Dear Sir,

So when the Pathways proposal was eventually withdrawn, the question I asked myself was: who won and who lost?

Were more jobs for Bermudians created by the action? Are jobs for Bermudians now better protected? Will more Bermudians have job opportunities as a result? The answers to those is probably no.

Chris Furbert will keep his job, the Reverend Nicholas Tweed and Jason Hayward will have theirs, but the average local blue and white-collar resident is likely worse off. Here is why. Potential investors now look at Bermuda differently than a couple of weeks ago.

They perceive Bermuda to be as a more risky investment, not as safe a place to invest as they had previously thought in the lead-up to the protests.

Based upon my conversations with business people, the robust positive economic rebound that we were all seeking was damaged by our collective actions. How badly, only time will tell.

Consider this as a single case in point: Bermuda is hoping the prospective casino investors will invest hundreds of millions in the island and will provide training and needed jobs for as many as 300 employees per project.

Do you believe that Bermuda is in a better position to attract this capital after protest week?

We are not. We naively created an unnecessary fear factor, a reason for a foreign or local investor to hold back or not invest at all. In reality, we committed self-induced hara-kiri.

To be continued ...

BERMUDA BUSINESSMAN