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Amazon closes 68 physical retail stores

By
Obrian
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0

Amazon is putting a stop to the expansion of its physical stores. Reuters confirmed that the company is closing 68 brick-and-mortar retail stores across both the U.S. and U.K. Amazon launched its first physical bookstore in Seattle back in 2015, then spread across other states in America.

At the time this was a major move by the company, especially given the fact that Amazon started as an online store and works entirely in a digital space. It was a move that led investors to speculate as to what was to come.

Over the years Amazon has been testing new ideas on how to improve the customer experience within stores. Ideas such as Cashierless shopping technology was implemented and proved to be a success in certain cases.

Analysts are speculating that Covid had a huge impact on the physical location of businesses. Due to the pandemic, it was difficult for customers to shop and they would often opt for the online portal to have goods bought online and delivered to their homes.

Another factor might be the aggressiveness of the worker’s union which retail workers demand better wages, more comfortable environments, and other benefits. Amazon made it clear that they are not going to close their cashier-less grocery stores and other new concepts.

Wheat prices starting to show signs of weakness amid global tensions

By
Obrian
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0

As the western world continues to process the events that are going on, the unintended consequences are already being felt on the markets. Wheat which I talked about in an earlier article will heavily impact the global markets as the war continues.

To put things into perspective, Russia and Ukraine own over 25% of the world’s wheat, about a fifth of the world’s corn, and 12% of all calories traded globally.

At the moment of this writing, all of the supplies of agricultural goods from Ukraine have stopped, which means commodity traders will have to look elsewhere. It’s a total disaster if the leaders don’t get this right.

Bloomberg is already sounding the alarms on the implications of this. “If the conflict drags on – in three months, in four months – I feel that the consequences could be really very serious,” Andre Defoy, president of Strategie Grains, told Bloomberg. “Wheat will need to be rationed.”

Below are two charts that can give you an idea of what is happening.

Inflation is already eating away money from the average working-class pockets due to the impact of Covid, which seems to be a thing of the past from the looks of it from mainstream media. Adding this to it will lead to a very volatile situation around the world.

If things don’t change quickly, things might get harder before it gets easier as commodity shortage might seem so distant anymore.

Russia Vs Ukraine: The ongoing cyberattacks and information war in depth

By
Obrian
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0

As the war in Ukraine continues, battles are being fought on all fronts. It’s interesting to see an actual new age war being played out. Obviously, Russia is on the losing side of this battle. I did a post the other day about the different attacks being played out and some of the developments I have noticed.

In this post, I am going to dive much deeper into the topic. I want to provide you with information as to what is actually taking place as we are seeing a new world being unfold in front of our eyes.

The two parts I will be focused on are cyberattacks and the information war being played out. Before I continue any further, I want to make it clear that I am not for war, I don’t support wars. At the same time conflict is an inevitable part of our human nature.

Information Warfare

Information warfare is nothing new, for hundreds of years, there were “messengers” riding horses back and forth between empires sending messages of deception to cause conflict.

Whenever wars broke out and the country was invaded, usually they would burn the libraries to ensure that history is forgotten and they would cleanse the civilization to bring forth a new one.

If we look at today it’s hard to really tackle the western media which is a well-oiled machine that can pump out content to fit whatever narrative at the moment. To put things into perspective, the media outlets are not actually independent, they are all owned by several companies.

For example, look at Covid-19, it seems as if Covid-19 has jumped off the airwaves and is now being replaced by the war in Ukraine. It’s really amazing to witness, they can shift the narrative at any moment.

A major portion of big tech companies that dominates the west could be seen as media companies, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. They make most of their money from advertising and our attention is basically what they are all fighting for.

If you can get a large number of people to believe in something even if it’s false it will become true. Given the velocity of information, it’s hard to track everything. Thus, certain ideologies or information can slip by our conscious and wreak havoc in our subconscious minds.

Russia in this case is not going to win the media war being pushed by the west, it’s too equipped with the right systems in place to flood the minds of the populace with disinformation. Here are some developments which are now taking place:

Facebook bans Russian state media from running adverts and monetizing

Google blocks RT and other Russian channels from earning ad dollars

Twitter is pausing ads and recommendations in Ukraine and Russia

Basically, it’s not looking good for Russia at all, at the same time Russia has their own PR machine as well and if Russia did have the power probably, they would’ve done the same thing.

