is that in many ways, democracy has become a business, and in this sense all those participating, such as fund raisers, bus drivers taking people to meetings, political analysts, publicity firms will oppose the elimination of the traditional electoral system.

Of course, I propose we use the lottery method only in those cases where the results mean we can and must live with an average. In the case of the President, for example, in which only one person is finally elected, there is definite advantage in going the traditional, straightforward election route.

When I analyze the advantages of the lottery system, as any proud father would do, I am convinced that its democratic characteristics are such that there must be more than one Swiss national who must be thinking about the possibility of applying for Venezuelan citizenship. Irreversibly.


Friday, December 03, 1999

The world’s real petro-pirates!

When, as a citizen of an oil producing country, Venezuela, I see oil being valued by the market at US$ 150, and we only receive about US$ 20, I believe that I have the right to feel a bit let down by all those who promised us a rose garden if we duly signed up on all the international commercial agreements peddled by GATT; and lately by the World Trade Organization WTO. What do I mean? 

From one barrel of oil, one can approximately and simultaneously obtain 84 liters of gasoline, 12 of jet fuel, 36 of gas oil, 16 of lubricants and 12 of heavy residues. In Britain today, educated consumers are paying (voluntarily and out of their own pockets) US$ 1.38 per liter of gasoline (sorry, petrol) using the traditional way of establishing a product's value. Even if we just consider the gasoline, we obtain a value of about US$ 116 per barrel of oil and then by adding the rest of the products, we should be close to US$ 150 since refining and distribution costs are fairly small. 

I am well aware that the value US$ 150 is achieved by the taxman forcing himself in at the point of sale of gasoline, as an extremely expensive middleman, keeping 85% of the gross. But, was this not exactly the things that world governments agreed not to do, in order to foster free trade and growth ... and that which we believed when we signed up on all those reductions of protectionist duties, accepting to lend the developed world a hand, collecting, their pretensions of royalties for intellectual property rights? 

Today's result is therefore that, when an oil producing country is selling it's non-renewable and scarce resource to the world, it's only getting a fraction of the real value. 

The hurt and pain I feel at seeing so much poverty in my country, that could be alleviated by just a little bit more of justice by the developed consumer countries themselves, is made worse by adding salt to the wound in many ways.

Their bankers sold us on the idea, in the mid-seventies, that oil was going to increase in value, and therefore that we could calmly take on the responsibility for servicing a huge country debt ... they never told us that all the increase in the value of oil, which has actually occurred since then, was going to be confiscated by their taxmen.

We producers were, and still are, the remaining scapegoat for all inflationary pressures derived from any price increase in gasoline and other derivatives ... even when these were just the result of higher taxes.

We oil producers were, and still are, branded as the most wanted criminal in environmental issues when, in fact, we are the ones paying 100% of the cost of all the protection plans that through their taxes reduce world demand for oil.

Today we hear of even higher future oil taxes when Germany (for example) announces a plan of annual increases as a way to reduce their workers' social security payments and discriminate against us by not taxing coal and other energy sources.

For what it's worth, I would like to remind the developed world in good conscience that, when you're giving generous assistance to the under-developed world, much of it is with money properly belonging to the oil producing nations. 

When I see the suffering of my more destitute fellow countrymen I blame myself, I blame all those lousy governments we have had ... but I also rightly blame the taxmen in the consumer countries, who are the true petro-pirates of the world.


Thursday, November 04, 1999

Today, let us talk about the bribers

On the 26th of October Transparency International, TI, published its annual index ranking the Perception of Corruption that exists of various nations. As usual, Venezuela was somewhere down at the bottom of the list. However, for the first time, TI also published an index related to the Payers of Bribes (BPI).

This index ranks the 19 countries with most exports and is based on the perception of how corporations from those countries use bribes to generate business. 

A professional firm interviewed 770 high level executives in 14 emerging markets with geographically diversified imports. Venezuela was not included among the interviewed parties, since most of its imports come from the United States.

The executives interviewed belonged to large firms, banks, chambers of commerce, auditing firms and law firms. A result of 10 points means no bribes are used while 0 means, naturally, that bribing is used as a norm. The countries with the highest ranking were Sweden (8.3), Australia and Canada (8.1) and those at the bottom of the ranking were China (3.1), South Korea (3.4) and Taiwan (3.5). The ranking of some of our main trading partners were England (7.2), Germany and the United States tied at (6.2), Spain (5.3), France (5.2) and Italy (3.7). 

Just like the Corruption Index, the Briber’s Index will create much argument and rebuttal, especially from those that were not favored by their ranking within the index. 

Among the traditional arguments, we are sure to find that many will maintain that the index is not really objective, but is really all about perception and that therefore, before being an ethical problem, it is really just a problem of the image. 

We will perhaps also hear technologically inspired arguments, such as accusing the better-positioned countries of using advanced versions of corruption, something like anti-radar, "stealth" technology.

I have often seen how citizens of many developed countries shed their shackles and truly enjoy the tourist (and humanistic) experience of trying to avoid a traffic ticket by negotiating avidly with the particular public servant that has accosted them. 

On the other hand I have also seen people who behave better away that home. We see it over and over again when Venezuelans, who although notorious tax evaders at home, become exemplary citizens when overseas… to the extreme of paying their taxes. 

Because of those contradictions it could be interesting to compare the two indexes side by side, and find out whether there are some significant differences in ranking. It does not look that way as with the exception of 5 countries, all those that have been ranked in both indexes, are basically in the same relative position. As it were, Sweden is first in both indexes while China is last.

The two main exceptions to this rule are Singapore which, in this group of 19, appears as 3rd in terms of the least corrupt nations but as number 11 in the Bribers Index and Belgium which, contrary to Singapore, ranks as number 15 of the least corrupt nations, but comes out a lot better as number 8 among the Briber’s. Let us speculate a bit about the meaning of these results.

On Singapore the results would indicate that it behaves very well at home, but goes haywire and is a menace when abroad. Without a doubt, a country like this must be a formidable competitor in foreign trade and one would entreat the OECD to insure that it is also enrolled among those countries that have recently signed the Anti-Corruption agreement.

