Hashtag: #LarryBurchallColumns
Column: Grey Area After Crockwell’s Resignation
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Shawn Crockwell’s resignation from the OBA on Friday, takes Bermuda into interesting political and Constitutional waters. There seems to be a ‘grey area’ in the Bermuda Constitutional Order, 1968 [BCO1968]. This ‘grey area’ deals with the exercise of powers that are the preserve of the Governor himself.... Read more of this article
Reflecting On The Start Of WW1 Battle Of Somme
[Written by Larry Burchall] The WW1 Battle of the Somme, began exactly one hundred years ago on 1st July 1916. It still ranks as the worst day in the history of the British Army. The battle itself continued until November 1916, when, after having caused over a million casualties amongst the attacking British Empire forces, the French forces, and the... Read more of this article
Column: What Is Our Real Unemployment Rate?
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Bermuda’s true level of unemployment is likely much higher than the rate – seven percent [7%] and 2,348 Bermudian persons 2015 – that is officially and recently reported. The higher and real number creates a need for a massive difference in the fundamental approach to fixing Bermuda’s economic... Read more of this article
Column: Are We Full Hot Or Just Fullish?
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Fact is often stranger than fiction. Started happening in Bermuda in 2004. Thirteen years later, in 2016, still happening. Here’s a simple explanatory scenario. You’re at a bar drinking Heinekens with a drunk sailor beside you. He is also drinking ‘Heinies’. Every time the sailor’s glass empties,... Read more of this article
Column: Overheated Or Not Understood? Part II
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Race runs through it Race is the thickest part of the strong thread running through the connected matters of dealing with Bermuda’s $513,356-a-day Debt ‘habit’ and the need for increasing ResPop. Underneath Bermuda’s national political radar, race plays a constant, little understood, but large part... Read more of this article
Was Economy Overheated Or Not Understood?
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] In 2008, with minimal unemployment, GDP hit $6.11bn. There were 27,180 Bermudians plus 13,033 non-Bermudians filling 40,213 jobs in Bermuda. In 2015, with what is said to be as many as 3,500 Bermudians unemployed, there were only 33,177 filled jobs with Bermudians filling 23,513 and non-Bermudians filling... Read more of this article
Column: UK Should Clean Up Their Own Act First
[Written by Larry Burchall] The just out “Panama Papers” is a global investigation into the sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the world’s rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions. Based on a trove of more than 11 million leaked files, the investigation exposes a... Read more of this article
Column: Bermuda’s ‘Grass-Roots Revolution’
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Between Friday 11th March and Thursday 17th March 2016, Bermuda experienced a grass-roots revolution. During those seven days: A woman began a first time ever ‘hunger strike’ in the grounds of Parliament. In a first time ever display of raw people power, thousands of Bermudians, shut down Supreme Courts... Read more of this article
Column: Growth In GDP Is A ‘Dead Cat Bounce”
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Nominal Gross Domestic Product [GDP] – Upticking? Possibly rising to and past the $6.11bn level reached at GDP peak in 2008? ResPop – 6,500 lower and 9% down from 2008; reflecting a possible slowdown in the loss of Bermudians and the addition of ACBDA sailors and others coming to live and operate businesses... Read more of this article
Column: Decrease Of Bermudians Filling Jobs
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Hidden inside the nerd words in the 2015 National Economic Report of Bermuda, is a major point, one that may be missed in a cursory read. Inside those 28 pages, a solitary paragraph reveals this: “Jobs occupied by Bermudians were the only status category to exhibit a decline in employment in 2015. Bermudian... Read more of this article
Column: “Looking Under The Hood” At Budget
[Written by Larry Burchall] Inside the full set of papers and stuff that accompanies every annual Budget, there are always some little gems, that can hit hard and unexpectedly. Here are a few. Tax increases – Customs Duty The Minister has decreed that Customs Duty and Payroll Tax will increase. Customs Duty revenue is expected to rise by about 11%. Customs... Read more of this article
Column: “Overspending Has Not Improved”
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] In Bernews on February 3rd 2016, reporting on Government finances up to December 31st 2015, the Ministry of Finance reported:- “Gross debt increased by $125 million as the Government drew down on its credit facility in order to finance the fiscal deficit. At the end of December 2015, total Government... Read more of this article
Column: Govt Functioning On Borrowed Dollars
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] On Thursday, 21st January, on the stroke of midnight, in layman’s language, the Government of Bermuda ran out of taxpayer supplied dollars. At one minute past midnight on Friday 22nd January, the Government of Bermuda started functioning entirely on borrowed dollars. The Facts And The Arithmetic Between... Read more of this article
Column: Bermuda Is Legitimate Business Centre
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Hillary Clinton’s promise to go after “High-income money managers…[who]..use loopholes related to foreign reinsurance – often located in Bermuda – to avoid paying their fair share.. [of US taxes]” and saying that she would “end the Bermuda reinsurance loophole” is a serious statement from a... Read more of this article
Column: Layered Pay Cuts To Reduce Costs
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] The current impasse with the Bermuda Police Association over matters of pay, regurgitates the whole matter of how Government’s personnel costs can actually be reduced. I first tackled the “how” issue in 2013. This is two years before the well-paid Three Wise Men came to Bermuda and told Government exactly... Read more of this article
Column: What Has Been Achieved In 3 Years?
[Opinion column written by Larry Burchall] Three years ago, all Bermuda was waiting to see what the newly elected Government would do, and how it would perform. Three years later, we have a record. The standout fact for that 2012 election of the OBA was that it was one more step in the maturing of Bermuda’s electorate. For 34 years, until November... Read more of this article
