Some Principles for Unity and Human Development

Pro Guyana 1 Introduction Scholars have long debated the meaning of human development. Several broad measures and outlines have been developed over the years. No doubt within the Guyanese context the notion of human development would overlap with the benchmark ideas that have been developed by global scholars and organisations. The concept, however, takes on special meaning in a country such as Guyana, given the ethnic composition of the country, traditional voting patterns and the tendency towards intra-ethnic social networking. In the Guyanese context, human development would encompass national unity because each is very much related to the other. Indeed, human development would not be achieved without unity and vice versa 1. For that reason, Pro Guyana proposes the achievable goals of Unity and Human Development (UHD). Unity is crucial because the path towards development would involve joint economic and social responsibilities such as paying taxes together, serving in the military together, and together producing and consuming goods and services that fuel economic and social growth are produced across groups. Other unifying factors include (i) equality before the law; (ii) access to health care; and (iii) social responsibility, including the teaching of civics or civic-mindedness in school curricula. At the same time, UHD requires promoting and acknowledging diversity of opinions and views. UHD in a Guyanese context must encompass a new paradigm which allows members of each ethnic group to pursue collective goals whether economic, social, cultural, or political without intimidation or feelings of discomfort. Reducing racial insecurities is essential. For example, Amerindians must feel free to talk about issues of land reform without repercussions including discrimination and victimizations. Likewise, Guyanese of African and Indian descent must be free to organize themselves into groups to pursue goals unique to their cultures without feelings of resentment, suspicions, and insecurities from other ethnic groups. Several scholars have noted that technological progress and creativity depend on promoting a diverse urban and work environment (Quigley 1998). Yet others have noted that it is important to manage diversity properly so as to reduce the possibility of conflict (Alesina and La Ferrara 2004). This paper proposes a set of principles upon which a development agenda can be fashioned so that conflict can be minimized and UHD realized. We do not pretend to have all the answers; nevertheless, we hope that this effort will be considered when crafting a future policy menu. The paper has two objectives. First, it explores the meaning of human development in the Guyanese context. Second, it proposes several principles that can engender UHD. This paper does not discuss specific policy proposals as those are the task of a blueprint or manifesto. 2 Features of Human Development The benchmark measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI) developed by the United Nations, which includes the following components: (i) education attainment; (ii) health; (iii) life expectancy; and (iv) average income. After much debate, economists and social scholars
There is obviously a feedback mechanism between human development and national unity. Economists label this feedback structure as an endogenous relationship. Therefore, this paper will set out principles that would enhance this endogenous structure.
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settled on these four components which are combined using arbitrary weights. The index number gives the now popular HDI rankings that are eagerly awaited each year when the UN Human Development Report is published. The notion of equity was later added to the index measure of human development. This is captured by the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (I-HDI). Here, development now includes a clear measure of inequality of income. If we are to specify human development from a Guyanese perspective, Sens capabilities approach would be a good starting point (Sen 1999, 1993). Discussing Sens capabilities method, the 2004 Human Development Report mentions: People are the real wealth of nations. Indeed, the basic purpose of development is to enlarge human freedoms. The process of development can expand human capabilities by expanding the choices that people have to live full and creative lives. And people are both the beneficiaries of such development and the agents of the progress and change that bring it about. This process must benefit all individuals equitably and build on the participation of each of them. This approach to developmenthuman developmenthas been advocated by every Human Development Report since the first in 1990 (UNDP 2004, p. 127). Therefore, for Sen, capability is the freedom of the individual to achieve various valuable beings and doings. Freedom, which is central to the capabilities approach, involves the obvious and basic entitlements of health, education, mobility and self-respect (Sabina 2002). They also take on more complex forms such as the ability to participate in society, freedom to choose and associate politically, transparency guarantees, and physical security (Sabina 2002). 3 Credibility of Governance In Guyana, the state accounts for a significant proportion of economic activity and allocates a significant proportion of the countrys resources. An important pillar of development, therefore, must be fairness in the allocation processes. The state will also be required to address market failures and nurture the development of competitive markets such as a stock market. If the states allocations and policies are seen to be unfair, then all aspects of policy will be seen as lacking credibility. The government must send credible signals to the entire population that it is fair in its policies and the enactment thereof. Unity will require that the government does everything possible to be fair as it distributes the resources of a diverse population. Corruption is often not recorded on the accounting books. They are off-the-book in many instances, taking the form of kickbacks (Khemraj 2012). It is often difficult to prove these kickbacks; the proceeds are typically hidden overseas. Nevertheless, they may be perceived through observation of the living standards of the government ministers, the President and other public officials to see whether their displayed wealth is consistent with the incomes received as public officials. The sum of incomes minus expenditures must add up to the displayed assets and assets held in secret. More importantly, we can observe governments revealed preference to get a picture of the extent of corruption. We observe governments actions to see whether it is willing to build institutional

