LARRY BURCHALL
OPINION
Bermuda weaker now than the last time we were downgraded
Larry Burchall: Some have said that the second credit ratings downgrade only returns Bermuda to the rating it had from 1994-2006. But in 2012, Bermuda is in a very different and weaker situation.
Claims about capital spending just don't add up
Larry Burchall: One of several political tales currently making the rounds is that all of Bermuda's National Debt has been spent on Capital and infrastructure improvements. True? False?
Try running your household the way Government runs its budget...
Larry Burchall: In the plainest and clearest language, out of every dollar ($1.00) that Government spent in 2011/12, Government was borrowing $0.23.
OPINION
Our population has fallen by about 6,000 in four years
Larry Burchall on Wednesday said that Government has underestimated the decline in Bermuda's population and its related data is therefore wonky.
OPINON: DRINK DRIVING / SOLUTIONS
DUI SPECIAL: Drink drivers need a short, sharp, shock
Larry Burchall on Friday suggested confiscating a drink driver's vehicle off to the police compound and keeping it there it for at least two days.
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OPINION
Harsh truths about our national finances
Larry Burchall: Since November 10, 1998, Bermuda has had only two Finance Ministers, with two very different management styles and two different national consequences.
The gulf between reality and what we're told
Larry Burchall: Government will never realize $10 million in asset sales before or by 31st March, 2013. So scratch $10 million of projected revenue.
Servicing debt costs Bermuda $220 a minute
Larry Burchall: Let's laugh and have some fun with the devil of National Debt... [it] works out to $220 every minute, in every hour, in every day, for 365 days in a year. Even while you sleep.
The dual demons of debt and departing expats
Larry Burchall: Here at 32N64W, we're slowly coming to grips with a declining economy. This decline is driven by two major economic facts and, on top, is affected by the 'Great Global Recession'.
Borrowing figures point to a bleak future
Larry Burchall: The Government-of-this-day created a unique self-crippling problem - and it sits inside its unannounced "austerity" programme.
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OPINION
Our three big problems - and how to fix them
Larry Burchall on Wednesday provided a detailed analysis of Bermuda's financial and population issues, and proposed detailed, if difficult, solutions.
Insurance fund: A good national financial plan.... that was not carried out
Larry Burchall: A perfect and pure example of questionable management is in the story of the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
The true unemployment rate is probably closer to 14%
Larry Burchall: According to the 2012 Labour Force Survey, which came out on October 17, back in May, Berm uda had 279 unemployed non-Bermudians and 3,026 unemployed Bermudians.
Tourism figures mask a grim economic reality
Larry Burchall: The Throne Speech’s many paragraphs of promise don’t change the arithmetic of Government’s high and still rising Debt Service Costs which are a primary factor keeping a downwards pressure on Bermuda’s still declining economy.
Imprudent borrowing will help lead us to financial ruin
Larry Burchall: Two major on-island institutions are doing nothing wrong... But they are enabling and abetting like someone who hears several loud sharp cracks but does not call police because he genuinely does not know what they are.
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