But how about those Belgians? Surprisingly they seen to be more behaved abroad than at home. Could this be some kind of special "stealth" technology at work? Could it be that they on purpose whish to be perceived as corrupt at home, in order to enhance their human nature? Could it be that they simply have decided to invest in a change of their image abroad, and that this was ultimately successful?

We shall see what gives next year. Investigative technology requires that you explain the unexplainable.

Friday, October 29, 1999

Vanity and the nation's economy

Last week in this column I enumerated the advantages of indexes and rankings as a means of synthesizing today’s overabundance of information. I also mentioned that it would be good to have access to an index ranking compliance with commercial treaties, especially those pertaining to agriculture. The reason for this is that in my opinion Venezuela, in this area as well as in others, is much more compliant than the world that surrounds it. This should not be forgotten by our international negotiating teams that usually are more interested in the applause of the outside world than in ours.

A few days later, I received an e-mail saying: “You and your indexes. Take this one. Attached you will find one published by ABCNews.com which states that without a doubt, Venezuelans are by a long shot the vainest people in the world.” The index reveals that 65% of Venezuelan women and 47% of Venezuelan men say they “think about what they look like all the time”. In Germany, for example, virtually no one confesses to this.

From the tone of the e-mail, I suppose that the sender considered the high ranking achieved by Venezuela in this index as being unfavorable, and I also suppose that he would like me to share to some degree a feeling of guilt for having raised the matter of indexes in the first place. Well, I DON'T!

Intuitively, I am pleased to be part of a country in which my compatriots are worried about their appearance. The study, which places Russian women and Mexicans of both sexes a somewhat distant second, establishes the global average at 23% for women and 18% for men. It also mentions those places where the people “never thinks about how they look”. In India, 33% of the population never worry about looks, followed by Malaysia (25%) and Spain (22%).

I think we can come to certain conclusions from this index which could be of great importance, even for the development of the country. The fact that our society holds dear to the heart a feeling of vanity over and above levels in other countries, certainly differentiates us from the rest. It should be analyzed within the context of comparative advantages.

The dedication of someone like Osmel Sousa to events like the Miss Venezuela beauty contest has elevated our country to the apex of world perception of the beauty of Venezuelan women. By using the word “perception”, I do not intend to question the objective beauty of our women (God forbid, I have four of them at home!). I wish to make a point of the importance of the general perception per se. This, by the way, renders even the less pretty Venezuelans beautiful.

With the ranking of vanity and the results of the Miss Venezuela pageant we can put together an input-output matrix which could shed light on interesting economic possibilities in the area of care and improvement of appearance. Let us see how this would work. 

Any country culturally geared towards taking care of physical appearance for centuries, that has managed to develop methods and formulas that have been time tested and proven and have been transmitted live to the rest of the world, has in its hands a tool to attract tourism that other countries would give one arm and half the other to have.

Venezuela, being an oil exporting nation, has its hard currency requirements covered as far as it commercial balance of payments is concerned. On the other side of the coin we find that our oil income keeps the Bolivar overvalued and therefore makes it increasingly difficult to develop activities that generate employment and are competitive enough so as to not require subsidies or protection.


I have frequently explained this using the simile that there is no place in Venezuela for textile industry that produces cheap clothing but that there is plenty of room for activities that imply more value added. When we stimulate micro-businesses with financial assistance to purchase sewing machines, we must remember that what we really wish to promote is the development of designers and not necessarily seamstresses.

Within this line of reasoning, there is no doubt that the area of personal care is one that conforms to the basic requirements. It is a service area that can generate a great deal of employment and which allows for high value added.

I promptly pushed the “reply” icon on my computer and sent off the following message:

"Thanks for having sent me the Vanity Index. I think there must be certain mistakes in the Index since I believe that the figures for Venezuela are too low. In Venezuela, I would say that 100% of the population worries about how they look." 

"While we talk about appearances, you should see the results we have achieved with a treatment supervised by the stylist school of Caracas which includes massages in the turbulent waters of the Caroní river and scrubbing with powerful and mystic Orinoco algae, while listening to the sensual rhythm of the beating of the herons' wings and drinking a skin reconstituent, malt based beverage. 

And all this under the indiscrete tropical moon, for only US$ 1,680 per day!





Friday, September 10, 1999

Rising global info-confusion

About a week ago, I took a humble and run-down taxi from the airport to the capital city of a small Central American country. During the ride, the equally as humble taxi driver gave me a masterly lesson about globalization. After having informed him about where I’m from, he asked in one long breathless phase, “Has Comandante Chavez managed to get rid of Magistrate Sosa yet? By the way, where exactly is Venezuela? Near Spain, no?”

The taxi driver had simultaneously shown a surprising knowledge about Venezuela’s internal politics and an almost embarrassing ignorance about basic geography. This incident prompted me to reflect about the matter of global information. To begin with, it is evident that when speaking about this confusing issue, more is not necessarily better. Greater quantity of information can simply mean more irrelevant data, more often than not at the expense of pertinence. Likewise, too much information can confuse things and plant so many trees that it becomes impossible to see the forests.

In Venezuela, for example, and without getting into details, it is surprising to see how most of the nation is still blind to the terrible implications that the taxes on oil products levied by consuming nations have on our country.

The above-mentioned example makes it tempting to establish priorities. However, who are we to determine whether the internal politics of a country are more or less relevant to someone like my taxi driver than that same country’s geographical location. What’s more, when you think about it, it could just be that in a globalized world, geography as I studied it is not really relevant any more.

Upon observing how fast the volume of information is growing, I remember that a few years ago I maintained the thesis that the lack of information could actually be valuable as a promoter of development. On occasions, ignorance of certain matters kept alive the dreams of finding the greener valley.

These dreams are the ones that drove Americans to invest in Italy, Italians to move to Venezuela and Venezuelans to find work in the United States. This generated economic growth all around.

The increasing speed of today’s information flow also raises some doubts. 

