Dear Sir,

Capital will always move away from perceived risk. I am aware of two specific hotel property investments that are now reconsidering their investment in Bermuda, and that business leaders are now scaling back previous plans that would have created badly needed jobs. Investors are simply retracting out of fear for the future. How unfortunate and unnecessary.

The protest leaders tell us that this was about protecting the rights of local workers over those workers that were not born in Bermuda. They also tell us that this was needed because long-term residents with voting rights will vote for one party over another.

As a Bermudian business manager, here is the reality: economically we just need bodies, consumers, spenders, taxpayers and value creators — and lots of them. Ones that are willing to spend and create jobs and provide support for our economy. Forget the politics, not accepting this fact suggests economic illiteracy or a political agenda.

I accept and hurt for the unacceptable number of black and white Bermudians that remain out of work or in a position of unsustainable underemployment. I have been there. It also pains me that annual data confirms that talented Bermudians and non-Bermudians by the hundreds have left our island to seek employment outside of Bermuda. We need them to come home, to make Bermuda their home, to stay, to start companies, to hire employees. We need more people/spenders to stimulate growth.

Between 2008 and 2014, it has been reported that the number of non-Bermudian workers declined by about 3,400. These jobs should in theory have been snapped up by Bermudians. Instead, about 3,400 Bermudian positions actually disappeared. The economic reality is this: with fewer residents, there is less money being spent, less economic activity, fewer jobs and reduced opportunities for economic growth for all.

For our capitalist system to succeed, there must be growth. Witness that economies in northern Europe and Japan are struggling as their populations decline. There is a direct correlation. Countries need spenders and workers. Consider that Singapore, the country that copied Bermuda’s international business structure, announced recently that it will add 10 per cent to its population over the next ten years to keep its population fully employed. Wow.

Larry Burchall, Craig Simmons and Sir John Swan have warned us that without more people — spenders and job creators — the badly needed and badly wanted economic recovery for our island will not be achievable or sustainable. Bermuda needs spenders and job creators, whether we like it or not.

To be continued ...

BERMUDA BUSINESSMAN