Pope to Spend Day With Victim of Unbridled Capitalism

He will find a Mauritius that's a lot more vulnerable than when John Paul II visited us thirty years ago. The damage done by an extreme version of trickle-down economics — 'dung of the devil' as Francis quoted a fourth century bishop to his Santa Cruz, Bolivia audience back in 2015 (as reported by The Guardian) and which has been dubbed Shaitanomics here since 2010 — is extensive and captured in chart 1. 

Why You Forgot 2018 is The Year of The 'Second Economic Miracle'

... je pense que vers 2008 nous pouvons réaliser un taux de croissance de 7/8%.

Rama Sithanen, 2005

54. In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. 

Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation 2013 

No Miracle in Sight

Half of the fourth year of the Lepep government is almost gone and still no trace of the exceptional economic performance SAJ had promised for 2018. Only growth rates of less than 4% so far and the next two years are not likely to be any different. These are the lowest in decades. 

How Bad is Trickle-Down Economics?

Trickle-what???

What the hell is that? It's a deceptive argument that the economy can grow a lot faster if we keep on reducing the top tax rates. It was first tried by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and failed miserably. For example the national debt of the US increased from $1 trillion to $4 trillion over a 12-year period. This regressive taxation regime was reversed as from 1993 when one William Jefferson Clinton won the Presidential elections. And what has been its impact on Mauritius?

It Has Screwed Up Our Economy

Well, you've seen what it has done to our country after Sithanen implemented a pretty barbaric version of it as from 2006 – the flat tax – with the blessing of one pseudo-socialist. The bottom line is that we ended up with the smallest national cake baked over a five-year period as far back as we can remember and the cake-cutting was pretty bad too. At the end of 2012 there was already a cumulative GDP shortfall of about 275 billion rupees – that's the GDP of Mauritius for 2008 by the way – with respect to the promised 8% robust growth trajectory. If we make the very conservative assumption that government would have reduced its revenue collections to 15% of GDP this translates into a revenue shortfall of over 40 billion rupees – you multiply the last two numbers. 54 billions if it kept its revenue share of GDP at 20%.