Although it is certainly advantageous to insure that correct and relevant information as well as good news is transmitted rapidly, it is also certain that this same speed is usually applied when propagating incorrect and irrelevant information, as well as increasing volumes of bad news.

For some not totally identified reason, I feel that the magnifying effect of speed upon bad information is somehow greater that on good information. Making peace, for example, requires time which is often not available. Provoking war often takes just a matter of seconds.

Just who the creators and receivers of information are is also deserving of reflection. There is no doubt that the foreign investors the country most wishes to attract are those that bring with them a long-term vision and who will therefore create many permanent jobs

Unfortunately, however, we frequently confuse economic policies that are positive and adequate for the country with the information that short term capital wants to see. The main reason for this is that it is precisely those short-term investors who pressure the most for urgent and globalized information.

As a result of this, we often see economic schemes based on high interest rates, a strong currency, fiscal equilibrium and economic puritanism. All the long-term investors really want and need however, is a good internal demand and a competitive exchange rate.

I write articles, and to achieve this I frequently use sources of information that, in spite of offering a lot of detail, are not necessarily relevant or complete. My taxi driver reminded me of this risk. I may have come off as an idiot in many of my articles and probably don’t even know it due to the cordial discretion of my readers. If this were the case, thank you. Remember that my ego is not as strong as that of the New York Times, and if I have sinned, I prefer not to know.

PS. In 2003, as an Executive Director of the World Bank, I formally warned: "Nowadays, when information is just too voluminous and fast to handle, market or authorities have decided to delegate the evaluation of it into the hands of much fewer players such as the credit rating agencies. This will, almost by definition, introduce systemic risks in the market"




Friday, July 23, 1999

The mouse that roared

This is dedicated to all of those who consider that the only way to combat the actual lack of self esteem present today in the country is to reduce it even further.

Last week, columnist Michael Rowan issued several recommendations for Venezuela, among these that you should “Ask not how you can be protected from the world. Ask only how best you can live in it”. I have frequently asked myself this question, but since the response that begins to develop in my mind is vastly different from the text book type answer hinted at by Mr. Rowan, I wish to make note of some of these differences.

To begin with, and even though I agree that a lot of the country’s internal problems as mentioned by Mr. Rowan really do exist, I consider it to be wrong to label Venezuela as a protectionist country. It could be that he did not know the Venezuela of old, but as of 1989 the country has, not always in a straight line and more often than not out of necessity rather than conviction, been submerged in a process of commercial and cultural aperture of such import that it is today one of the least protectionist countries in the world.

Upon rereading some of the articles I have written over the years, I find clear evidence of the fact that I have always been a constant defender of the markets as prime regulators and motors of the economy and as a consequence of this, I have also always been totally against what is today know as protectionism. In this sense, I am worried that Venezuela’s opening has not produced the desired results.

The commercial recipes common in today’s world are comprised primarily of the following two commandments: 1) Open your borders and allow the products, services and capital offered by the rest of the world to come in so that all of your citizens may have access to the best the world can offer, produced in the most efficient manner possible; 2) Respect the rights to intellectual property and to brands and patents in order to insure the adequate return of costs and to allow those who today fuel development to continue their mission.

In exchange for compliance with these commandments, the interested party is offered a first class ticket on the Train of Sustained Development on the way to a better economic future. Certainly, some of the passengers will be weaker than others. However, if all follow the same basic diet and exercise plan, based on the exploitation of inherent strengths with the adoption of an effort towards specialization, sooner or later, so goes the theory, all will be more or less equal.

Chile, for example, is a good example of what excellent results a ride on this Train can produce. Unfortunately, Venezuela, while having complied with the commandments almost religiously has absolutely nothing to show in the way of favorable results. Why? Rowan would answer, ‘It is Venezuela’s own fault’. I would say that while he is partially right, it is also important to say that the world is not playing a fair ball game.

The indisputable fact is that the world is applying duties on products derived from oil, as is the case of taxes on gasoline that in some parts of the world top 800% and that bar the producers from receiving his fair share of the sale of their resources. 

If these taxes were eliminated or were simply limited, for example, to something like the 26% duty imposed by Venezuela on the importation, Venezuela’s income would be much greater. Easily US$ 10 billion greater!
In this sense, if I am to respond to Mr. Rowan’s questions as to “How best you can live in it (the world)”, I would not be lying if I told you that I am feeling dangerously close to suggesting that we quit being stupid and that until the world comes around and gives us a fair shake by eliminating the damaging taxes on oil, we begin to behave as rogues.

As a first measure, it would be most tempting to raise all import duties to the same levels each country applies to oil. To follow up I could suggest we violate all brands and intellectual property rights, copy all medicines and facilitate their generic sale world wide. Finally, I could ask PDV to quit building fancy gasoline stations in Venezuela which, being sure that Kuwait is not waiting in the wings to compete on our turf, do not generate the sale of even one extra liter of gasoline. 

Instead I would construct large floating gasoline stations, anchor them off the coast of Europe and offer each European entrepreneur with a neoliberal bend the right to freely commercialize our gasoline tax free.

Am I exaggerating? One of the principal elements of discussion in the universe of ecological taxes, the ecotax, is how to insure that oil producing nations are also convinced to adopt fiscal policies involving high oil or energy taxes. 

The reason for this, in layman’s terms, is that if we don’t, industries that consume large amounts of energy could conceivably move to those countries with cheap energy, causing the loss of jobs in non-oil producing countries. So much for the specialization credo.

We should declare total and absolute war on the injustices of today’s system of commercial interchange. Just like the small country that declared war on Europe in the movie The Mouse That Roared, we have absolutely nothing to lose and much to gain. With so many enemies without why do we need to have enemies within?




Friday, July 09, 1999

An e-mail to our accusers

We were recently surprised by a lawsuit brought against Venezuela by an organization of independent oil producers in the State of Oklahoma in the United States. The suit was based on the charge of dumping oil. 

In simple terms, “dumping” occurs when one country exports products at a price lower than their real cost of production or at a price lower than the sales price in its domestic market. In order to calculate the real cost, one must consider the effects of all state subsidies. Dumping is considered to be unfair competition and is therefore prohibited. If proven in this case, it will also give rise to serious retaliatory commercial measures. 

