depends on each other and on the contributions we each make to the success of our income sources, tourism and international companies.

Taken at the simplest level, if we take in cash from visitors and the international company sector and trade with each other then we feed each other. If we take in outside cash and then send it back outside to pay for goods and services that are available locally, then that cash supports not Bermudians but people in New York or East Podunk.

If we do not support local business by spending at home, then we cannot expect local business to thrive and provide us with jobs. Then Bermuda Inc. will be in trouble because if there are no jobs at home then there will be no money to spend in East Podunk.

There is a tendency these days to look abroad for cheaper goods and services than there are in Bermuda. Yet Bermudian goods and services are often more expensive because our taxes have been charged on them in terms of duty and our high standard of living has been supported by them in terms of high local wages. Then the people whose taxes and high wages have increased the cost of the goods and services shun local goods and services as too expensive and look abroad for something cheaper, thus supporting merchants in East Podunk and not Bermuda Inc. That is a formula for disaster.

Now we are not talking about a person on a trip who sees something he or she likes and buys it. But we are talking about people who plan to shop abroad and other Bermudian organisations, including Government and charities, which intentionally go abroad for a better price.

It seems to us that a Government which collects taxes from locals has a moral duty to put those taxes back in the local economy, thus supporting local business and local labour. But it does not always do that and sometimes Government supports businesses and labour in East Podunk. Government is not going to collect any taxes in East Podunk.

Charities survive on contributions from businesses and individuals in Bermuda.

But charities beg from local businesses and then sometimes they too go overseas for cheaper goods and services. Where do they think local businesses get the money to make contributions to them? Bermuda's charities are not going to get many contributions in East Podunk.

People will reply: "Why shouldn't I look for the cheaper price?'' Certainly it is natural to do so. But when Bermuda's retail sector and Bermuda's manufacturing sector begin to fall apart and your brother loses his job, just remember that the job he once had in Bermuda has gone to the mall in East Podunk because that's where Bermudians spent their money.