mechanisms that will make corruption difficult, and increase the cost of corruption for bureaucrats 2. If the government refuses to establish the institutional systems that will maximize the fair distribution of resources and minimize corruption, then it most likely has things to hide. In this case, the public, particularly the parliamentary opposition, will conclude that the government is willing to protect the channels that allow it to redistribute resources to favoured individuals 3. Credibility is even more essential in a multi-communal society such as Guyanas in which the two main ethnic groups vote along party lines 4. If the system appears unfair, it will breed discontent among the group that is not represented by the elected government. Therefore, economic policy must take this reality into consideration. The best policy can fail to deliver the desired outcomes if the opposition and its supporters do not cooperate. Therefore, it is in the interest of the elected government to provide credible signals of transparency and inclusion, so that the parliamentary opposition can believe that the former is serious about promoting development and fairness in the distribution of resources. 4 Core Principles for UHD Achieving UHD would require a series of specific economic, social, political and foreign policy reforms and completely new policy measures at all levels. These, however, must be based on several core and encompassing principles. The political party blueprint (or manifesto) would typically outline specific policy proposals that must be guided by several interlocking principles. These principles must be satisfied at all times. Some cannot be adhered to and others ignored. Indeed, failure to meet just a few of the principles will result in failure to achieve all of them. Pursuing the principles in tandem will stimulate favourable spillover from one sector of the economy to another. Ignoring a few will reverse the spillover into the negative. The ideas outlined below are specific to Guyanese society and economy. Principle 1: Nurturing the developmental state From the late 1980s, Guyana adopted a comprehensive agenda of free market reforms, but these reforms paid scant attention to nurturing a developmental state. After the Jagdeo government took over, the state was either criminalized or captured solely for the benefit of special interests (Khemraj 2011, 2013a). Given the myriad challenges Guyana faces, a developmental state would be essential for clearing several bottlenecks and for addressing the ethnic insecurities. A developmental state is one which is embedded enough to understand the problems and market failures in the society, but is yet autonomous enough so that its various functions are not captured or
Economists often refer to institutions as laws, systems and customs that allow businesses to flourish. They minimize the cost of doing business, particularly costs associated with graft. According to Rodrik (2000), institutions fall into five categories: (i) laws that protect private property and protect the business owner from expropriation; (ii) regulatory institutions so that businesses do not take advantage of customers or excessively pursue economic activities harmful to social returns; (iii) institutions for macroeconomic stabilization (of inflation, GDP and exchange rate); (iv) institutions for social insurance and risk sharing (e.g. National Insurance Scheme); and (v) institutions for conflict management, particularly relevant to divided societies. The PPP has resisted establishing a public procurement commission (see Ramkarran 2013). Recently, the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. reported to the OAS about the serious conflict of interest involving the wife of Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (see Stabroek News 2013). See Schmitt (1991) for a definition and survey of various bi-communal societies around the world. Guyana was given as one of the examples. Other examples are Fiji, Israel, Trinidad and Tobago, Sri Lanka, Belgium, Malaysia, Burundi, Canada, Suriname, etc.
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corrupted by special interests (Evans 1995). The state could alternately be predatory, according to Evans (1995). One of the features of a predatory state is that it is captured by special interests. It functions on behalf of a few at the expense of the entire society and overall national development. Political capture results in a corruption of democratic institutions that benefit the few via oligarchic governance. Oligarchic systems tend to deceive the elites in control. They tend to grow faster in the short-term because elites capture all the favoured investment opportunities; however, oligarchies will typically collapse because the elites will have established numerous barriers to entry, preventing the masses from succeeding in business and sharing resources (Acemoglu 2008). Therefore, in the long term, it is a democratic system with sound institutions to promote fairness that will result in sustainable growth. In the context of Guyana, a developmental state is essential for solving many structural bottlenecks that impede production and employment. Some bottlenecks include the financing constraints businesses face, the high energy costs of doing business, physical insecurity, a limited pool of educated workers, and a limited pool of workers with specific vocational training and technical knowledge. The developmental state will also be required to manage the territorial threats from the Western and Eastern borders skilfully by providing the most effective Foreign Service. The state must also be involved in environmental conservation, macroeconomic stabilization, and should spearhead the coordination of structural production change. The developmental state stays while elected governments come and go. The state implements policies of the democratically elected political regime. The state is ever present, specific regimes are not. The scholarly literature defines a developmental state as one with the following capacities: (i) bureaucratic capacity to implement policies and to be accountable; (ii) legal capacity; (iii) territorial capacity to project power; (iii) fiscal capacity to extract tax revenues; (iv) the capacity to shape societal behaviour; and (v) coercive capacity to deter or repel internal and external challenges 5. Principle 2: Promoting private sector competitiveness It is often said that the private sector is the engine of growth. For this to become a reality, several bottlenecks and constraints facing the private sector must be removed. First, the high cost of energy has to be reduced through a portfolio of energy mixes and the modernization of the electrical grid system 6. Second, infrastructure and road networks must be built and maintained properly. Third, the University of Guyana and other tertiary institutions have to perform Guyana-specific research and training of the workforce. Fourth, financing constraints, including those engendered by money laundering, must be eased. One possibility would be to develop the bond and stock markets that are complemented by a state development bank and micro finance facilities. Fifth, laws must be put in place to ensure that the states purchases from the private sector are fair and equitable (for instance, through the implementation of the constitutionally mandated Public Procurement Commission). Sixth, the assets of private investors, and property rights generally must be secured. There must be no risk of expropriation by bandits or the state. Finally, political capture and oligarchic relations between the government and a few favoured individuals must become something of the past.