As an outside observer, I feel that this suit is a real threat to Venezuela, but I also think that if may be an opportunity as well. To understand this, it is important to analyze who is really behind this lawsuit. 

There is an incredible amount of oil wells in the United States, hundreds of thousands. In Texas alone, it is said that there are at least sixty thousand wells that produce less than one barrel per day. Due to low oil prices, the number of wells that have reportedly been shut down is equally as incredible. An organization known as IPAA estimates that more than 136,000 wells were shut down between November 1997 and February 1999.

Behind these wells are not only large oil companies, but also hundreds of thousand people, small businessmen, workers, widows who receive royalties, suppliers of goods and services, all of them voters at one time or another. It should, therefore, not surprise us that this sector possesses great political clout. 

To Venezuela, this means that, even though the lawsuit may not be based on solid ground, it may be more successful than we at first thought. We just have to remember that a small interest group in the State of Florida managed to block the usage of Venezuela Orimulsion. Can you imagine what a large group can do? Since I have always thought that Venezuela was lax in protecting its interests in the case of Orimulsion. I honestly hope that in this more recent case, authorities will be more careful, and will take the necessary measures. 

However, as I mentioned above, this lawsuit may not just be a threat, but may present an opportunity for Venezuela as well. For months now, I have been promoting a movement I have named Petropolitan. The purpose of this group is to protest and make known the fact that oil producing countries are subjected to commercial discrimination when the consuming nations apply taxes or duties so that producers receive only a fraction of the real value of their oil. 

For example, according to the Retail Motor Industry Federation of the United Kingdom, the price of premium unleaded gasoline on June 4th, 1999 (one month ago) at the pump was US$ 4.17 per gallon. Out of this elevated value, evidently real since the English motorist is willing to pay it, only US$ 0.43, that is 10%, ends up in the producer’s pocket. The distributor receives US$ 0.26 and the English tax authority, the only real rentist in this chain, stays with US$ 3.48, representing 83.5% of the retail sales price. 

When we compare the US$ 3.48 levied by the taxman to the US$ 0.43 received by the oil producers in lieu of a non-renewable asset, it is evident that the duty is more than 800%. This duty is unquestionably a main reason for the low oil income, not only ours, but of those in Oklahoma as well. 

The situation gets worse with every day that passes. Based on laws already passed,we can foresee that the price per gallon of gasoline in Europe will be US$ 10 by the year 2006, of which the producer will receive only US$ 0.50, that is, 5%. Germany, for example, has recently approved a “shift from personal income tax to an energy users tax”. These taxes will be used by the German government to “finance the lowering of old age security premiums”. 

By the way, it is not only Europe to which I refer since most of the world is currently levying taxes and duties on oil. One of the few exceptions is the United States where there has been more moderation. Because of the above, and were the decision to be mine, I would be on the next plane to Oklahoma in an attempt to educate our accusers as to who our real enemies are. I would tell them that the latter are laughing while we fight over the crumbs, and I would try to convert them into powerful allies. 

Executives at PDVSA are either not seeing the forest for the trees or have been lulled to sleep by their own internal realities. In any case, they do not seem prepared to take radical steps. Likewise, the common citizen is too far away from the industry to react with strength in the short term. 

Who knows? Maybe the small Oklahoma producer, the one that suffers and personally feels the current injustices of this situation, the one that most likely has the will to go out and avidly defend his interests, the one that belongs to a country that can defend bananas it does not produce, the one that today is our accuser, may ultimately be the ally that Venezuela really needs. Just in case, I have already sent them an e-Mail.


Friday, June 25, 1999

A true fountain of inspiration

I recently learned of the demolition of the famous Hotel Fuenti, located on the beautiful coast of Amalfi in Italy. This structure had become a symbol of what seems to be known as environmental "abusivismo” in Italy. At least this is what comes out of the automatic translator I use when navigating Italian web sites. I am sure that this case is fascinating to those who are interested in administrative law or in the study of Italian society. To begin with, this case has been around for the last thirty years.

The demolition of 34,000 square meters of reinforced concrete structure is no small matter anywhere. Exactly how these measures are approved and taken in order to effectively defend the environmental rights of a society or an individual without resulting in legal "abusivismo” is a challenge to one’s imagination.

I am sure that most of us, without going into much more detail, are absolutely sure that whatever the legal regulations the promoters of the Fuenti violated, there are thousands of worse violations that will never suffer this drastic fate.

On the other hand, most of us will probably not shed too many tears over what may be a total injustice that the Fuenti’s owners are being subjected to. One explanation of the above may be what one could call the Fuenti’s high Visual Contamination Index (VCI).

In order to understand the VCI, let us imagine that we can assign points to the ugliness of any structure, ten points for the ugliest to 1 point for the least ugly. Likewise, we could assign points for the relevance or beauty of its location, from one point for the most insignificant to ten points for the most beautiful and relevant. By multiplying both rankings, we can obtain the VCI. In the Fuenti case, if we assign an eight for ugliness and multiply this by an eight for the beauty and relevance of its location, we obtain a total score of 64. This apparently is enough to send the structure to the gallows.

Does this seem easy and fair? Not necessarily. Imagine trying to get two Italians to come to an agreement about the assignation of points for beauty and relevance!

I sincerely hope that the case of the Hotel Fuenti will serve as an inspiration so that we can begin to confront the serious problems of visual contamination that occur in Venezuela, specially on the Island of Margarita.

Playa El Angel, Playa Guacuco, Playa Anywhere. In all of these we can observe how half-finished structures, like a herd of dinosaur skeletons, provide eyesores to all those who care to pass by. Is it possible that these structures insolently consider that simply because they have suffered an accident, financial or otherwise during the initial construction period, they have the right to contaminate our island. Just as an airplane is required to take on sufficient fuel to get it to its next destination, any construction project should be required to have enough resources to get it to completion.