It’s a war on information and deception, Vladimir Putin who is the president of Russia was a former KGB who was the main security unit for the Soviet Union. He knows how to deceive the media as well; this whole operation too caught the world off guard.

There were lots of debates around Russia and whether they were planning to invade Europe. Everyone believed it was never going to happen due to Russian media and western outlets who were deceived.

Another thing that I noticed being developed is the narrative of Russia in the western world. All the news outlets are under spewing the same information, anti-Russia and yet again, I am going to reiterate if Russia had the power and reach of the west, they would’ve done the same thing it’s all a game of war.

Misinformation and bias in reporting were expected from “liberal” media outlets of the west but they have even taken it to a new level.

War is the art of deception and it is now more evident than ever. A large part of the believes that Russia is the villain and they are the heroes. Russia and Mr. Putin are no angels or Mother Theresa but at the same time, the hypocrisy is cringeworthy.

It’s as if all of America’s past is now forgotten and Russia is the evil man of the world. The winners are the man at the top who started this, the losers will be the poorer class or working class as they don’t have the resources to tackle inflation or other economic issues a crisis might impose.

Cyber Attacks

Aside from the informational war, a cyber war is also taking place. Joe Biden, America’s President, stated that he has been presented with options to launch a massive cyberattack against Russia.

Such as move would be counterintuitive as I am sure Russia was preparing for such offense from America. They probably have some means on how to launch a counterattack.

There have even been allegations that the Russians meddled in the 2016 elections to help Donald Trump win the election. They have the capability to do it as Russian hackers are world known to be ruthless in their activities.

Despite that, over the last few weeks, Russian news websites have been under heavy attack from hackers.

There have been reports that Russian TVs have been hacked to play Ukrainian songs. There have been assumptions that Russia has done a lot of damage already, as there have been reports that Russian hackers have infiltrated important systems within Ukraine.

If you want to visualize the ongoing cyberwar worldwide you can visit Kaspersky cyber map, to visualize the ongoing network attacks being played out.

Notice that Russia is the number one most attacked country in the world.

Ukraine is at 16th.


America is at 4th.

Amazingly I was expecting Ukraine to be within the top 10 but the data shows otherwise. There haven’t been any major cyber-attacks yet targeting any key infrastructure such as power lines, banks, hospitals, and other vulnerable entities. If that becomes a case, it will escalate the issue on both sides of the war asymmetrically.

Observing these two sides of the war that is not obvious to the average viewer is significant as it can help to give a glimpse into the different battle areas where the war is taking place. The goal is to don’t trust any information, think for yourself, verify, trust and verify again.

US and NATO should think twice before cutting Russia out of SWIFT

By
Obrian
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0
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 21, 2022: Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation on the recognition of independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS (Photo by Alexei NikolskyTASS via Getty Images)

We are definitely living in strange times, the war currently happening in Ukraine is more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than an accident. The west has been having talks about it for months that war is brewing in eastern Europe. Russian officials played it down in order to calm down the general public and the outside world.

As the western media continued with the narrative, the world was wondering if it ever was going to happen. In our short attention span era filled with superficial virality, emojis, and memes floating around on social media, on February 24, 2022, the world realized that war is real.

I will not dive into the details that lead up to that war, I will save that for another post that will be uploaded after things have died down a bit as I am still assessing the possibilities. I am more concerned with the idea of cutting Russia out of SWIFT and what it means from a geopolitical and economical perspective.

What is SWIFT?

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) basically is at the nucleus of the international financial industry, especially in the western region. It is a secure messaging system that is used to make international cross-border payments.

It was created in Belgium by different international bodies to facilitate a fair international trading system. Over the years it seems to have been working quite efficiently and all partners involved are to agree satisfied with it. In 2020 it was estimated that 38 million transactions per day were settled by SWIFT.

Current Political Chess

Over the last few days, things have escalated pretty quickly to a level that I am unable to predict what will happen. Shortly before Russia started the “military operation” on Ukraine as deemed by President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, plans were in place to sanction Russia to the nth degree.

It seemed Mr. Putin couldn’t care less as he understands the situation that he was going to be in and from my understanding I am hoping that his risk management team does their job across all areas whether that be economic, political, etc.

