Dr. Brown continues his media sweep in the UK, this time looking ill-at-ease on CNBC. It’s interesting how he continues to be marketed as “Prime Minister”. When questioned about how Bermuda will respond to attacks from onshore tax and regulatory authorities, the Premier responded: “I believe that if we have a President Obama, he will [...]
Entries from October 30th, 2008
Traffic
October 30th, 2008 · Comments Off · Transport
Many local schools are out for mid-term break this week, leading to the sudden evaporation of Bermuda’s morning rush hour. Traffic has been very light all week. Poof! I think Bermuda doesn’t have a traffic congestion problem. It has a school transportation problem.
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Internet Gaming
October 29th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Business, Development
The Premier was filling space on late night BBC World radio broadcasts tonight, sounding tired and very “off-message”. Pondering Bermuda’s economic uncertainties in the face of declining international business and tourism revenues, the announcer Roger Hearing asked the Premier what Bermuda intended to do. His answer: “We haven’t been able to come up with another [...]
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Conflicted
October 28th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
As a symbol of hope and change, Barack Obama has a lot of support in Bermuda (which is craving for a good measure of both from our local politicians). But we must remember that candidate Obama is potentially a major threat to Bermuda. Bermuda has made huge investments to meet international standards for regulation and [...]
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New London Office
October 28th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
The Premier has visited the new Government of Bermuda Representative Offices in London right around the corner from the Ritz, and in the same building as our Cayman pals. Expected to open in the next two months, it will be used for both intergovernmental relations and Tourism and is allocated about $1.46 million in this [...]
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Mincing Words?
October 27th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
The Minister of Finance made a statement last week announcing that Government departments were being asked to prune their budgets. Given the current global and local economic conditions, it would be unwise to anticipate more than a nominal increase in revenues for 2009/10. The Ministry of Finance’s most optimistic forecast is for real revenue growth [...]
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Premier Says the R Word
October 27th, 2008 · Comments Off · Independence
I believe this is the first time that the Premier has publicly supported the use of a Referendum to decide whether Bermuda should pursue independence. “Independence is still on the table,” Dr. Brown told nearly 150 Bermudian students who travelled from universities across the UK for the opportunity to question the Island’s Leader on a [...]
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Dockyard Colour
October 25th, 2008 · Comments Off · Tourism
A group of volunteers spent this week repainting the 175 crests left on Dockyard’s walls by visiting ships over the years. I was sad to hear that “this will be the last time they will ever be repainted as these fabulous memories of our maritime history are doomed to be destroyed as Dockyard is developed [...]
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Gambling
October 24th, 2008 · Comments Off · Tourism
Government has finally confirmed what everyone expected: that they are considering the legalisation of gambling and also the introduction of a national lottery in Bermuda. According to Dr. Brown: “We have listened to the developers who are investing heavily into Bermuda by building new hotels and likewise to those existing hoteliers who are attempting to [...]
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Errant Finger Pointing
October 24th, 2008 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics
A Liberal Democrat member of the UK Public Accounts Committee has gone on a rant: One interesting report, although not directly about taxation, was on managing risk in overseas territories. It turned over a stone that covered the vast and murky world of tax avoidance and tax evasion, which is a whole industry in places [...]
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