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Bermuda is not getting the economic leadership it needs.

The Premier's statement Monday indicated his government is scrambling to respond to the long-anticipated economic downturn - including a formal warning from the Opposition in February to prepare for one.

Dr. Brown has said economics is not his strong suit, so one expects the Finance Minister to provide the leadership the country needs.

But her recent statements reveal a strange, almost academic disengagement from the challenges at hand. So far, the Minister has said that Bermuda could expect "some employment repercussions" and that it was "not technically in recession."

These pronouncements do nothing to assure or guide struggling businesses or people facing layoffs.

It is the Finance Minister's job to provide Bermudians with straightforward analysis of our economic situation and a plan to manage it. So it is disappointing we've not yet got that. Instead, we've heard from PLP chairman David Burt who recently used this space to say the Government was managing the economy well and to ignore the concerns of numerous people, including United Bermuda Party spokesmen, whom he described as 'fear mongers'.

Mr. Burt's column was a shallow exercise in political spin that is really unhelpful to Bermudians at this time.

We believe Bermudians need to be given the straight goods about what is happening to the economy and what they can expect. The sooner they get it, the sooner they will be able to make adjustments to meet the needs of their families and their businesses.

Mr. Burt's column tells people not to worry but to carry on because the PLP Government will take care of everything. The Government, he says, has long acknowledged that tough times were ahead; that it is turning around tourism, generating jobs, working closely with international business and protecting our reputation abroad.

For the sake of reality, these points need correcting.

The PLP Government has not 'long' acknowledged tough times. Its plan for the year, the 2008-09 Budget, did not prepare the country for the widely anticipated downturn. By continuing its spending spree, it diminished the resources it will need to meet growing demands for help as the downturn hits home.

Tourism slump

Our tourism industry is not turning around but is on track to record one of the worst performances ever. Retailers across the island, having seen their tourist-based sales plummet, are now facing the prospect of staff lay-offs.

Jobs are not being 'generated' as Mr. Burt says. If the Government had planned for a downturn it would have a programme of capital projects to keep people employed. Instead it is talking about cutting back on these projects. This is a planning failure that will make the situation worse.

Mr. Burt said the PLP was working closely with its international business partners, but our sources indicate the relationship is unnecessarily strained.

Mr. Burt says the government remains vigilant in the wake of US presidential advertisements that have targeted Bermuda as a tax haven. That Bermuda has again become a punching bag in a US presidential election says the PLP has failed to effectively explain Bermuda to US legislators.

We are at a loss to explain why the Finance Minister has maintained such a low profile during the current crisis. Effective leadership in 'tough times' requires clear-eyed, sure-handed action to protect the country and the people most affected. But the first step is to recognize just what is taking place.

That role was taken last week by the US Consul General who said Bermuda was already in a recession and that it needed leadership. The island, he feared, was at a dangerous turning point and 'business as usual' was not the answer.

That's the kind of message one would have expected to hear from Bermuda's Finance Minister. It's a sad state of affairs when a foreign official has to tell us what she hasn't or won't.[[In-content Ad]]

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