Yes, companies are answerable to their shareholders. And when you have a 14% INCREASE in a cost directly related to your largest expense (wages), it makes shareholders unhappy. Who’d have thought it? Oh yeah, pretty much everybody. More importantly, increasing the tax base from the limit of 250,000 to 750,000 was even worse. So the executives earning over $750k previously cost the firm $35,000 in taxes, but with the increase, now cost $120,000 in taxes.But don’t let these pesky mathematical facts get in your way.

(And yes, before all the mathematically challenged people ask, increasing payroll tax from 14% to 16% is a 14% increase in the cost (2%/14%).

you answered my questions, and put forward a policy that you feel the plp fudged.

kind regards

He has only offered spin, half truths and blatant misrepresentations.

If an investor brings 100 jobs to Bermuda, out of those 80 must be Bermudian and the other 20 can be non-Bermudians but there must a plan in place to train and promote Bermudians to eventually replace these 20. So what you are saying is that it’s better for Bermuda if NONE of the 100 jobs come here rather than have 20% under a BEV. No wonder we’re broke. It’s called cutting off your nose to spite your face

A chunk of jobs will not be made available for Bdians via this Work Permit Policy proposal

Mr. Famous doesn’t seem to understand/care how the money multiplier works, or how re/insurance companies need to operate in the wake of a market moving event. (The answer to that is quickly btw)
He is only interested in taking cheap political shots, at the long term expense of Bermudians I might add.

Money multiplier is easy, for every dollar that is spent in our economy, its actual effect is multiplied x number of times. When Person A spends it on rent, landlord A than spends y% on food and z% of it on a mortgage. i% of that y% gets spent by the grocer to pay its employees, who repeat the cycle. j% of the z% is spent by the bank to pay its employees. Who also repeat the cycle. Eventually all of this money ends up overseas or as a tiny fraction.

Follow me? So add more money at top, and it creates a larger effect on the economy. In fact govt gets to collect tax on it multiple times. Therefore allowing foreigners to come in at senior positions creates more economic money than just salaries paid.

Proposals to improve Bermuda.
Firstly I’d challenge you to do the same thing! Imagine if we all proposed ways to improve Bermuda instead of bashing each others ideas?

1) Fix education. We moved from a service based economy to a knowledge based economy 25 years ago and none of the governments since have acted to update our education system. How can we expect to fill roles ourselves if we can’t educate our students to the same standard.

2) How about some trying to entice some small software companies to come here? Proximity to NY financial markets, low tax, good regulation, sunshine, good quality of life? Maybe then we get access to large banks, potential IPOs and improvement into a more digital society.

Happy?

(1) Currently inflation is pretty low, hovering around 2.1% as of the last CPI report. I don’t think anyone is really up in arms about this. Also,any fiscal policies used to control inflation and reduce it further would result in slower growth and more unemployment. Definitely not something we are aiming for!

(2) I’m assuming your terms pgdp and agdp stand for potential gdp vs. actual gdp. I THINK what you really mean is nominal vs. real GDP. Obviously, the answer is real GDP, and yes that would help take us out of this situation.

Which economic model did I use? Well, I don’t particularly subscribe to any ONE school of thought, but I agree mostly with Austrian economics.

As to previously PLP policies which I thought were disastrous, that would be the ill thought out increase in payroll tax and cap.

Firstly, they cannot buy any Grand Atlantic condos as a) they are now tourism designated and b) they fall under the ARV threshold.

Secondly, the benefits for Bermudians come in the form of taxes paid to Government, fees paid to lawyers/real estate firms/banks and other related businesses, maintenance requirements for the house that will inevitably use local contractors etc.

Also, in order to own a property above the stipulated threshold the Company must remain domiciled in Bermuda on a physical basis and cannot retain the property if they decide to leave. So the ability to purchase a property provides greater incentives for businesses to do business in Bermuda.

I’m Bermudian, I’ve never once had any employer ask the police for a report when hiring me. The fact that there is no police report does not mean there is no vetting – just no need to go to the local force to fill in unnecessary paperwork.

An ounce of common sense would certainly go a long way to making your posts somewhat credible.