One of the main sanctions that the western media was dangling in front of him was the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This is a pipeline that would deliver natural gas to Germany under a deal that was laid out by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015.

The deal will be settled in Euros and essentially, undermine America’s petro-dollar monopoly which is the bread and butter for the US economy to keep the narrative that the world still trades energy deals in US dollars.

Biden’s administration and certain NATO nations thought that Russia really cared about this. They were sidestepped as Mr. Putin had other plans and was carefully crafting a strategy behind the scenes.

On the opening day of the Olympics, Mr. Putin went to the opening ceremony of the Olympics and signed a deal with a “no limits” deal. It is still unclear what it means but one of the main things that came out of it was China is going to purchase lots of natural gas and oil from Russia in a deal worth tens of billions.

This was a strategic play by Putin to ensure that the Nord Stream 2 deal wasn’t used as dog food to lure him into a bait.

Fast forward today, the Nord Stream 2 is canceled practically the same day Vladimir Putin declared “break-away” nations Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

The main consensus around this move by the Russian president is that these two nations are filled with Russian-speaking citizens and there has been a civil war there since 2014 when they decided to basically side with the Russians.

Despite their choice, Russia couldn’t intervene as they still see it as part of Ukraine and never wanted to break any international law, which is basically subjective these days. Laws are usually massaged to fit a particular leader’s regime; every large major power uses.

The key is the narrative, control the narrative and you control the minds of the people. This was not accepted by US or NATO and thus they decided to impose sanctions on Russia.

Russia is Sanction Proof?

The sanctions came from all angles and were essential to curb Russia’s further aggression onto Ukraine. They targeted Russia’s banks, Oligarchs, it was a great theatre and spectacle for conservatives living in their poshed and cozy homes, giving commands to Amazon Alexa.

It never deterred Russia’s insistence to invade Ukraine and change the alleged, “corrupt regime”. Russia has been heavily sanctioned when they annexed Crimea, yet another Ukraine state in 2014. These sanctions though did have an impact but it wasn’t effective in hindsight.

Russia grew resilient over those eight years and developed multiple systems to counter the sanctions. It seems to have worked from the outskirts looking in. One of the reasons that led to this was because of the fact that Russia is large, it is the largest country in the world by landmass and is rich in resources, most of them untapped due to being blockaded from the outside world.

Another factor is that Russia controls a very valuable resource which is oil and natural gas. Despite our technological advances, we are still very reliant on these natural resources to power up our economies.

Russia overtime started to export oil aggressively and moved farther away from the petrodollar monopoly. They mainly settled in euros and other currencies, trying to minimize the risk of the US dollar.

Russia’s Own Alternative

Additionally, Russia has been developing its own SWIFT alternative called SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages). It has been in development since 2014, the first transaction involving a non-bank institution was in December of 2017.

Despite that huge leap, a lot of factors affect the adoption rate such as cost per transaction, technology, etc. As of now it only works in Russia but there are talks to expand the initiative and push it forward with its partners.

China On The Horizon

China is currently pushing its own version of SWIFT which is more significant than Russia’s due to the fact that China is seen as the next world leader or we exist in a multi-polar world with different world leaders, taking their size of the pie. Strategically it’s fair and rational, if you are doing big business, you need your own infrastructure.

The problem is China and Russia creating a system that the United States and their western allies don’t have any say in, that’s what’s scary and is exactly why there might be some hesitancy to not pull Russia from the SWIFT system just yet.

If that were to happen, Russia would trade directly with China which could involve eastern allies such as Iran, India along with European countries as well. This will then undermine the dollar’s monopoly on trade and the global financial system.

It’s hard to tell the implications of this but it would catastrophic for the US which has shaped into a very strange-looking empire over the last 3 decades.

The Interconnectedness of Russia

Russia is deeply embedded within the European trade and financial system; it would be an emotional decision to exclude from SWIFT. It might look good for the optics and the appeasement for social justice warriors over what is happening.

At the moment Russia controls over 40% of the energy supply to Europe in various means and that’s a lot of money to be traded in other currencies and not the US. It’s not just from an Energy perspective but even from a financial perspective, it would be hard to isolate Russia from Europe at such a volatile time and the future is uncertain.

There are a lot of unknowns such as trade agreements, financial settlements, etc. It’s too connected at the moment and it would pose a systemic risk to Europe.

