THE TRUTH of the matter is We the People are suffering; the Government, our Economy and the people are suffering. For me being an economist, it seems the solutions so far have been the same-old generic steps of “cutting-cost, getting rid of employees, borrowing from MPLT, raising taxes and courting foreign Travel Agencies. But WE are not doing any real work within the CNMI. I have been writing for the past TWO YEARS about Ralph’s-Mess and the need to cut ties with China and recovering our Japanese Tourists Market along with finding NEW Money and NEW Attractions. There is also the fact our leaders are speechless to the fact that IPI owes the People of the CNMI over 77-million that can solve a lot of Economic woes but nothing is being done lay claim to that all important money. Then there is the growing labor challenge I tried to help them resolve but we are applying “Zombie Economics” too like the editor said. The CNMI is crying “foul” about our labor but there is no systemic operation nor real-time data to prove our claims. It takes a real Economist to deal with the plethora variables facing our Economy which makes me wonder WHO is providing the Governor Economic advice. Having smart people is one thing but just because a person is smart you don’t let them operate on you and the same is true about our economy, which is WHY our Economy has been on a treacherous course ever since. Heck, we haven’t addressed the Old Economic ventures like the Mariana Resort that can be the source of millions and can be the epic center for bringing back the Japanese Tourist Market. There is so much that is being overlooked it is clear to me the CNMI needs a real Economist, as the last real Economist helping the government was decades ago, which is why we continue to experience Zombie Economics from the lack of a real economist.
Basic Economics dictates that the CNMI FIRST collect the money owed to the government BEFORE raising taxes and borrowing money, which is why I’m concerned that the Governor IS NOT getting the best Economic advice. IPI owes the CNMI enough to almost put us in the Black and they are selling everything worth selling so nothing is going to be left FOR the people by the time our leaders get around to trying to claim OUR money. If our leaders can’t address and clean-up the old revenue streams it gives considerable pause to think they will NOT be able to fully reclaim our Japanese Tourists Market and create NEW revenue streams. I’m glad to see the Governor has pivoted to dropping China for the Japanese & S. Korean Markets but I’ve been saying this for over two years when it was first obvious to me the Casino was DEAD. I’ve always been ahead of our leaders when it comes to our economy but they never listened which is why I’m through trying to tell them what to do.
Genuine Economist are trained to “understand, identify and calculate the tangible & intangible economic variables to determine the best outcome and to even look over the horizon to see what is coming.” I can remember my senior thesis in Economics in 1972, was a study on “retail stores,” in which I predicted the rise of the “super stores” that we see today nearly 20 yrs. in advance. Heck, I warned our leaders five years in advance that the Garment Industry was leaving and they didn’t listen. I’m concerned WE the People are not hearing an Economic Plan nor the biug picture on “the direction the CNMI is headed Economically,” just putting out Economic fires. Our leaders must learn to “listen, chew-gum & walk at the same time,” as they might say in Washington, D.C.
For me as an Economist, it seems the CNMI (our leaders) are “stuck-the-box” of merely cutting cost borrowing and HOPING our Tourism Market will rebound with the Japanese coming back. The CNMI is NOT the master of its fate with so much reliance on other countries with no plan to strengthen & expand our Economic base. Our leaders don’t seem to know HOW to turn the page on our Tourism Industry & labor challenge. They don’t know HOW to make sure the CNMI is a prime destination and I’m not telling for free anymore — for my critics, the answer is NOT promoting Cannabis Tourism. In fact, we don’t even have a Cannabis Tourism Industry, just stores that sell marijuana. But I must ask, where is the WORK on the Mariana Resort worth millions in NEW money at stake? Where is the WORK to create the Hemp Industry that’s on the shelf with the potential for millions in revenues and high paying job? Why hasn’t MPLT ever initiated programs & grants to HELP the NMDs? I can go on with other things that would bring-in NEW money help the people instead of this cutting-cost, borrowing from MPLT and firing employees. It’s a fact that they don’t listen to Ambrose, an Economist, which is why it took nearly two years before the Governor finally pivoted away from the Chinese to a trajectory of trying to reclaim the Japanese Tourists Market. Maybe ONE-Day, as my MaDear would say, they will learn to listen to a genuine Economist — Ambrose M. Bennett. One People One Direction.
Ambrose M. Bennett is an Economist who minored in Sociology, a Political Scientist, a retired teacher & former CNMI Board of Education Member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & lifetime Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
Ambrose M. Bennett
