Budget 2010

In 2006, most Mauritians seemed to be against the then Mr Sithanen. However, at that time, I thought he was, by far, the best minister in the Labour cabinet. His financial policy seemed audacious and radically different from his predecessors (including himself – when he was Chancellor under SAJ). I somehow felt that his courageous decisions would pay dividends in the long term. 3 years later, after a financial melt-down, and a lot more exposure to socialist literature and scientific reports on climate change and the energy crisis, I find myself being radically opposed to Dr Sithanen’s ultra-liberal ideology.

His last budget is yet another poor economist’s attempt to brand himself as “green”. But clearly Dr Sithanen, like all ultra-liberals, fails to understand the real scientific issues behind sustainability, energy management and climate change. His budget is still focused on conventional short-term economic growth. This is a blatant mistake, considering that we just witnessed the failure of the capitalist system. We should start thinking about REAL alternatives, not just buying some ecological (toxic mercury???) lamps, or new buses. Dr Sithanen and his liberal acolytes should watch the following video: The point of no-return. It might help them to understand what is really at stake these days.

There is a gross misconception that Dr Sithanen’s brave financial policies warded off the financial crisis, and helped Mauritius to maintain a positive economic growth. The chancellor boasts that Mauritius has a positive growth, while big economies like the US and the UK are in recession. However, he fails to inform us that almost all African countries are also experiencing positive growth. The financial crisis simply did not hit us badly! This monster (financial crisis) only affect ultra-liberal economies – this explains why the liberal Anglo-Saxons were hit the hardest, whilst more conservative France and Germany are already out of recession.

The reason why Mauritius did not experience the hard times the UK (where I currently live) is facing now is because of its conservative economic system. There is almost no social mobility at the top of the Mauritian pyramid. The very rich have set up cartels and monopolies and kill all new entrants. They are already in a comfortable position and do not need to invest in risky (toxic) financial products. Americans and British invested in these toxic sub-primes and we all know the consequences now. In Mauritius, all big companies and banks are conservative and therefore will not easily go bust, like Lehman Brothers or Northen Rock for e.g.

Also, the economic climate of the MSM-MMM government in 2000-2005 was as difficult as what we are experiencing now. As mentioned above, a financial crisis affects only ultra-liberal economies and should not really be counted as an handicap for our island. However, our economy is affected by fluctuation in sugar prices, dwindling tourism arrival, removal of preferential tariffs for our textile products, or soaring fossil fuel prices. These are the same difficulties that both MSM-MMM and Labour governments have been facing in the past 7 years or so. Therefore, Dr Sithanen has not done anything extra-ordinary regarding the crisis.

Even the Stimulus Package was almost useless (except for one MP and his textile factory, which was experiencing difficulties sometime before the no 8 partial elections). Only a few millions were spent out of the committed billion, and most companies are already OK now. So keeping the stimulus package until December 2010 is a pointless measure. There is no sortie de crise, simply because there has been no crisis in Mauritius. However, we do note that one of the companies in difficulty and which needs the help of the stimulus package is a BPO company owned by one of the PM’s advisors.

Dr Sithanen’s vision is still blurred by an ultra-liberal rhetoric. It is this ideology which brought the financial crisis upon the world. It will be this ideology that will bring the ecological demise of the planet. Nothing good can come out in the long term from a budget inspired by this deeply flawed philosophy. We need an out-of-the-box mindset and real, sustainable alternatives to this ultra-liberal mess.