Wong Had Little to Do With Massive Amount of Poverty Created

Because he was not Finance Minister (FM) during any of the past eleven years when by far the most backward policies -- top tax rates were set too low and this broke the economy -- our country has known were implemented. For sure he has been a member of Cabinet during the last two and half years and as such has to accept part of the responsibility of the mess we're in because he could have vehemently asked for the end of the worship of the golden calf. Or at least distanced himself from it. Besides he was until recently a member of a party which has two interesting words in its name: Social Democrate.

XLD, Less So

Of course Xavier-Luc Duval (XLD) has a lot more to do with all the poverty created over the last decade because he was in the driver's seat for quite some time -- close to three years. But before we look into this let us not forget that poverty and the fight against it is heavily dependent on two quantities: the size of the economic cake (GDP) and how it is shared. From the 2012 household budget survey (HBS) -- which tells us about the sharing -- we know for a fact that the poorest two-tenths of Mauritian households saw their shares shrink by 10% to 15%. That's their smallest shares in at least two decades if you care to know. So we don't exactly get bonus points here. And what about GDP?

Why Our Youth Don't Have A Skills Mismatch

Simply because technology has flattened every single learning curve. So anybody who has recently graduated should be able to help push Mauritius forward provided a reasonable number of opportunities are available. This will happen only if certain conditions are met. Like energy prices -- a major building block of GDP -- shouldn't stay disconnected from their world prices. Something which unfortunately happened for way too long.

We want our youth to transform the skills they've acquired -- and will keep on acquiring -- into meaningful outcomes fast because otherwise they will lose confidence in themselves and their gifts will go to waste. And then it will be everybody's loss. This will also depend on the quality of policy-making at Government House. The latter just like the private sector -- large and small -- must make good bets. Because that's the way they will create wealth or value. Which is about getting out more than what is put in. For example the CEB can float a bond, invest into a power project and then make a reasonable profit. Or sell clean electricity at competitive prices which will help Mauritius Inc. make one. The Passport Office can get us our travel documents fast making us save time which is another name for money. Similarly private sector companies can create value by moving upmarket or into new industries which are compatible with the standards of living that Mauritians reasonably aspire to. Not with those of the cheapest foreign worker available.

The other side of the coin is that Government and private sector companies routinely destroy value. And they do that -- to be sure there are fans of Marx too in there --  in many ways. We've seen how the STC can mysteriously lose billions and then lose a couple of billions more. Bosses of private companies may also put the enjoyment of super cars before the survival of their firm. Or allow themselves to be infected with hubris and start believing that this time it's different and that crises like those that happened in South East Asia in 1997 and elsewhere can never happen in Mauritius. Because we're the land of the lazy Dodo. Of course.