While the above poster might be disregarding Mr. Famous, Mr. Famous himself conveniently disregards and omits the various requirements that companies must adhere to in order to qualify for these various work permits. He wrote the article to portray a picture that the new policy allows companies to come here willy-nilly withouy having to fulfill some form of obligation to the jurisdiction and her local people.

It is what he does when he uses his silly quotes at his articles without providing the context in which they were spoken.

- 6 year term limits
- Bermudians married to non- Bermudians requiring licences to buy a home in their own country
- Bermudians no longer able to sell their homes to non-Bermudians

Raising payroll and foreign currency with no form of consultation with anyone in the midst of BDA’s worst recession ever. Even former Premier Cox had to repeal the increase one year later because of their devastating effects on locally domiciled business.

1.Stricter permit control on construction industry jobs is needed
2.Quality education and career education opportunities and work placement opportunities for Bermudians facilitated by our Government.

I’m not defending anyone I just hate when people make unsubstantiated claims.

In sure you don’t have an understanding of economics and you just want your bullshit to be posted on this forum.

Answer me this. From a basic macroeconomic view. int is the government attempting to lower inflation or increase our pgdp or agdp with this action? Would this takd us out of recession? Which economic model did you use to come up with your statement?

Dont be stupid or atleast be original with your stupidity .

You seem to be stuck on the same “Famous cannot be right” trend.

It’s good for democracy when people disagree with government policy especially when the policy seems to be anti-populus.

Was there any government/civilian correspondence involved in drafting this? And why exactly is our government doing this are two well thought out questions and both deserve an honest answer.

You’re disregarding the message because you don’t like the man or because you feel as if it is popular to disregard anything Mr famous has said and that is ignorance at its peak.

OBA doesn’t have a clue and has demonstrated that they are just winging it. They are trying to change the Constitution and need to be shut down. They are a dangerous bunch! Bermuda stand your ground before its too late!

As technology improved and other jurisdictions stepped up their efforts to compete for our business, companies sent many people and often entire departments to other places.

Politically, it was often convenient to blame the Government at the time, however the reality is these companies are always looking for ways to increase efficiency, streamline and increase the bottom line. Such moves would have occurred regardless of which party had the Government. Bermuda was once a huge beneficiary of such movements as companies flocked here. Now, these same companies are finding other places preferable for a number of reasons.

We have to be flexible and cater to the needs of the business we are trying to attract. Yes, we must look out Bermudians. But let’s get the business in the door first, and if needed, tighten the rules later.

Here it is plain and simple; the financial incompetence of the past decade have left us in a very real and precarious situation. You rally against government cuts (decreasing spending), and rally against bringing investors to the island (increasing revenue).

I get that you’re a PLP supporter and therefore reality, facts, fiscal discipline, and thinking past the end of your nose matter little to you, but having a small-minded mentality on a small island is no excuse, and certainly won’t make our financial problems disappear or magically resolve themselves.

The alternative is that Bermuda will lose the chance to grow and attract new companies, and many of those IB trained Bermuda students will end up working in IB abroad.

Thank you for looking out for the returning Bermudian students Mr. Fahy.

Just like he refuses to answer the people who ask him why he didn’t register his disdain on privatization when the PLP privatized/outsourced several previously public services (i.e. TCD, recycling pick up, airport services, Global Hue etc.).

As for his article above it is amazing that he ‘forgot’ to include all the stipulations that are required to fulfilled in order for companies to qualify for the various categories of work permits. The requirements that are aimed at ensuring Bermudians are trained and found through out all levels of the company.

But then again such requirements are those pesky facts that get in the way of his arguments.

So Mr. Famous, a) why didn’t or haven’t you spoken out against the PLP’s privatization efforts while in power and b) why did you leave out the requirements that businesses must fulfill to be eligible for the new work permit policy?

Praying to God won’t fix this.

Mr. Famous, would you rather have foreigners come invited to Bermuda and spend money on rent/food/housing/tax, or not come and stay mired in our current economic slump waiting for salvation from (insert heavenly diety here)

I would challenge you to propose 2 well thought out, detailed proposals to climbing out of our current recession and employ Bermudians.