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This definition was taken from Bukenya and Yanguas (2013).

Cost permitting, a smart grid system should be implemented. Tax incentives can be used for families to establish solar roofs. These families can therefore sell surplus electricity to the smart grid.

Principle 3: Macroeconomic stability In the case of rapid inflation, the financial assets and savings of our people will be threatened. Savers would prefer to demand unproductive assets such as gold, or non-durable ones like livestock. Fixed income earners like pensioners will see their standards of living plummet. In general, the poor will be made poorer. The same will occur if the exchange rate depreciates rapidly. Therefore, the preservation of a stable value of the Guyana dollar must be central in the policy matrix of the government. If the value of the currency is unstable, then those most capable, and those who possess relevant information, will send their money overseas. This will make foreign exchange even scarcer, thus deepening the perpetual foreign exchange gap Guyana faces. That makes it even more difficult for businesses to engage in imports such as technology. Maintaining sufficient levels of foreign exchange reserves must take a central position in the stabilization agenda (Worrell 2012). Moreover, the Bank of Guyana must be independent of political interference so as to curtail the excessive printing of money or issuance of unwanted domestic debt. The government must maintain reasonable fiscal deficits (with a balanced long-term intertemporal budget), and must not indulge in excessive debt financing because that takes away funds from building production capacity. Worker salaries cannot be financed by printing money or running up debt; salary growth is better financed by productivity gains and strong tax capacity. Collecting tax revenues ought to be a central part of the stabilization agenda since it means the government can finance salaries better. For this reason, better understanding of the VAT and its crucial role in mobilizing tax revenues, versus income taxes, are required. With the underground economy running on average over 60 per cent of Guyanese GDP since 2002, the VAT a tax on consumption is the only way for the government to tax underground economic activities 7. Principle 4: Microeconomic development Microeconomic stability requires attention at household, collective, and small business level as a component of a focus on Human Development. We must deal specifically with programs targeting the growth of household wealth, rather than assume that trickle down effects of macroeconomic policy will suffice. A bottom up approach should be considered to resolve the dilemma in many societies where poor or non-existent bottom up approaches may fuel the persistence of poverty despite regardless macroeconomic stability. The promotion of sustainable micro industries at the village level must be an integral part of the creation of a developmental state in Guyana, and appears achievable given our history of analogous successes after slavery and indentureship. Principle 5: Promoting structural production change A persons long-term earnings will depend on his or her level of education and career path. Similarly, the well-being of citizens of a country is largely a function of what the country produces. If the major products are primary and extractive in nature, then their prices will be determined in global auctiontype markets. This means their prices will be volatile and subjected to wide swings. As the price swings, so too will be the fortunes of the people dependent on those commodities for livelihood.

Professor Clive Thomas has written extensively on the underground economy in Guyana. He performed the seminal econometric estimate of the underground economy, and his early studies were recently updated and published. The findings suggest that the underground economy has increased since 2002 (See Thomas 2009).

