When the Bermuda First study was first announced, this newspaper expressed concerns that there were several pitfalls that needed to be avoided.

These included the risk that a committee struck to design a better horse could end up with a camel and that a committee relying on overseas consultants could end up with very little information at vast cost.

The report released yesterday managed to avoid some of those dangers, while still slipping on some of them.

Parts of the report simply recommend more study on different politically dangerous issues, notably gambling (although it does note that gambling is not as good for tourism as is often thought) while other recommendations could have been made on the day the committee was formed.

And it must be disheartening to have Premier Dr. Ewart Brown, who was one of the co-chairmen of the committee and signed it, declare that he and his Government will not be bound by any of the recommendations. What then was the point in leading it?

Some ideas, including the headline-grabbing idea of giving billionaires some form of permanent residence, probably will not fly.

Others, like extending the tax exemption for international companies beyond 2016, should be acted on immediately – and there was no need for a consultant to think that up.

The committee may well be criticised for not tackling some of the Island's myriad social issues in more depth, but in fairness, this was a report put together by business leaders to plot the Island's economic future, so it is not surprising that it is more focused on that area.

What is most striking about the report is not the recommendations or the detailed overview of the state of the economy, but the distinctly gloomy view that most leaders surveyed have about Bermuda's future.

Those people, including this newspaper, who warn that the comfort levels with Bermuda of most international business leaders are sinking dangerously low are usually dismissed as scaremongers. And it is fair to say that businesses looking for improvements in the Bermuda business world are unlikely to say everything is wonderful.

But when seven out of ten of the business, Government and non-profit leaders surveyed say they believe Bermuda's economic situation will be worse in five years time, then it is time to sit up and take notice.

And when they say that Government is weak at responding to business needs and has low accountability, that crime and education are major concerns and that Bermuda's workforce is not skilled enough, then the public should be deeply worried.

That's because if these problems are not addressed, then the businesses that keep Bermuda's economy going will be gone. That is because they are in business to be successful, and they will not remain in a failing community. There are too many other domiciles around the world that would fall over themselves to welcome them.

The good news is that they can be addressed if the political will is there and if the calls for people to work together are heeded.

Failure to do so, as this report makes clear, will lead to disaster.