Still Deaf to Debt?

Ozouf & Co are generously proposing to distribute £ Millions of our reserves to promote business activities and other pursuits and hopefully some of the money will not be wasted.

But take a look at the linked Vexed Bermoothes site here about the rising public debt in Bermuda.
According to an article by Robert Smith, in that little island of 60,000 people, they could already be in debt to the tune of 3 billion dollars.
And furthermore, if the decline in value of investments in their Civil Service Pension Fund is taken into account too – a further 400 million dollars – then the grand total could be nearer 3.5 billions. OR in plain words, about 58,000 dollars for every man, woman and child.

Now that sort of problem is calculated without any allowance for Bermuda’s planned FutureCare programme which will look after the elderly and it does not take into account the likely demise of income from the collapsing Finance Industry either.

AND before you turn to another page seeking more cheerful spin from Ozouf & Co – consider too that UK taxpayers have already baled out the British Banking system with hundreds of billions of their future contributions and it is reckoned that every man, woman and child is already in debt for about £40,000 as a result.

Be realistic, Jersey cannot escape such future problems and the UK Treasury must be looking here to collect any pennies that are due soon. The end of the Reciprocal Health arrangement is just the tip of the iceberg and the “White” OECD rating will be about as much relevance as an article by Helier Clement.

If the Bermuda economy goes bust, shall the UK have a responsibility to bail it out and if Jersey’s ship of state turns turtle - who should hear our SOS?

It seems to me that the time is right to make some friends in the UK and the EU……….

Submitted by Thomas Wellard.