The income elasticity associated with most primary commodities and basic manufacturing goods tends to be low. This means that as incomes in the main export markets rise, the demand for these commodities increases less than proportionally. For example, when people become richer they spend a greater percentage of their income on vacations, leisure, education, health and energy. They do not increase their demand for sugar. They would demand higher end food types. Some production sectors also promote greater positive spillovers to other sectors. For example, manufacturing and production requiring technical knowledge often lead to productivity improvements in other sectors of the economy. This proposition is the well-tested Kaldor growth law (Thirlwall 2011). Another proposition associated with Kaldors growth holds that GDP growth is a function of manufacturing growth. A favourable feature of manufactured goods is that their prices are determined in administered markets with oligopoly sellers. Therefore, the prices of manufacturing goods tend to be less volatile compared with primary commodities whose price can change by the minute. For these reasons, some economists have often emphasized that the structure of production is important (Thirlwall 2011, Thirlwall 2007). Achieving the right structure is a dynamic process. This implies that we cannot merely concentrate on perceived comparative advantage as oldfashioned economic theory suggests. The developmental state must constantly set the stage for the private sector to reinvent itself and evolve, producing higher value products for domestic and global markets. Principle 6: Including the Diaspora in development Counting first generation Guyanese, Guyana possibly has over one million people in the Diaspora. They are educated and possess significant amounts of physical and financial assets. Therefore, this group represents the most valuable and largely untapped resource available to Guyana. Human capital is recognized by the economic growth literature as one of the most crucial inputs into the production process (Barro 1991, Helpman 2004). Therefore, the Diaspora represents a significant pool of talent and human capital. Sending back about US$500 million each year in cash and kind remittances, the Diaspora can be a major source of financial capital. A serious economic policy agenda would therefore have to include a plausible set of policies to integrate the Diaspora into the process of national development. Principle 7: Hinterland development With global warming and the projected increase in sea level, Guyana must plan to move critical economic activities inland. Hinterland development is also crucial because it is the most direct way to take development to our Indigenous people. Therefore, anticipating rising sea levels and the need to take development to marginalized people, Pro Guyana recognizes the need to plan at least two hinterland cities. This will also provides an opportunity to diversify the economy and promote renewed attention to urban economics. It will also be worthwhile to examine the establishment of the capitals of each Region as towns, with banking services and modern transportation and communications links. It should be noted that Guyanas natural and mineral resources are primarily located in the hinterland. Schools and technical institutes could be established there to feed the relevant economic sectors. Creating a new Hinterland city would tend to be consistent with almost all of the UHD principles. Education, health, physical security, financial development and structural production change will be all be invoked. This will take development of Indigenous people beyond superficial development, such
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as handing out a few solar panels that can only light one bulb. It will also increase the scope of business opportunities for the private sector, thus enhancing competitiveness both through scale and scope. The overarching narrative on national development must articulate the historically critical issues of the still unresolved Amerindian Land issue, the question of sub-surface mineral rights, the right to practise ones culture, for example, all within the broader framework of holistic development of the country. Simply, if these issues are not at least recognized at this stage of our way forward, they will be a hindrance to achieving the goal of fairness and social justice, prerequisites for viable unity. In light of the vast economic power historically vested in the hands of our indigenous people, we have to indicate a compassionate understanding of these issues if we are to make headway toward the creation of a developmental state. Principle 8: Foreign policy as economic policy With serious challenges to our border integrity, Guyana would need the most skilful team of diplomats to secure the integrity of the border and the economic resources contained within its borders. Also, with a population of fewer than 800,000, Guyana needs to promote an industrial strategy that is export-oriented. This requires securing the obvious ones