Blockchain and New Financial Instruments

Recently Russia laid out plans to ban cryptocurrencies or at least regulate it to ineffectiveness. Putin had other plans and is watching how events unfold as I am sure he planned this attack for months and he assessed the risk through various simulations. It is too coordinated at the moment and decisive not to see that everything was planned, irrespective of what the world thinks.

If Russia is banned from SWIFT I am assuming he could quickly transition into modern financial instruments such as blockchain technology which is slowly becoming the de-facto standard in our society to engage in finance.

It’s a bit new at the moment and filled with get-rich-quick schemes pushed by anonymous agents who have ulterior motives and want to undermine the technology.

When the dust settles and the industry is moved from the basements of the programmers and is at an industrial level, it will be revolutionary. Russia is not a perfect country and depending on how you look at it, it has a lot of problems but it is technologically advanced and from a social capital perspective they have civilians who are smart and productive.

If you look at the history of science and even modern technology, they have brought a lot of ideas and inventions to the world. Thus, they have the human capital to build interesting products and it has shown in their military supremacy despite working on a smaller budget than other world leaders.

What Lies Ahead

It’s hard to predict what lies ahead, the world has changed for sure. Ever since the start of the pandemic, the world has changed but this might be another event to add to the list of changes.

I am hoping that the situation is resolved quickly as war is not a solution to anything but I would be kidding myself to think that mankind’s lust for power is going to stop in our so-called liberal era.

It’s an illusion which I will expand on in another post, but I am hoping that all parties can resolve conflict as soon as possible and come to an agreement that will maintain world peace.

Russian banks will be cut from SWIFT

By
Obrian
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0

Things start to escalate in this war as UK Prime Minister stated that Russian banks will be cut out from Swift. This is a very huge move and it’s hard to tell what will happen next from here on out.

Excluding Russia from Swift which is pivotal to the international payment system means that Russians will not be able to do business with the west in a smooth and efficient manner. Boris Johnson stated on his Twitter account,

“We have taken decisive action tonight with our international partners to shut Russia out of the global financial system, including the important first step of ejecting Russian banks from SWIFT,”.

Will Russia cut off energy to Europe? How will they settle payments in the short term with outsiders who are within that system? It is to be noted that Russia was developing its own system in order to settle payments.

China too who is probably saving Russia right now has been developing its own system. It’s unpredictable but let’s see how this plays out as the geopolitical pieces are being shifted around and the world is being reshaped.

It is to be noted that this move will not impact all the banks of Russia, it will only affect several banks that were already sanctioned. There is the assumption that Russia has been planning for this for a long time, but the world is so complex that planning is sometimes not enough.

War is not good for any country as civilians’ lives are being lost. Hopefully, there could be some resolve as early as possible.

  

Russia vs Ukraine: We are all losers

By
Obrian
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0

Russia and Ukraine are currently in a conflict as the world watches on the sidelines to see the possible outcome. There are no clear winners in this war and even if externalities are looked at, the world economy is going to feel some pain.

Russia and Ukraine are both important to the world economy and more so Russia. It has the largest landmass for any country and is resource-rich.

At the moment, even if Russia does win the war, the geopolitical landscape will probably change in Europe and more so the world for a long time. Russia and Ukraine combined contribute to a third of the world’s wheat exports, a fifth of its corn trade, and approximately 80% of sunflower oil production, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

If Russia decides to attack Ukraine and the rush shuts off Russia from their world, Russia might turn east and we already see that with various political partnerships, especially China. Having Russia linked with China is a geopolitical disaster as China is watching from the sidelines and carefully studying the implications.

It should be noted that Russia and China have a hot and cold relationship, from a geographic point of view, they still share border issues. There has also been fallout from the past. To see them closely tying up loose ends is frightening.

Oil and gas is another problem that might affect Europe if they decide to blockade Russia from their world. Russia supplies over 40% of its energy resources to Europe, which is a lot and is a bit irresponsible from the strategic point of view for Europe to get closely tied to Russia, which is often an unpredictable country.

Europe would be cold for a period of time and the implications are hard to predict. Russia is still keeping the valve on and supplying energy to Europe as of this writing but things can change in a heartbeat given the current level of escalation.

The western world is slowly shutting down the curtains on Russia from many different facets. If Russia decides to do the same, no one will win.