When you study some of the laws that govern this matter, for example the Urbanization Law, you can find plenty of articles that allow, for one reason or another, authorities to paralyze work on any construction project. Surprisingly, there is no mention whatsoever that refers to the obligation of a project’s promoters to actually finish what they started. Evidently, since the laws are drafted by politicians who are not exactly known for their ability to finish what they started, the word “surprisingly” is probably overdone.

Although I consider the road to the demolition of existing structures to be a dangerous one if based simply on visual contamination, I do believe it is possible to develop a good set of rules to handle half finished projects. Obviously, any law drafted to regulate this matter must guarantee affected parties the right to develop alternatives within a specified period of time (years, not decades!).

We must also analyze those projects that, due to simple lack of use or care are severely deteriorated. We are all aware that fashion once considered that holes in blue jeans were “chic”. Likewise, any amount of building materials has been used to create a rustic look to buildings, mostly with a lot of success. However, when we observe walls that are crumbling due to lack of care or, even worse, to bad construction practices, we do not need rocket science to see that something has gone seriously wrong and that we must find a cure.

With every day that goes by, all aspects of defense of our environment become more and more critical. For an island like Margarita that lives of tourism and that is faced with increasingly heavy competition from other locations, the avoidance of visual contamination is more than critical, it is vital.


Friday, June 18, 1999

Mobility and economic growth

I still remember going through MAD Magazine at least thirty-five years ago and seeing one particular cartoon strip in which the North American population slowly lost their lower extremities due to atrophy as a result of using their cars to cover even the shortest of distances. They all ended up looking like bowling pins. In the last frame, a Chinese army easily bowled over these odd looking pins.

Evidently, none of this happened. On the contrary, in Kosovo, the United States and its allies have shown without a doubt that you don’t need your lower extremities even to wage war.

I have recently published several articles in which I write about the exorbitant taxes that are imposed on gasoline around the world the effect of which I consider to be like discriminatory commercial taxes or duties, which keep the oil producers from receiving what is rightly due.

In this sense, there is a marked difference between the United States and Europe. In the United States, gasoline is sold for 25 cents per liter while in Europe the final consumer must pay about US$ 1 per liter. This fourfold increase is due exclusively to these “taxes”.

I have also had the opportunity of writing about the growth in unemployment and have made some similar comparisons between the United States and Europe. In both cases the generation of jobs in traditional sectors such as agriculture and industry are basically the same, 2.5% and 17.5% respectively.

The United States, however, is today a miracle of job generation while Europe is submerged in a crisis of high unemployment that is close to being structural in character. The difference lies basically with the service sector. In 1997, the service sector in the United States represented 54% of the total population of working age while in Europe; this sector employed only 39%, a whopping 15% less.

The observed difference between the level of taxes on gasoline and the generation of jobs in the service sector allows me to suggest the thesis that the only way Europe can solve the problem of unemployment is by drastically reducing the tax charge per liter of gasoline consumed. Once this has been done, the European consumer will most certainly venture out of his home more often rather that staying in. This means more trips to the restaurant, the movie theaters, etc., all of which generate jobs.

Some European countries have already announced a plan that will increase taxes on gasoline annually by about 6% over inflation. If so, by the year 2006, consumers should be paying about US$ 2.50 per liter. Since the oil producer would only obtain about 12.5 cents of said price; we are in the presence of a great commercial injustice. Additionally, if Europe insists on levying such taxes on gasoline, they are not only contributing to unemployment on their own continent, but will also be guilty of putting the brakes on economic development worldwide.

I clearly remember when the world in general accused the oil producing countries of pushing them into global recession during the oil boom of 1974. As a remedy, these countries were obliged to recycle their petrodollars, which they did with such enthusiasm that they went overboard and ended up with immense public external debt. Today Europe as well as many others keeps the price of gasoline higher than ever even though most of the final selling price is tax, causing recession and unemployment. The difference is, however, that today nobody accuses them of anything.

I think the world should seriously rethink its energy policy and study the elimination of these duties. This is the only way to get out of the vicious circle which, aggravated by the development of the Internet, cable TV and other such technological progress, conspires to increasingly isolate consumer within his home, where he simply restructures his purchase habits, mostly to the detriment of job creation.

In the Venezuela of today, submerged as it is in a profound recession, we must certainly not forget when it comes time to consider increases in the price of gasoline that many jobs still exist only because the cost of mobilization has been kept low.

Likewise, I consider the revision of our fiscal policies to be an absolute necessity. I simply cannot accept that the basic Income Tax with its definite advantages as far as redistribution of wealth is concerned is subrogated to VAT or taxes on gasoline which only punish consumption and therefore economic activity per se.

Finally, we must remember that only healthy global economic growth will make resources available to develop technology that will make gasoline a cleaner burning fuel.



Friday, June 11, 1999

Three bullets on punctuality

Time and human rights

I have no intention of putting the right to punctuality in the same category as the right to education, security, health care, food, and work. 

However, in a country such as ours (Venezuela) where we because of sheer lack of punctuality can easily lose up to three hours per week waiting for something or another, this, over our an average active life span of 55 years, adds up to around one year. 

As civil-rights organizations normally go ballistic whenever anyone is arrested without justification even for a couple of hours, I wonder how they let this pass.

There can be no doubt that the majority of our countrymen do, without any remorse whatsoever, blithely ignore the existence and purpose of the clock, and so it is evident that in terms of punctuality we need a total reform of our civil society. How do we achieve this? 

One alternative would be the creation of a “Punctual Venezuela,” parallel to the actual one. For example, if we start to use a little symbol that could be printed on all invitations to those activities that really require punctuality at the risk of being either excluded from the event or publicly chastised, we could possibly begin to create some semblance of civility. This symbol could be a watch, but I’d rather leave that up to the specialists in advertising.

The interesting part of this alternative is that it would allow us to impose, as of today, a heavy public and social sanction for those who lack punctuality without having to request that “notorious and incurable sinners” kick the habit cold-turkey. Also, maintaining the option of a not punctual Venezuela alive would allow us to continue to humor those foreign visitors who with a tropical flare that rivals our best take every chance they get to free themselves from the yoke of punctuality.