within CARICOM, and existing trade agreements between CARICOM and the US. Diligent attention should also be paid to Guyanas associations with Brazil, Canada, India, the Peoples Republic of China, and the United Kingdom, as well as the EU, UNASUR and, of course, the Commonwealth. The transfer of knowledge through technical exchanges should also be explored and developed where helpful. Principle 9: Financial development It would be impossible to implement policies consistent with the outlined principles if they cannot be financed. Any development plan has to be financed. Borrowers face substantial borrowing constraints in Guyana. Businesses now have to borrow at around a 14% interest rate, and credit tends to be extended mainly to the traditional and established businesses. This is not to blame the present commercial banks which have served the nation well doing their method of risk management and screening. Solving the financing constraint involves developing other forms of finance such as bond and equity financing, which can be integrated with the existing commercial banking sector. The borrowing constraint has to be solved using a system of comprehensive financial development, including the reestablishment of the state development bank (Khemraj 2009). Because it will serve a different class of borrowers seeking initial financing, the state development bank would not compete with private commercial banks. Once new businesses are established, the private commercial banks will still have the opportunity to earn more fees and provide working capital. Privatization programmes can be conducted through the stock market to breathe new life into the moribund Guyana Stock Exchange (Khemraj 2013b). This could be one way of disciplining state-owned corporations, and allowing transparency of information so as to attract and secure investors using a stock market. The bond market could also operate better because of market transparency. Additionally, given the importance of food security, the re-establishment of the Agricultural Development Bank along the lines of the former GAIBANK may be worth considering.

Principle 10: Physical security The private property rights of citizens must be sacred, and people must be free of expropriation by bandits, special interest groups and the government. Narco-trafficking, money laundering, and smuggling present serious threats to physical security, business success and property rights (Granger 2010). If the physical security of our citizens and investors remains unstable, it would be almost impossible to include the Diaspora in Guyanas development. It would also be almost impossible for Guyanese at home with new business ideas to undertake the risks of new investments. The nation will continue to lose critical human capital through migration. Achieving this objective will require, at minimum, observed laws, credible police reforms, and judicial independence. Principle 11: Education as the engine of long-term growth Any nation which bases its economic growth strategy on extracting and selling primary raw materials will eventually witness diminishing returns, a situation in which per capita income will either stagnate or eventually decline. Mineral extraction is often susceptible to the resource curse 8. In other words, the per capita income of the country will stagnate, or worse, decline. Circumventing diminishing returns and the resource curse requires a sound and sensible education strategy at all levels from nursery to university. There also has to be a comprehensive array of vocational and technical schools to complement industry and the service sectors (Granger 2012). University education often gets less attention in developing economies compared with primary and secondary education. It might be costly to finance a world class research and teaching university. Nevertheless, Guyana cannot afford to ignore the crucial role universities play in creating human capital. It should not be an issue of primary and secondary education versus university education. Research, both at the basic and industry level, is crucial to enhance the productivity of the nation as a whole 9. Research would aid in the process of technological advancement and allow the society to better utilize its scarce natural resources. Principle 12: A healthy society A healthy society is essential for production, happiness, solvency of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), nimbleness of the army and police, and for a productive labour force. In many ways, health and education are related. Educated individuals have more information on how to achieve a better health status. In turn, healthy individuals are better able to absorb education and training. Endogenous growth models show that human capital is essential for helping the society to get around diminishing returns (Helpman 2004). Health is a major input into developing human capital. National development will be accelerated and sustained by a health system which includes ongoing preventive health care and health education as well as access to affordable health care in all regions.