The poorer class is already facing pressure on their currency due to inflation which has been a boogeyman over the last couple of months. If Russia decides to pull its curtain, things could get really interesting.

Russian Invasion and Modern Warfare: Cyber-Attacks, Disinformation and False Flags

By
Obrian
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0

The last few days have been very strange and looking from afar I have to say I am disappointed in the representation of the news from both sides. Especially from a western perspective, the lies, misinformation, and the constant push of narratives down our throats are alarming.

If you are not thinking rationally these days and “thinking for yourself” which is key, you are basically a coconut tree being swayed to either direction of the wind.

Despite all the confusion and misinformation, it is also a modern strategy of war that is not being talked about much within the western lecture halls. Information and disinformation will get worse as the speed of information increases and we are at the mercy of our technology gods.

It’s the way of the new world. There is a war going on in Eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine, real people are dying and from my understanding, it will not benefit both sides.

Despite that, it is important to recognize the different wars that are being played out and their implications of them. Despite the battles in Ukraine with bombings, gunfire, etc.

It is also important to note that Cyber attacks are happening from various agents, there have been reports that various Russian governments sites are and their main news network RT news has been going online and offline throughout.

Facebook has recently been in hot water with Russia, they alleged that Facebook is censoring their media being represented about the war and is making it seem biased on their platform.

Russia hit back by giving Facebook partial and limited access within the country. It’s to note that Facebook is an American company and America has no interest in Russia, so it’s only natural to allow Facebook to change the narrative.

If you should look on social media, there has been a plethora of videos being shared. For example, there have been viral videos being shared which is from a war that happened in the past. There have also been videos shared around the internet of video game explosions that seem realistic.

Additionally, there have been videos being shared of actors dressed up in suits of warriors and recording different types of propaganda narratives to skew the minds of the public.

The speed and volume of the information being shared are at such as degree that it’s hard to fact-check everything. It’s modern warfare that doesn’t have to involve real troops on the ground anymore if need be and it also depends on the willingness of all the parties involved on where to take it.

Expect more of this to continue as the real battle in Ukraine is still active and the geopolitical world changes.

Introduction to Budgeting For First Time Mortgagees

By
Contributor
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2

Congratulations on buying your first home! This is surely a great achievement for you and the rewards can be very exciting. As a homeowner, you have equity that’s solid. There’s so much you can accomplish now that you have this asset under your belt.

What you’ll now realize, however, is that your bank account has started to behave erratically! You’re seeing money moving out of your account faster than ever before. Or so it seems.

What you’re experiencing is a clear case of a budgeting dilemma for a first-time mortgagee. It’s completely normal to feel like you’ve lost some control over your finances now that you’re a homeowner.

The good news is that you can learn how to budget all over again. It’s certainly going to be necessary for a positive mortgaging experience.

  1. Make your mortgage payment first – If you want to continue to hold on to your home, ensure you pay your mortgage on time! Remember the home is yours and you want to keep it that way. As soon as you get your pay check, withdraw the amount you need for your mortgage.
    • A great idea is to set up an automatic payment to the mortgage lender from your bank account. That way, you won’t have to worry about remembering to make the payment each month.
    • Sure, things come up, but defaulting on your mortgage payment could mean not having a roof over your head!
    • Avoid using the equity in your home as a cash advance. Stay as far from additional debt as possible.
  2. Prioritize other expenses – With the mortgage payment out of the way, you now have to manage all the other expenses. Now that you have a mortgage, your priorities may likely shift.
    • All expenses related to the new home are important. However, you need to ask yourself if all of them are necessary right now. Focus on the recurring monthly expenses that contribute to a comfortable dwelling.
    • Social time is certainly important, especially when it comes to maintaining your sanity! But try to cut down on entertainment expenses. Instead of going to the movies 3 times per week, go out once and rent a movie twice.
  3. Schedule home improvement – As a new homeowner, you’ll have the ongoing desire to make the home more beautiful. While your pride of place is admirable, it’s important to let better senses rule!
    • Make a list of all your home improvement needs and wants.
    • Prioritize them, with the ones that make the home safe and livable taking precedence over the others.
    • Put a schedule in place for accomplishing everything, and tie that into the associated expenses. Your aim should be to commit the same amount of money each month to home improvement.
    • If there’s something you aren’t able to afford this month, simply leave the rest until next month.
  4. Make saving a priority – With all that can happen as a new homeowner, it’s more important than ever to set aside money in your savings account. Major repairs sometimes need to be taken care of immediately.
    • Have the discipline to put aside untouchable savings. That way, there’ll be something for rainy days!

