May 22, 2011Dear Sir,I have now completed far more important things in life than an earlier answering of the wayward, rambling, incoherent rants of Bob Stewart and the thinly disguised adverse sophistry of your Friday, May 13, 2011 editorial on price controls. Bob's effort was a particularly bad, historically inaccurate and economically unsound diatribe (on Page 4) full of personal invective against me. I would like to raise the “debate” above the personal level and adopt the intellectual high road so that others may benefit from the debate. Moreover, it's not about Bob and me. It's about how and why “price controls” work, a topic Bob negatively mentioned only tangentially and never in any intelligible manner that I could decipher. We of course leave the readers to wonder why.First, it is notable, and very curious (coincidental?) that both an editorial on the subject and quite possibly the longest Letter to the Editor in The Royal Gazette's history, full of vacuous vitriole on “Phil and friends”; should appear together on the same page. In my opinion, both you, Mr Editor, and Bob Stewart, are unabashed advocates for, and beneficiaries of historical white privilege which is largely fuelled, exacerbated by and derivative of the policies, procedures, workings and effects of the ‘trickle-down' economics in capitalistic Bermuda. I know, I know you guys have more talents, abilities etc, and work harder than those who are not so favourably endowed. I get it. I also understand your joint biases. This system daily however perpetuates the inequities and maldistribution (widening as we speak) of the “wealth” of Bermuda. A tiny proportion of the population still own and control the lion's share of the economy whilst a vast majority scramble and fight for a ‘slice and the crumbs of the smaller remainder of the economic pie. Bob's useless GDP statistic is a simple arithmetic average or mean which is not a realistic barometer of the true distribution of the wealth of this country. I know of a vast number of households in this country (including politicians) who receive a significantly lower annual income than Bob's $91,477 per capita income (2007). What's his ridiculous reasoning for raising this relatively meaningless statistic? He practises and espouses ‘voodoo' economics he does, or attempts to bamboozle the unwary and uninitiated. Times have changed Bob hello?Secondly, Bob is short or seriously wanting on political and socioeconomic historical facts and conclusions. In fact, he is woefully inadequate on his understanding of the very capitalistic system he extols and worships and how it works particularly in Bermuda.Briefly, Haiti is where it is today for many historical, political and geographical (eg natural disasters) reasons. Too numerous to go into here; Haiti's challenges have nothing to do with price controls. Bob, Haiti, whose economy is largely agrarian and fishing, faced massive retaliation and diplomatic isolation from the US and Europe who virtually cut-off their markets etc following Haiti's independence in 1804. It was one of the richest countries of the world then and very much under the control of former black slaves. This phenomenon, from primarily the western nations' point of view, sent the wrong message to other black slaves groaning and eking out a living under the imperialistic, capitalistic and colonial governments of the day busily exploiting the Third World whilst enriching the western metropoles. Haiti continues to suffer because of those negative policies today. Nothing to do with not enough productivity in Haiti, Bob. You have to try harder, you know?North Korea today Bob continues to be at war with South Korea and the USA, despite the current armistice and suffers the usual bans and economic sanctions etc., from many European and North American nations. Cuba too largely falls in this category which has nothing to do with “price-controls” which were implemented subsequent to the revolution to prevent the citizens of these countries from being further exploited by your class of people Bob. Cuba also has one of the highest literacy rates in the world and exports brilliant doctors and teachers. China's, a socialist country like Cuba, economy grew by double digits last year, Bob, whilst much of the western world, including the great USA with whom China trades, strains under the travails of a recession (that Communist and Marxist manifesto you love so much is really something, eh Bob?) Hence Bob I don't quite understand the thrust of nor the reasoning or basis for your asinine statement that, “Bermudians are rich, Haitians are poor … because of inequality of productivity between Bermuda and Haiti”. Really? So Haitians are lazy are they, Bob and that's why they don't prosper?Lastly Bob, let me address the subject of the workings of price controls and where they have been applied from time to time less I be guilty of what I've criticised you of doing, that is, not discussing the topic at hand (more than I have done in my opinion piece, “Transforming the Economy”). Price controls or income policies are deployed to primarily curb inflation (which indirectly acts as a damper on demand and ultimately supply thereby leading to growing unemployment) and are not, unlike the view propagated by both you and Bill Zuill, used generally. Such controls are used selectively to ‘control' a specific basket of goods and services e.g. eggs, bread, vegetables, fruit, pharmaceutical prices, Belco bills, gas/oil prices etc. Price controls are often used during economic emergencies and were used in the USA in 1971, Australia during the 1980s, the Callaghan UK government in the 1970s in a “social contract” with unions and the business sector, the Stanfield government in Canada in 1974 and under the Trudeau government when he passed the Anti-Inflation Act in 1975 which contained a raft of wage and price controls on specific parts of the economy of a kind I am recommending for Bermuda Bob (I was living in Canada at that time and benefited tremendously as a student under these price and wage controls, Bob. They worked well for me and others with fixed and low incomes). On this topic, Bob, please read Murray Rothbard, “Price Controls are Back.” I think this is sufficient for now as examples on this topic.So Bob and Bill, price controls do work for what they are designed to do (much like dynamite). Price controls are used ‘selectively and in even measure' in capitalistic economies as we have seen, to address the kind of ‘stagflation' (rising prices and unemployment simultaneously) we are presently experiencing in Bermuda. Nothing socialist (dear Bob, what you know about the communist manifesto and socialism occupies the vast area of a pinhead no aspersions cast, Bob) or sinister about price control applications, Bob. Capitalistic countries use them to soften the harsh effects of capitalism on poor and working class people.In closing let me say Bob, please educate yourself with the following books which I gratuitously commend and recommend to you. Frantz Fanon's, ‘Wretched of the Earth' and Walter Rodney's, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa' (and by extension, the Third World) for starters. Bob, you have been weighed, measured and found woefully wanting in some very key and basic areas both on the topic of ‘price controls' and generally. To ‘run and keep up with the big boys and be up for the challenge I threw out ten days ago Bob,' you might just want to generally ‘buff it up a tad' topically and intellectually?Give me a call sometime, buddy (friend?) I'm up to any challenge you are capable of mounting, Bob.PHIL PERINCHIEFHamilton Parish