Dear Sir,

I grow weary of politicians, economists and statisticians proclaiming with much fanfare that “the recession is over”.

There are people in Bermuda who never experienced a “recession”, so they need not stand up and applaud wildly in aesthetic acclamation.

There are people in Bermuda who did have a “recession”. They lost their jobs, have little resources to fall back on and are scrambling to make ends meet. They are still jobless.

Should they jump up, clap their hands and sign joyful songs?

I think not.

It is said by many of the pontiffs, ie, politicians, economists and statisticians, that we must “grow the economy” and to do this we must increase the population and/or improve productivity.

It is time for some good old common sense to prevail and to cease applying macroeconomic theory to a micro-situation. For consider this:

1, We live on an island that can accommodate a finite population comfortably. It is overcrowded at present. Our population density must be near the densest in the world and increasing the density must strain already scarce resources

2, How do you improve productivity in an island with scarce resources? What in fact are these wonderful resources? (The glib answer is always “Our people are our resource”)

3, The roads are already clogged with traffic, and a simple accident can create traffic bottlenecks (Perhaps we should “grow the roads”)

It is truly time for some common sense in our announcements.

And so, let us pray.

AGATHA’S SON