Mortgaging a home for the first time can leave you jaded if you aren’t able to budget effectively. Pay close attention to the spending of every dollar. Once you’ve mastered that, you can feel comfortable knowing the financial responsibilities related to your home are well taken care of!

India lays out regulatory framework for cryptocurrency advertising

By
Obrian
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0

India has been cracking down on crypto advertisements and promotions which seem to be misguiding its residents. The Advertisement Standards Council of India (ASCI) laid out a guideline that crypto companies must follow. These regulations will help to protect its residents from schemes that are disrupting other countries.

Within the press release, they made it clear that crypto businesses must let clients know that the assets are indeed risky and unregulated. If anything happens to their “digital asset” for example, the client themselves are responsible.

“Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.”

They also noted that the messages have to be clear and concise for the client to understand. This way, a client cannot say that they were misguided through mixed messages.

“In video, the disclaimer should be placed at the end of the advertisement against a plain background. A voiceover must accompany the disclaimer in text. The voiceover should be at a normal speaking pace and must not be hurried. In the case of a long-format video of over two minutes, the said disclaimer should be repeated at the beginning and at the end of the video. The disclaimer must remain on screen for a minimum of five seconds.”

These measures show that India is not taking the inherent risk of cryptocurrencies likely, especially given the fact that the assets are new and the long-term aspect is very much uncertain.

These new guidelines come as a result of aggressive ads being targeted to Indian residents from various businesses within the crypto industry making inappropriate claims.

It seems to be more marketing than substance at the moment. As a means to protect citizens and not ban the entire thing, these were put in place to at least protect vulnerable residents who might want to dabble within this space.

Jamaica increases national minimum wage, a short-term patch for a long-term problem

By
Obrian
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0

Karl Samuda, Jamaica’s Labor Minister, announced in a virtual press conference held on February 22, 2022, plans to increase the minimum wage by approximately 28.5%.

Persons who earn minimum wage will see an increase from $7,000jmd to $9,000jmd. Also, the wages for Security Guards will move from $9,700jmd to $10,500jmd. This will come into effect on April 1, 2022.

It’s been approximately 42 months since the last increase on Emancipation Day, August 2 2018, which was raised by 12.9 percent.

The increase comes just in time given the resurgence of inflation. Since January 2022, inflation levels rose to 9.7 percent which has severely impacted low-income workers.

While an increase was needed, it will not change anything long-term economically given the fact the extra money will be used to inject cash back into the economy or overseas.

Most of this cash will not go into investments or any financial vehicle. I assume the increase in wages will not affect large businesses much. It will affect the average man, who has to pay a community housekeeper $9000 a week to take care of matters at home while he goes out to work. That 28.5% seems large but is insignificant given the economical, social, and inherent structural problems the country is facing.

Over-reliance on tourism for example has proved to be a bad model at times and the continuous instability has been like a dagger poking into the sides of our little Jamaica.

This has allowed our economy to be exposed to outside economical factors such as inflation in North America and practically the rest of the western region. What else should the government do then? That’s the question that many have asked over the years and it’s clearly valid.

Jamaica is definitely where it deserves to be currently, we don’t have the productive workforce to push the company forward. It’s easy to blame the government for this in terms of workforce training and advancement.

Our schools are underfunded, we have a hybrid educational system that doesn’t have a goal at this point. The pep (Primary Exit Profile) system seems like an idea that was developed over too many drinks of cocktail between the administration at Pegasus hotel.

Brain drain is a problem as well. I was taken aback when I read an article on Jamaica Observer the other day which states that over 85% of nurses migrated after having completed their final exams at the Caribbean School of Medical Science and have done their internships. But who’s to blame them? It’s the reality at the moment, not every public sector wants to be begging the government for payment.

The increase in pay will help to make life a little easier for working-class men. The skeletal structure of our economic and social environment is still hidden within our country and it may stay that way for some time.

Long term, raising the minimum wage shouldn’t be the issue, it is raising the social capital of our country so that we can grow and compete on a global level.

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