Bob Richards on Aon Downgrading Bermuda
Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards commented on the recent news that Aon downgraded Bermuda saying: “We don’t have much to say on this matter other than what we’ve been saying for a long time now: The Government is presiding over a serious weakening of the Bermuda’s once-miraculous economy.This is primarily due its reckless spending driving public debt to more than a billion dollars, with interest charges now costing just over $100,000 a day.”
Bermuda was one of 19 countries downgraded in Aon’s 2011 Political Risk Map, its benchmark annual review of political and economic risks. Aon Corporation lowered Bermuda’s rating from a low-risk jurisdiction to medium low-risk, which is Aon’s second-highest rating.
Bermuda was downgraded along with other islands including Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados,the Cayman Islands, Comoros, Dominica, Grenada, Greenland, Antilles, St Vincent, Trinidad, St. Lucia and St. Kitts & Nevis “due to tighter global credit conditions which could lead to an increase in sovereign non-payment risk”, according to Aon.
Mr Richards continued on to say that: “At the same time, the Government is taking in fewer tax dollars to meet the growth of its spending habits and debt obligations.This situation reflects an economy that is no longer generating enough activity to keep people employed and the Government’s budget balanced, once the hallmarks of a proud and resilient economy.”
“Aon has looked at our situation and concluded that Bermuda is a riskier proposition than before. It is an outsider’s view of a declining economy that is costing people their jobs, shrinking their paycheques and making life much more uncertain than it needs to be. We are very concerned.”
$100,000 per day? Slap me, I must be dreaming
It must be a nightmare. This can’t be sustainable we do not have the resources and if we do have this type of money why did we go into debt in the first place?
LOL
Would the PLP put us out of our misery and resign?!? They are elitist UBP folk.
Of course we have the resources, just look at how much money the NEW Port Royal brings in…oh wait…it doesn’t….and how much money all the Cruise passengers spend after we spend all that money building those new dock, oh wait, they don’t spend any more here and are all in Dock Yard. Or all of the ferries that need to be replaced because they are all old and busted, oh wait, they are only 5 years old and magically don’t work anymore. The new Berkeley Institute which is a state of the art school system and will drastically improve grades, oh wait, kids are doing worse in school then ever before. The list seems to go on and on…uncontrolled spending = debt….and we don’t have the PLP to blame, we have ourselves as Bermudians to blame. WE VOTED THEM IN. So, if Bermudians want to blame anyone, we should be looking in the mirror. This isn’t surprising to me at all. The first alarm should have sounds when then PLP won initially in 2003 or 04 and there was a street party on Court Street which reminded me of watching a Soca show. Shirtless people jumping around waving shirts over their heads…classy…Nothing has changed since then. The companies that are here are finally seeing Bermuda for what it is.
But what about those that didn’t vote them in? The ones that were accused of being racist because they didn’t vote for a black party?
Not sure what ‘Soca Show’ you were watching in 2003 or 2004, but the PLP were intially elected into office in 1998… Yes. People celebrating their Party’s victory should have raised the alarm – a golf clap and crumpets by the fireplace would have been more… ‘classy’, no? .
As somebody who was actually there on Court Street that night I can say that while I certainly didn’t see any shirtless people waving their shirts above their head (although I’m not exactly sure why this is a bad thing) what I did see/feel/experience that night was a sense of hope, anticipation and excitement about the future of Bermuda. Children sitting high atop parents shoulders, people climbing up trees for a better view of the podium, and the sweet smell of hope for change.
A lot has taken place since that night 12 years ago. Some good, some bad. Some good decisions have been made along with some very bad ones. At the end of the day people get the Government that they deserve.
I wonder how many who were celebrating on Court St in 98 are celebrating now? No, it is not the fault of the world recession. Bermuda should have been in a position to weather a global economic downturn better than anywhere else but no, the party carried on. Alicia Keys & Beyonnce cam here you know. They were well worth the money inna? The squandering of the public purse continues to go on. The PLP refuses to acknowledge the financial hole they have put Bermuda in. They continue to dig.
It took America almost a century to amount $14 trillion in debt, which equals about $45,000 per person. They went to wars, funded nuclear programs, NASA, space travel, technology, auto industry,….endless stuff to amount that debt….
what about bermuda? in TEN YEARS the plp has equaled this debt per person, and WE HAVE NO NUCLEAR PROGRAM, NO SPACE PROGRAM, NO WARS costing billions per day!!!!! how in the name of God does the PLP get away with this?
the PLP is a disease!!!
people must stand up, and kick these fools out of their seats of power…. only idiots voted them in… it should be a crime for them to ruin our blessed land like this… they are investing in the destruction of the future for our children… they are paving a road of poverty for our future generations….
and we have NOTHING to show for it…
the plp made all these fake promises, and none were kept… just lies lies lies, big fat shiny promises made by serpents… you can change the snake in charge, but if the office is full of other snakes, you are still being run by snakes!
get them out of here, and put some people with some common sense in charge!
save our jewel of an island before its too late!
the worst years of Bermuda have been the 10 years the PLP has run it!
DEBT…CRIME…crap education….ruining our reputation with tourists beyond repair…
and for you morons out there who are too simple to think… I am not supporting UBP just because I make these claims…duh… but I can say that the UBP never went into debt or ruined Bermuda.. they MADE BERMUDA THE GEM IT WAS, until the *^(*&^ PLP took over.
thanks for ruining our island forever, you miserable snakes! should I thank you? should I put on a fake smile?
NO!
I will have some B@!!s and say what a man should say.. defend HIS COUNTRY from invaders such as the PLP…
only sheep sit there and let people boss them around… lions rule their pride and keep danger away…
why are we so keen to be like castrated sheep, who get smacked by the Staff of Ignorance and Oppression, and stay silent?
why dont we stand up FOR OUR RIGHTS, and take back what BERMUDA ONCE WAS!!!!!!
— PS – i am not advising any violence, or destructive rebellion…DUH…
what the PLP has done IS a destructive rebellion to what Bermuda was….how ironic.
we need you on the 7 o’clock news
“You are just a racist hater”. That will be the simplistic response from one one of the Kool Aid drinkers even though race has absolutlely to do with the situation Bermuda. Well…maybe…a bit. There is that “I’ve got old scores to settle” guy. It is much more about greed, corruption & incompetence.
What will it take for the sheeple to throw the bums out?
Check your history Bra. The UPB changed the school system/structure – A BSSC still doesn’t mean a thing outside of this rock.. Look at our Airport – still get wet when it rains boarding and disembarking the various airlines. Look at the National Stadium for the money we spent under UBP it should have been a dome stadium with olympic swimming pool, tennis courts, etc…and the list goes on. We have been let down big time no matter who has been in power. The disparity in social class is well defined and clearly notable today more than ever (this took time not just twelve yrs)
They have been serving the PEOPLE alright with a load of crap from all sides. When the next election comes – what should we do – you tell me please cause I’m confused. None of the representatives in the house on either side would get my vote.
For the record I did vote PLP both times and YES I AM DISAPPOINTED!!! But what do I do now?
Should have stuck to medicine – that he was great at! Ruining the country was another strength. Definition of bully tactics! And For the Record – Race does not play a part its much bigger than that. Simple excuse is all that is – playing the race card once again – Yawn!!!