The Kind of Year 2009 Should Have Been (End)

July: You now know that texting is as bad as drunk driving. And that the great little country ain't dead yet. You should also doubt and discuss and start writing in our sexy language.

August: We should have been quite concerned about the ability of the economic reform to produce results. And paid a bit more attention to search results.

September: Ramgoolam should have shown he's a little bit more serious about MID and we should have adopted an economic constitution. We should not have forgotten how rich we are and why his airness is above the rest. And you should never cross a Nepalese bridge without our free guide.

October: We should have allowed miracles to immediately enter our lives and started to Samba.

November: Ramgoolam should have appointed new board members at the central bank and cancelled the tax on savings.

December: Maybe you should have been less surprised about couples breaking-up. Ramgoolam should have ended MEXA's blackmail and understood that the stimulus package did not save 5,000 jobs. Teachers should not have been inspired by MEXA.

Read the start of the review.

The Kind of Year 2009 Should Have Been

January: Berenger should have allowed Lutchmeenaraidoo to head the MMM. Oil prices should have come down by 25% to give our economy a breather. And our banks should have collapsed because there was a stimulus package ready to save them.

February: Board of MK should have been replaced with prudent persons while MP Dayal should have yelled for fact-finding committees over the STC and MK hedging scandals. Mansoor should have resigned from two more places and Hu should have been asked to stick around for good. Ramgoolam should have allowed his star candidate to run for office.

March: You should have ordered Mallaby's excellent book to get a good grasp on the World Bank. And you now have no excuses about not speaking up.

April: Our island should have sunk with all the terrible weather. No link was established between sporting the ancestor of havaianas and poverty-reduction. The Mauritian people should not have been kicked like that.

May: Island's international standing should not have been damaged. Government should have known better why firms die and get some hostage-negotiation training. Budget should have attracted a 1000 times more interest. We should have been spared those dead bones and external factors should have gotten their act together.

June: Work on fixing our balance of payments problems should have begun. Government should have improved the job dynamics in our economy. The King of Pop should have stayed a little longer.

Read the rest of the review.

Time We Got Ourselves an Economic Constitution

Which would specify some basic principles for running government. Here are a few thoughts.

Article 1. Keep inflation low and within a narrow band. Tax system should have an appropriate dose of progressiveness. Otherwise you create poverty and inequality and might eventually need an armored vehicle when going shopping. No, the CPI is fine. We don't need a GPI (gato pima index).

Article 2. If you believe there-is-no-alternative (TINA) but to consistently depreciate our rupee you should either resign or go work for one of the two Bretton Woods loan sharks because you probably don't have a single sexy idea in that thing you call your head. Or recycle yourself as a revisionist. Please contact Navin Ramgoolam or Paul Berenger for a full-time position immediately. Nobody's picking up the phone? Call the Sun Trust and ask for Pravind.

Article 3: Public funds should be used to solve major national problems like traffic congestion. Provision should be made to have a sufficiently comfortable public transportation system. No money should be doled out to sunset industries. And make sure our soil produces enough to eat for all of us for as long as possible. No, sugar doesn't count as a balanced diet.

Article 4: Opaque stimulus packages are not allowed. Better use the money to lower internet or energy prices for everyone. By the way, when you have an APM at the STC and still want to play with financial derivatives that's called speculation.

Article 5: Make sure we satisfy a big chunk of our energy needs from green sources: wind, sun and water. Go ahead, prove to us that we can do better than Maurice Ile Palabres.

Article 6: Absolutely necessary to make sure that there is enough competition in our major industries. That should mean lower prices and better service not higher prices and confidential contracts.

Article 7: Summer time doesn't work here. Unless polar bears are sighted again in Riverwalk.

Article 8: No, we don't need two more articles even if you think that The 10 Articles sounds more marketable.