Smuggling of natural resources is a serious problem. It is a manifestation of the problem known in the literature as the resource curse.

This aggregate productivity is known as total factor productivity (TFP), which is measured by a residual after accounting for physical capital, labour, and natural resources. The rate of growth of TFP measures technological accumulation. Not many studies have estimated TFP in the Guyana context. However, one IMF paper found that TFP growth has declined since 1992, possibly due to rapid accumulation of the underground economy (Staritz et al 2007). This implies Guyana needs to do a much better job managing and utilizing its resources optimally, for which education is crucial.

5 Transmission from specific policies to UHD Figure 1 summarizes the core idea of this paper. It shows that policies whether economic, security, or social must be consistent with the twelve principles that underpin UHD. The challenge policy makers face is to ensure that all of the principles are satisfied simultaneously. This is obviously not easy since it would require a technically competent government apparatus. It might not be possible to deliver this reality simultaneously in each specific policy proposal, but the policy makers must strive to be as close as possible to satisfying all twelve principles. For example, it is not possible to have good education without health, and vice versa. It is not possible to have long-term financial development without macroeconomic stability and structural production change. Also, foreign policy will always have to be consistent with economic policy for the purpose of utilizing the enormous additional resource that is the Diaspora. The establishment of an independent Boundaries Commission will also play a key role in preserving institutional memory that can address territorial integrity matters.
Monetary and exchange rate policy Education and health policies Development planning Fiscal policy Satisfy the principles of UHD Foreign policy Judicial policy Security policy National defence
Figure 1: Consistency of policy and principles

UHD

Moreover, private sector competitiveness would be consistent with a nurturing developmental state. A public procurement commission, strengthening the audit office, removing obvious conflicts of interest, strengthening the Ombudsmans role, and the Commissioner of Insurances office will serve to enhance the reach of the developmental state. Enhancing the independence of the central bank and improving its research and financial intelligence capability will promote macroeconomic stability. Allowing public servants to have tenure, and removing contract employment will more likely make public workers embedded and autonomous. Tenure will also remove the incentives for seeking shortterm rents such as bribes. Public sector workers must be employed based on technocratic abilities and training, and not as servants of the political party in power. The head of the public service must be a technocrat and not a politician. Once these state institutional frameworks are in place, the civil service
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will be in a better position to implement administrative and industrial policy. A weak state can never implement industrial policy since state weakness leads to corruption, favouritism and ultimate failure. One important policy measure that can stimulate all the principles is constitutional reform. In the same way that a constitution can be crafted to promote the power of the President and the elected party, one can also be crafted to incentivize cooperation and direct representation of the people. Obviously, the powers of the President must be curtailed. Equally important is the need to jettison the party list system. Members of Parliament must be accountable to their local constituencies even if the President is elected by proportional representation. Constituency politics could open the door for some independence to participate in democracy. A balance, however, must be established so that local demands do not stymie national concerns (similar to the problem faced by American democracy). Nevertheless, a constitution that allows for cooperation and democratic turnover will ease tensions in the society and reduce political risks, which will be immensely beneficial to private and foreign investments. We define democratic turnover as the regular change in government due to free and fair elections. Of course, constitutional reforms must also guard against explicit power sharing that allows ethnic elites to establish an entrenched system of elite accommodation while excluding the masses of the respective groups. The constitution must enshrine regular democratic turnover so that ethnic elites can be disciplined by the ballot box. Constitutional reform must never entrench ethnic elite complacency. Regular democratic turnover, and the successful empowerment of local democracies, will align elite interests with national objectives.