About parallels and meridians

We have recently witnessed public spectacles such as the fight the United States has sustained with Europe about bananas. Perhaps the effect of global warming has been much greater than we suspect as it seems to have moved the parallels normally identified with Banana Republics northward.

However the meridians might have gone haywire as well. I often take my daughters to parties that begin at midnight, which to me simply seems like a real and crude version, in cinéma vérité, of Saturday Night Fever. I cannot but suspect that their generation has simply decided to substitute the East Coast’s meridian for that of the West Coast. Some of the television channels seem also to suffer from the same syndrome. Somehow, I always seem to go to bed at night watching their afternoon comics while, if I am not careful, my daughters could wake up with their XXX-rated after midnight material.

My daughter’s cult

She is rarely late but she is absolutely never ever a minute early. She follows that Just-In-Time cult that drives us inhumanely nuts.


Extracted from "Voice and Noise" 2006. The first two bullets are based on an article published June 11, 1999 in The Daily Journal


Time, the ANC and meridians

Per Kurowski

 

I have no intention of putting the right to punctuality in the same category as the basic traditional human rights such as the right to education, security, access to health care, food and work.

 

However, in a country such as Venezuela we can easily lose up to three hours per week waiting for something or another, due mostly to a total lack of respect for the value of our time. Accumulated over our average active life span of 55 years, this adds up to approximately one year of our lives. I therefore think that this matter is not at all irrelevant, less so in times of a constituent assembly.

 

As a matter of fact, our Constitution and laws supposedly protect the common citizen against the unjustified loss of his or her right to freedom. All civil rights organizations in the world would go ballistic if someone would dare propose the possibility of unjustified arrest, even if it were for only one year. How come nobody says anything when we lose our liberty for more that one year, even if it is bit by bit, due to the lack of punctuality or mediocre and/or non-existent services.

 

I am not a candidate for the constituent assembly. My other responsibilities to my family and country allow me to avoid a process which would only bring my lack of powers of assembly to light. However, this does not limit nor my right nor my obligation as a citizen to present proposals and observations to the process. In this sense, I must remind the 131 members of the constituent assembly that, for example, when the State requires the country’s population to carry an identification card and the latter takes more than fifteen minutes to issue, we are essentially in the presence of a clear violation of human rights.

 

But in the case of the lack of punctuality, it is evident that we need a total reform of all civil society. There is no doubt that among the majority of the population, both among defenders of human rights as well as among those that complain about the public administration, there hide a bunch of vulgar violators of human rights who, without remorse whatsoever, blithely ignore the existence and purpose of the clock.

 

How, then, do we reform our civil society? This is a difficult question to answer, specially when you consider that should we require punctuality as a basic prerequisite for election to the constituent assembly, it would surely be very difficult to complete the roster of 131 members.

 

One alternative would be the creation of a “Punctual Venezuela”, parallel to the actual one. For example, if we start to use a little symbol that could be printed on all invitations to those activities that really require punctuality at the risk of being either excluded from the event or publicly chastised, we could possibly begin to create some semblance of civility. This symbol could be a watch, but I would rather leave that up to the specialists in advertising.

 

The interesting part of this alternative is that it would simultaneously allow us to impose, as of today, a heavy public sanction for those who lack punctuality without having to request that “notorious sinners” must go through a process of painful public remorse. Additionally, the mere fact of maintaining the option of a “Punctual Venezuela” alive, would allow us to simultaneously allow us to continue to humor those foreign visitors who, with a tropicalisation which rivals that of the inhabitants of Borburata, take every chance to take revenge on and/or liberate themselves of the yoke of punctuality.

 

I wish to take this opportunity to mention another problem that preoccupies me and that also is related to time. We have recently been witness to public spectacles such as the fight the United States has sustained with Europe about bananas. I have often suggested that the effect of global warming has been much greater that we first suspected. It seems to have moved the parallels normally identified with Banana Republics northwards towards Washington.

 

I consider, however, that not only the parallels have gone crazy, the meridians have gone haywire as well. I often take my daughters to parties that begin at mid-night, which to me simply seems like a real and crude version, in cinéma vérité, of Saturday Night Fever. I can not but suspect that their generation has simply decided to substitute the East Coast’s meridian for that of the West Coast. Some of the television channels seem to suffer from the same syndrome. Somehow, I always seem to go to bed at night watching comics while, if I am not careful, my daughters wake up with XXX.

Friday, June 04, 1999

We will be watching you, NCA

The country is rapidly approaching the moment when the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) must get down to business. The fact that Venezuela should begin the new millennium with a brand new constitution fills me both with enthusiasm and fear. The results arising from the NCA could either be wonderful or an absolute fiasco. A lot will depend on the way our civil society participates in the process.

Even though the formal responsibility of the NCA lies with the 131 elected members, I feel this does not diminish the responsibility or duty all of us as citizens have of trying to positively influence the process. Those who for some reason do not wish to be elected, or those that are up for election but realistically do not expect to be one of the chosen few, that is to say all but the 131 members finally elected, should begin to plot our strategy without delay. The following are my thoughts about the matter.

The assembly must take into account the country as a whole while undertaking its duties. Even though I do not believe we should televise the entire proceedings, something like Mr. Simpson’s trial in the United States, I do believe we must under no uncertain circumstances maintain records of all the proposals presented as well as of all the debates. Above all, we should register, with names included, the votes cast by the assembly’s members.

With this data in hand, society should organize its system of evaluation in order to publicly congratulate those members who have honestly and successfully complied with their duties and publicly chastise, with means that will be registered in the annals of history, those that do not. In this sense, it is important to develop a reasonable method of evaluation, which should, of course, take into consideration that not all of the assembly’s functions are the same and that not all must be complied with by all of its members.

Included in the members’ duties that must be evaluated are the following four. The number I have put in parenthesis are simply for the purpose of presenting examples of how many of the 131 members could be dedicated to a particular task.

