WITH economic woes, sharply rising cost of living and rampant criminality commanding media headlines in so many Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries. I did not realise that Barbados actually went out of business for an unspecified period.

Not until, that is, I read in this past Tuesday’s edition of the Daily Nation that the country “is back in business”, according to Chairman Dr Frank Alleyne of the Barbados Government’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Cynicism? Perhaps. But I am yet to reconcile this ‘back-in-business’ claim by economist Alleyne—as it relates to the first budget presented by new Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Chris Sinckler on Monday (November 22) for fiscal year 2010/2011—to the surprising warning that followed a response from former three-term Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Owen Arthur.

For Arthur, now Opposition Leader, Sinckler’s fiscal prescriptions constituted an “invitation for catastrophe”. Therefore, he feels, it may be advisable for the government, currently at almost the end of the third of its first five-year term, to bite the bullet and call a snap general election in 2011 for the Barbadian electorate to determine the future ahead.
That the budget represents a very bitter dose of medicine for consumers of all social classes is a harsh reality. Indeed, the government may well be taking a gamble by some of the tough measures proposed and the full impact of which would be felt after the current Independence anniversary celebrations and the Christmas holidays.
There is also the reality of the government’s obligation to face the challenges of a very tough period in the social and economic life of Barbados at a time of lingering global financial and economic problems that negatively impact on all Community partner states – to varying degrees.
Gone are the halcyon days when Barbados was viewed as the best managed economy in CARICOM.
Today, political strutting has wisely given way to sobering assessments of regional realism and our inter-dependence, as evidenced in statements by some Barbadian politicians on both sides of the parliament chamber.
Coincidentally, as the Barbados parliament was debating the budget proposals, the United States Federal Reserve was openly baring its pessimism of a worse-case forecast for economic recovery.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Nearer to home, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was revealing its own disappointment with a discouraging ‘first half year’ economic performance by member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
In the rest of CARICOM, some quite significant events and developments were taking place:
** Yesterday, for instance, was Nomination Day for St. Vincent and the Grenadines coming December 13 general election for its I5-member House of Assembly.
** The incumbent Unity Labour Party (ULP) of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, which has eight new faces among its fifteen, is showing confidence for a third consecutive term based on the results of a recent poll. But leader of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), Arnhim Eustace, scoffs at the prospect of a three-in-a-row electoral defeat.
** Across in Guyana, history was in the making with the hosting in the CARICOM partner state of the Fourth Regular Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations  (UNASUR) .
It is the first time that a Caribbean nation hosted such a major event. Guyana and Suriname are the two Caribbean Community member countries of UNASUR.
A highlight of the three-day summit at the Guyana International  Conference Centre, was the ceremonial conferment of Guyana’s highest national award on Brazil’s outgoing outstanding President,  Luiz  Inacio Lula daSilva, regarded by President Bharrat Jagdeo’s government as “a great friend” of the Guyanese people.
The summit was scheduled to climax yesterday with a “Declaration” that includes a new provision emphasising a commitment to democracy and the rule of law.