Why Recall Elections Are Seriously Overdue in Mauritius

Worse Here, Worst Likely On Its Way

6,716 Road Fatalities in 5 Decades

As the chart shows fatalities increased by about one-third as from the third decade and pretty much stayed at that level since then. Which roughly coincides with the time we've been stuck in the middle-income trap – half of which we've been in the flat-tax trap.

La School is Latest Victim of Flat Tax

In two ways. As a country trickle-down economics has made us seriously short of cash. The other is that the focus has changed. Culture, beaches and national priorities have taken a backseat to a concrete invasion.

We've become retarded in way too many fields. At a time when the pace at which the World is getting smarter is increasing.

Poll Finds Nobody is Satisfied With Lepep

11 out of the 12 participants were not satisfied at all. They have many reasons not to be.

Voters Evaluate Ministers Constantly

And the analysis is getting more sophisticated. Every day. Thanks to the amount of quality information out there and the multiple ways people are now connected. Plus internet time is at least seven times faster than normal time. All this explains why newspapers have been dying across the world. People don't want to pay for news that don't lift them up or don't make them smarter. Or which are entirely fake. Or driven by a hidden agenda. Especially if they are badly written. This is good news for democracies. And bad for politicians and rent-seekers.

We've seen how smart Mauritian voters are in 2014. They didn't fall into the wicked trap of proportional representation and party lists, 7-year Presidential terms and fake simulations. And in the process kept several toxic politicians out of Parliament -- God bless our FPTP system. They've bagged victories with the family of new banknotes and the CHCL. They are now fighting for their basic rights: their beaches and their water. So these are healthy fights against nonsense and arrogance.

But the fights don't have to drag on. The Prime Minister can immediately cut a couple of Ministers to size or proceed with a reshuffle. Because we've got better things to do. Because we've fallen behind. And because it's 2017.

Meet The Policy Matrix

Which helps you to quickly make sense of the policies that are proposed and implemented in Mauritius. Our leaders should obviously try to have most of their policies in cell 1: those that are good for Mauritius and help make their re-election easier. The selfless leader will not hesitate to execute policies in cell 2: he might face electoral setbacks and even political death but his policies will be recognised when the dust settles. The selfish policy-maker won't mind having policies in cell 3: he could be deriving substantial personal benefits from his position and he couldn't care less about Mauritius. Could get re-elected but will rapidly be on borrowed political time. Finally the dumb toxic leader will focus on cell 4: his policies could cause untold misery and his political career will hopefully end up just like toxic waste: buried.

Should We Prefer One Type of Tourists Over Another?

This is a long-standing debate: some say we should only get the cream of the crop while others are perfectly comfortable with all kinds of tourists visiting Mauritius.

What are your views?

US Loses Triple-A Rating

Indeed S&P lowered Uncle Sam's credits to AA+ citing reduced predictability of US policy-making and debt-levels dynamics that don't look too good. A lower-rating means higher interest rates must be paid for investors to purchase American debt. It also means a higher likelihood of default.

I wonder what are the recommendations of the toxic bean-counting duet for the United States: a flat-tax plus focus on the doing business rankings?

Why A Ministry For Social Integration Doesn't Make Any Sense

Like Ramgoolam has promised yesterday if he wins the May 5 polls. Well for the same reasons it was ridiculous to brutally disempower people with inequality-creating and opportunities-reducing policies from morning till evening and then come up with a funny contraption called the empowerment fund.

If your policies are right you're not going to leave a lot of people by the wayside.

Don't Do Like Ramgoolam, Buy From Amazon

Meet another fine pick I read a few months ago. It's by Krugman and it should be compulsory reading for anyone who has anything to do with policy-making or who participates in the increasingly interesting debates going on in our country.

Here's a quote from the preface of the 1994 bestseller: "And I was angry over the way that bad economics and spurious claims of success were being used to justify a program that helped the rich and hurt the poor while doing nothing positive for the economy". Doesn't that ring a bell?

The 10-chapter book contains down-to-earth sections on income distribution, growth and budget deficit. Enough said. I don't want to steal Krugman's thunder. Just click on the following pic and be different from Navin.

On the Importance of Good Taste in Life

The Prime Minister used that line to justify the purchase of his Aston Martin DB9 a couple of years back and likes to tell us and distinguished visitors alike that he likes speed. I never understood why he had to justify himself for being the proud owner of a supercar. That's his private business.

What I still don't understand either is why good taste has been absent from his economic policies and how he's been managing Mauritius in general since July 2005. If there is one place where the importance of good taste matters for a head of government it is surely in the design and speedy execution of national policies. Unless of course if you don't give two hoots about the country.