  1. The generation of coherent political visions that would give the assembly a real meaning (5)

  2. Continual interaction with the civil society in order to insure that the latter’s proposals and desires are coherently included in the final output (20)

  3. The study, analysis and brainstorming of each specific article in order to insure that the final product is coherent (101)

 4. The final coherent write-up of the new document so that Venezuela can show the world with pride that it has produced a real Constitution for the next millennium (5)

Evidently my use of the word “coherent” in all four of these activities, makes it evident that this is extremely important for me. Some of my other colleagues in the NGO that must necessarily be formed and that could be called “Watch the NCA” will undoubtedly include other parameters. This should permit us to create a ranking which although not perfect should at least allow us to identify the names of 10 of the members who’s performance was outstanding and 10 who’s performance were disgraceful. 

This does not necessarily have anything to do with the intellectual and curricular capacity of each of these members. Those members who were given the right to occupy one of the 131 seats on the assembly on the basis of their ample and well documented legal know-how could conceivably receive a much lower ranking than a mother that has come out of her household to be present in dignified representation of her compatriots and by just honestly and correctly choosing among the options presented to her.

I have heard that there are candidates out there that are members of unions and other representative groups who’s only stated purpose is to insure the continuation of the prerogatives they figure come with their professional investitures. Evidently, should these people be elected to the assembly, they would be prime candidates to occupy the last places in the ranking, both to their own detriment as well as to that of the groups they represent.

Another member of the assembly that would insure a place at the bottom of the list is the one that insists on including constitutional guarantees for each and every right that he or she can think of without worrying about how they will be complied with. 

I am the first to acknowledge that the Constituent Assembly is a national act of much more importance and intimacy than that of a simple election and I would therefore not be inclined to formally invite external observers. However, the ONG would have the right to look for advice, wherever this may come from, in order to fulfill its duty and be vigilant during the process. I am sure that entities such as the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and Transparency International, among others, could give us support and good advice.

For decades, our society has been demeaned due to the lack of social sanctions. We cannot run this risk with the NCA. Our ranking should be a part of the tools to be used to stimulate and punish.


Friday, May 28, 1999

Margarita as the El Dorado of golden years of tourism


In tourism, as in so many other activities, the correct identification of a market segment and the true specialization in attending to this market is of utmost importance. One prime example of this is Playa El Yaque in Margarita. With the help of Mother Nature, this site was identified as a prime spot to develop one particular market, windsurfing. While the rest of the island’s generic tourism sector, which only with a few exceptions lacks any character at all, is suffering through a severe recession, entrepreneurs and hotel operators in Playa El Yaque have found the going much smoother.

I am convinced that one of the principle challenges of our society today is that of creating new and productive jobs for our younger generations, by choosing the right productive sector and designing strategies that will allow us to develop and take advantage of our competitive advantages. 

For Margarita, the industry of rendering services for the elderly presents an interesting option. Whether in tourism, recreation or general care, those living through their "golden years" demand so many services that they represent a real El Dorado, in terms of job creation.

What can Margarita do to explore and capitalize on this opportunity in the name of Venezuela? A lot, I think. Margarita has the people, has good communications and has the perfect natural setting, with calm beaches, absence of hurricanes and a minimum of 280 days of sun per year. Additionally it has the Centro Medico Nueva Esparta (CMNE) and that in my opinion is the ideal place to use as a flagship for the promotion of this new sector.

The CMNE is a hospital with modern and impressive installations located on a hill in La Asuncion, near the Castillo of Santa Rosa. The property currently belongs to Fogade who must soon define what the infrastructure will be used for and who will ultimately own it.

Should CMNE with the help of specialized firms and universities, both foreign and local, be able to truly specialize in the care of the elderly, including medical services, equipment, development of post-graduate courses, nursing schools, recreation and other activities and necessities, I suspect that local authorities will have a very powerful tool with which to attract the required international investment, technology and know-how.

In this respect the value of CMNE would also increase if an annex originally designed to be a Spa was to be finished, thereby making more specialized rooms available. For this purpose perhaps one could use financing packages put together by multilateral agencies and that I believe are already earmarked for tourism infrastructure. 

Nothing I have proposed in this article has been said with the intention of suggesting that the other hospitals and clinics on the island of Margarita are not capable of offering similar or better service than the CMNE. Also none of the above implies that CMNE, "photographed" from another angle, cannot continue to provide valuable support, as an excellent general hospital, to local and international tourists and, of course, to the local population as a whole.

Although CMNE could signify in itself a powerful tool in developing the sector, it is no less true that other institutional efforts are required. One of the peculiarities of tourism for the elderly is that it should not be adventure tourism and requires above average confidence in the quality of the services rendered. One should therefore contemplate the creation of a Regulatory Board with sufficient authority to oversee and intervene in matters of tariffs and quality of the services offered.

If Margarita were to have a CMNE specialized in tending to the elderly as well as a dedicated and qualified Regulatory Board, there would be many opportunities for projects that today are outright impossible without a minimum of institutional support. In my particular case, for example, due to my close connections with Nordic countries, I could very well be interested in developing a small resort designed to cater to the elderly of this particular market, including specialized baths, few stair cases or physical obstacles, nearby flowered areas, etc. 

The island’s Governor, Irene Saez, is without discussion a person with many of the qualifications necessary to take over the vital role of Ambassador of the Island of Margarita to the world. It would be a great shame to miss this opportunity simply because we have not provided the necessary tools that would enable us to be truly competitive in an increasingly complicated market.

How I would like to see IRENE take a flashy promotional video on her next trip abroad, packed with images that show how we have successfully joined forces to make Margarita the world’s foremost place to spend some of those golden years... [and among these, some images of the renamed Hospital SANTA ROSA.]




Friday, May 21, 1999

Forget the market for a while

The financial markets are continually boasting about having the best information available. They are right, but this continuous improvement in their capability to disseminate information comes at the cost of too much data too quickly. This results in an increased sense of the short term and no long-term vision.

It is only this that could possibly explain why today’s financial markets would impose interest rates on a country’s foreign debt that are so high that they can only be justified by the premise that the corresponding debt is to be repaid immediately and all at once. This is the case of Venezuela, a country with relatively little external debt.

This particular problem of dis-information in an era of information has resulted in an increasing volatility of the short-term capital market. This in turn has caused financial crises in many of the emerging markets and is being closely studied by many of the world’s monetary authorities.

