Keith Collister , Contributor 
IN A budget speech entitled 'Justice, Liberty Prosperity', Opposition Leader Bruce Golding addressed the dichotomy raised by the Prime Minister between balancing the books and balancing people's lives. He argued that due to the need for the Government to satisfy creditors both here and overseas, the government was left with only 18 per cent of the entire budget "to do all the things that government is supposed to do" after the payment of wages and utilities, leaving it "in a position where it was no longer capable of fulfilling the functions for which government exists."
CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS
Mr. Golding reiterated his call for constitutional limits on debt and deficits, proposing a constitutional limit on the amount of debt that could be incurred and a limit on the deficit in any one year, barring extraordinary circumstances such as disaster. The limits could be temporarily adjusted with a two-thirds
majority vote, while any breach in the limits would constitute grounds for the impeachment and removal of both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance.
ECONOMIC STRATEGY
According to Mr. Golding, virtually all of the critical targets of the Minister of Finance's economic programme were not met. In his view, with each passing year, the Government finds itself with less room to manoeuvre and the targets become more difficult to achieve. Last year, the Government got a reprieve due to the MoU, while it got a further reprieve this year due to the decrease in the number of loans falling due for repayment. He described the Government's revenue targets as unrealistic, despite the success of the special collections group last year, the success of which, he believes, the Government is relying on to achieve its targets this year.
WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE?
Arguing that the Minister of Finance's economic model
was not working, as while tough fiscal policies are necessary, they are not sufficient, and in
isolation, "they constitute an impediment to economic development and growth," Mr. Golding asked why the Jamaican economy had grown only four per cent between 1995 -2004, despite foreign direct investment of US$4.4 billion over the decade. In his view, we were not sufficiently "development ready," lacking the capacity to absorb and retain the benefits of investments. For example, most of the inputs and the goods and services for bauxite and tourism are being brought in from abroad.
DEBT REDUCTION STRATEGY
Arguing that local producers' access to capital for investment was obstructed by Government's gargantuan appetite for loans, Mr. Golding advocated the solution of "capping the debt." Mr. Golding stated that a proactive debt reduction strategy, rather than a debt management strategy, was required to stimulate economic development. With respect to the cost of capital,
he stated that "Neither General Motors nor Microsoft would ever have existed if they had to be built with 20 per cent money." Maintaning that the cost of electricity meant that our local producers had "lost the race of competitiveness before they even began," he emphasised the need to identify alternative sources as part of a national energy policy at "the centre of the Government's priorities."
FIXED EXCHANGE RATE UNFEASIBLE DUE TO FALLING PRODUCTIVITY
Stating that there was ample evidence that our productivity was declining, he posited that the resulting erosion of our compe-titiveness and consequent pressure on our exchange rate was one of the main reasons why a fixed exchange would be impossible for Jamaica to maintain. He points out that the exchange rate becomes the final arbiter to restore parity when one's productivity declines relative to one's trading partners.
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP
Referring to the attempt spearheaded by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica to establish a social partnership for Jamaica (the Partnership for Progress), he argued that there were serious defects in the contract "Growth with Equity" they were proposing. In his view, the Government guaranteed very little, its commitments invariably couched in such insecure language "The Government undertakes to examine these proposals and, if found feasible, to implement them on a timely basis" as to be a "comfort statement" rather than a contract. Referring to the remarkable progress achieved in countries such as Ireland and Spain, he argued that "a social partnership had been a critical factor."
He outlined his recent discussions with the Private Sector Confederation of Spain, which has a social partnership council established by law, meeting at the beginning of each year.
The council establishes a framework and goals, which includes targets and strategies for inflation, investment, growth and wage movements.
CRANK-STARTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Golding argued that economic development is not a self-start process. Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Ireland and China did not become miracles by sitting and waiting on the market, but induced the market to respond. He argued that economic development required initiatives such as diversification into high-end tourism, attractions, condominiums, and developments in the South Coast.
KINGSTON AS A REGIONAL SHOPPING CENTRE
He urged that Mr. Seaga's proposal to link Fort Augusta to Port Royal to rival Panama be revisited urgently.
Continuing his theme of Jamaica's failure to take advantage of its location, he spoke to the potential of Vernamfield as an air transhipment hub between South America and the rest of the world.
NEW AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
Finally, he bemoaned our failure to create "a new agricultural revolution in Jamaica" driven by new technology, new energy and new brainpower "to move agriculture from the 19th century into the 21st century" which would "take the farmer off his donkey and put him in his pickup."