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References Acemoglu, D. (2008), Oligarchic versus democratic societies, Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol. 6 (1). Alesina, A. and E. La Ferrara (2004), Ethnic diversity and economic performance, Working Paper 10313, National Bureau of Economic Research. Alkire, S. (2002), Dimensions of human development, World Development, Vol. 30, No. 2. Barro, R. (1991), Economic growth in a cross section of countries, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 106, No. 2. Bukenya, B. and P. Yanguas (2013), Building state capacity for inclusive development: the politics of public sector reform, ESID Working Paper No. 25, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester. Granger, D. A. (2012), An education nation, Presentation at Cyril Potter College of Education. Granger, D. A. (2010), Public Security: Criminal Violence and Policing in Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana: ISIS. Helpman, E. (2004), The Mystery of Economic Growth, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Khemraj, T. (2013a), Bi-communalism and the economic origins of democracy: a case study, IDS Working Paper 4/12, University of Guyana. Khemraj, T. (2013b, Oct 23), Privatization through the stock market, Stabroek News, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/features/10/23/privatization-stock-market/ Khemraj, T. (2012, Dec 12), Outsourcing, insourcing and corruption, Stabroek News, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/features/12/12/outsourcing-insourcing-and-corruption/ Khemraj, T. (2011, Feb 9), Show-of-hands, secret ballots and the making of an elected oligarchy, Stabroek News, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/features/02/09/show-of-handssecret-ballots-and-the-making-of-an-elected-oligarchy/ Khemraj, T. (2009, Dec 23), Financing economic development: the state development bank option, Stabroek News, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/12/23/financingeconomic-development-the-state-development-bank-option/ Quigley, J. (1998), Urban diversity and economic growth, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, No. 2. Ramkarran, R. (2013, Jan 27), The public procurement commission, Stabroek News, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/features/01/27/the-public-procurement-commission/ Rodrik, D. (2000), Institutions for high-quality growth: what they are and how to acquire them, Studies in Comparative International Development, Vol.35, No. 3. Sen, A. K. (1999), Development as Freedom, New York: Knopf Press.
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Sen, A. K. (1993), Capability and well-being. In A.K. Sen, and M. Nussbaum (eds.), The Quality of life, Oxford: Clarendon Press. Schmitt, D. (1991). Problems of accommodation in bi-communal societies. The Journal of Conflict Studies, Vol. 11 (4). Stabroek News (2013, Oct 10), Serious conflict of interest around Ashni Singh, wife transparency body tells OAS, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/news/stories/10/10/seriousconflict-of-interest-around-ashni-singh-wife/ Staritz, C., R. Atoyan and J. Gold (2007), Guyana: why has growth stopped? An empirical study on the stagnation of economic growth, IMF Working Paper WP/07/86, International Monetary Fund. Thirlwall, A. P. (2011), Economics of Development, 9th Edn. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Thirlwall, A. P. (2007), The Least Developed Countries Report, 2006: developing productive capacities, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 43, Issue 4. Thomas, C. Y. (2009, March 22), The phantom economy and the crisis of credibility, Stabroek News, Retrieved from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/03/22/the-phantom-economy-andthe-crisis-of-credibility/ UNDP (2004), Human Development Report: Cultural Liberty in todays Diverse World, New York: United Nation Development Programme. Worrell, D. (2012), Polices for stabilization and growth in small very open economies, Occasional Paper No. 85, Group of Thirty, Washington, DC.

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