In an article titled The Reform of International Financial Architecture published in Madrid’s newspaper ABC, Robert Rubin, former Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, recognizes the market’s basic responsibility, declaring that he is convinced about the need for government intervention in order to insure a better-market performance.

Mr. Rubin states that it continues to be necessary to solve the shortfalls in the risk valuation that have contributed to the worsening of the recent crisis and suggests that intervention should be made in the form of better international directives (i.e., the Basel Commission) which would increase dependency on long term loans instead of short-term financing. This type of intervention seems to me to be rather timid.

As a citizen of a country that due to internal and external causes finds itself in a bit of a mess, I wish to take advantage of the appointment of Mr. Lawrence Summers as new Secretary of the Treasury to ask him be more proactive.

For example, we would advance in leaps and bounds towards Mr. Rubin’s objectives should the United States guarantee the underwriting of a Venezuelan debt issue for US$ 25 billion with 30 year maturities with which Venezuela would repay all current debt that carries shorter maturities, which would make Venezuela one of the most solvent debtors in the world, which would make its debt instruments among the most attractive in international markets, which would insure that these could be placed at reasonable rates, which would allow the United States to free itself of any and all obligations thus obtained in a matter of minutes or hours.

Impossible, you say? Today, a firm that sells books, with no major asset base, and without immediate prospects of turning a profit is valued by the capital markets at US$ 30 billion, based primarily on its presence on the glamorous Internet. I simply cannot believe that the United States and Venezuela together cannot jointly put together an operation and negotiate the appropriate guarantees so that all parties come out smelling like roses.

I think that the majority of the authorities, government officials, professionals and individuals like Rubin, Summers and, modestly, myself, respect the free-market forces and system but also believe that it is sometimes necessary to promote government intervention. Where we may differ is in how this intervention should be enacted and how these two agents, market and government, should interact.

For example, over the last decades, the perception has been that a country like Venezuela should be very attuned to the requirements of a sophisticated financial international market. Attaining this markets approval would theoretically ensure that this country is on the right road to development and prosperity.

I believe this has been exaggerated. A country like Venezuela, which banks basically on one exportable product, has certain internal advantages and strategic strengths. There is no reason why this country should bow to market forces. It has the right, and even the duty, to develop other options to ensure development that don’t necessarily include the markets.

Perhaps our problem today is not Venezuela’s external debt per se, perhaps our problem is the market. Faced with this reality, let us go out and negotiate options, government to government. This does not have to include subsidies or hand-outs. These options can very well be developed in an economically more reasonable atmosphere than that present in today’s market.



Friday, May 14, 1999

Not much added value to the value added tax on Margarita Island

If there is anything that has to do with economics that has been proven with absolute clarity over the last few decades is the unsurpassable capacity of the Venezuelan State to misspend its resources. In this sense, an recipe for getting ourselves out of this inherited economic disaster that begins with the transfer of additional resources to the government is utterly incomprehensible to me, and I am a fierce enemy of all new taxation, even more so when we are talking about the Value Added Tax (IVA) that does not provide even the slightest redistribution of income.

However, in the case of the Island of Margarita, I refuse to spend much of my energy in protesting the recently decreed VAT. My reasons? As the say in local argot, what’s one more stripe for a tiger?

In Venezuela today, tourism is the only sector that promises the potential of creating so many externally competitive and productive jobs. The Dominican Republic’s income from tourism during last year was in the neighborhood of US$ 2.5 billion. There is no question that today we should be rallying the entire country around a National Plan for Tourism, centered principally in Margarita.

But no! In September of last year, instead of investing in a submarine cable to Margarita from the mainland so as to be able to supply the island with cheap energy (a public service of utmost importance to tourism), the latter divested in tourism when it blithely sent the US$ 60 million obtained from the privatization of its power company to the National Treasury. Margarita’s hotels often spend more for power than they do in covering its payroll.

A real plan to promote tourism on the island would focus everyone on finding solutions for getting water to the island’s population and hotels cheaply and securely. This could, for example, be done either by installing a new pipeline under the sea from the mainland financed by multilateral entities or by offering to supply free or cheap gas which would permit the fueling of desalination plants that would not be ruinously expensive. Today, all we see are plans to install gas lines so as to be able to sell gas to the island at international prices.

Anyone that had a real interest in promoting tourism on Margarita would not allow the Bolivar to overvalue to the point that the only tourism promoted is the international tourism of Venezuelans.

Anyone that had a real interest in promoting tourism on Margarita would have offered fuel at marginal cost to all international flights that come from more that 1,000 kilometers away, that carry 100 tourists that will stay for over one week. In Europe, for every 100 units paid for gasoline by the consumer, only 10 goes to the producer of the same. I am sure that each barrel “given as a gift to tourism” would be economically more beneficial to the country than its direct sale.

More investment in Margarita would create more jobs. Instead, mediocre advisors recommend the application of the VAT for Margarita in the name of anti-national national solidarity and based on minor issues that only promote equality downwards. Even some representatives of the private sector applaud the application of another tax.

But all is not lost. On this marvelous island, where the ingenuity and genes of its native and assimilated population are put to work full time to confront all this adversity with spunk and elan, new promotional strategies are being designed and produced on a daily basis.

We are all aware of the fiscal pressures imposed on the European tourist at home. A new attraction is now being developed in Margarita; a new variant of adventure tourism called Fiscal Tourism.

Today, thanks to the VAT, Margarita can offer the European Tourist the tropical and liberating experience of being able to participate in tax evasion. Very soon, merchants on Margarita will offer Evasion Receipts, which will most surely be souvenirs, competing directly with any of the dried and lacquered fish sold at any souvenir shop in the Caribbean. 

Local groups are studying the possibility of raffling a citation by the SENIAT among every 5,000 tourists. It must be exciting for any German from Stuttgart to be able to frame and hang this citation from the tax authorities. This is much better than trophies such as the head of an African antelope no matter how wide its horns may be.

For Heaven’s sake, let us create some added value on the island before we think of taxing it!