There has been unprecedented turmoil in the financial markets

There is some anxiety in the Caribbean over the likely fall-out.

Already it's being suggested that remittances to the region, a major source of economic support, could slow down.

How concerned are you about this?
How do you think the Caribbean will be, or is being affected?
Are you finding it more difficult to get a loan?
Who do you think is really responsible for this state of affairs?

The Caribbean is and will continue to be well.
I do not care who is responsible for the expected confusion.
I know and am confident that God will continue to work His purpose out regardless of the poor management of the ungodly or godless money managers. He (God) has done what seems like the impossible before and as Num. 11:23 says "Is the Lord's arm too short?" My answer to that is a resounding "No!"
However, there are some things that are required in our lands:
1. There must be intercessors praying for our care.
2. There must be incessant prayers for the leaders of the Caribbean on a continuous basis
3. This may be the hardest part for some but we the people MUST believe that our faithful God is able to do all things.
This answer may not be the one you are looking for but it may be the answer you need.
Paulette Drakes
Bridgetown, Barbados

Since I was growing up I've heard the older folks say "when America sneeze we catch the cold"
This has seriously made me prepare myself for the worst in this global financial crisis. I've already decided to dig up my concrete and buy some seedlings. I'm not waiting for food shortages and job losses to come crashing down on me unexpectedly.
Governments are so silent on the matter because they don't know what to say. Now is the time for the region to strengthen its integration movements and forget Europe and their promises.
Kozel Fraser
Kingstown, St.Vincent

I must admit that feel it for Haiti. This is the wrong time for any nation to get battered by four storms in one month.
However, I hope this crisis will be a wake-up call for Haitian politicians. While the international community was trying to provide funding for development projects Haitian politicians were fighting for power. They did not even care about the storm season that was right around the corner. Instead they kept insulting each other for positions for their party. I think every politician in Haiti should be brought to justice because of their careless approach to human life. They did nothing to prevent the tragedy which took place in Gonaives and other parts of the country. They feel so safe about their ways because they think the international community will always be there to rescue them from their failure.
The world is in big crisis now and it is not likely that any big money will be put forward to help Haiti. If it happens it will be a great blessing but Haitians will have to find their way out of the muddy situation we are in now. May the God of Heaven help us to overcome it.
Jean Louinel,
Mandeville, Jamaica/Haiti

Knowledge, not money, is the solution to the financial crisis.
The previous savings and loan crisis and the current subprime woe are both due to over-valuation of real estates. Thus incorrect valuation is the root cause of both financial crises.
In particular, current valuation methods based on market comparison is the main cause of financial crises. The past financial crises are evidences that the market price is often incorrect. Market comparison is the blind following the blind and should not be used in the determination of the correct price. A correct valuation method should be based on future cash return.
Since the cash flow generally extends to infinity in time, a correct valuation method must consider the cash flow to infinity in time. Furthermore, for commodities with similar functionality, such as cars and houses, the supply and demand model, which sums up all the quantities supplied and demanded, is needed. Bonds and mortgages are backed by the values of assets and of real estates. Credit crisis, thus, stems from incorrect values. Financial leverages amplify the financial crises.
A correct solution of valuation is the solution to financial crises. Money, on the other hand, can distort value. If all the market participants, including especially the government, had used correct valuation methods, both the savings and loan crisis and the subprime woe would not have occurred.
Hugh Ching,
Fremont, CA, USA

What all this means for the Caribbean is that there will be a slump in tourism in the coming winter and into the next year.
As job losses increase in the US, UK and parts of Europe, and oil prices continue to remain high at over $100 a barrel, people, apart from the very wealthy, will cut back on travel.
Aid programmes are also likely to slow down as governments of European nations, the US, and Japan divert much needed funds away from anything but humanitarian aid, to domestic projects which help to keep them in office.
And, those in the Caribbean who place their faith in the European Union (EU) coughing up money as a sweetener for signing-on to the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) should not hold their breath.
It is unclear how much of the foreign reserves of Caribbean governments are held in US dollars or what portion of those funds were invested, through US investment banks, in the property market or other instruments that may now be unstable.
It has to be hoped that it is very little if any at all.
The same observation is relevant to financial institutions, such as banks and insurance companies, in the Caribbean which may also be exposed to the crisis in the US through their own investments of Caribbean savings, pension funds and other securities.
Whatever the situation, the Caribbean should not expect to come out unscathed from this crisis.
(Extracted from a commentary by Sir Ron Sanders. Read the full commentary on our main page).

What I find interesting is the lack of a public debate about the racial origins of the sub-prime crisis; and, also, the need for a proper public debate on how all this will impact on small economies such as the Caribbean, over and above the obsession with tourism.
However, I am very positive about Global financial developments and the eventual victory for common sense.
Hal Austin, senior editor, Financial Times Group
(Ed note: Mr Austin is also from Barbados. You can listen to interviews with him and other experts on our main page and comment here on what they are saying.)

For Caribbean nation's watching this dilemma unfold, it is an important lesson of what can go wrong in an open market system mixed with other variables such as bad decisions and speculations.
Within the context of the Caribbean Communities Single Market and Economy (CSME), the nations moving along this path must be mindful of the consequences of market forces, and endeavor to put mechanisms in place, to address the challenges which come because of the ebb and flow of these "uncertain economic tides" in our Caribbean seas.
A significant starting point towards the regional integration of the region and Financial Security would be the implementation of the following recommendations:-
1. The nation budget for each member nation of CARICOM should have an adequate allocation for the Caribbean Development Fund.
2. There should be the move to create one CARICOM central reserve bank, within the next 5 years.
3. All member-nations should implement the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court of appeal within 3 years
4. The process of harmonizing all international economic treaties and agreements should be done within the next 3 years.
5. The police and other security services should be integrated to the extent of moving towards a centralized high command within the next 5 years.
These five suggestions are geared towards achieving the status of a unified state.
It is remarkable how we have advanced with the kind of technology which is present in the space shuttle, but we are unable to exercise the kind of business control which would lead to economic stability.
It is the hope of many, that the right decisions are made in Washington DC, to prevent the kind of economic melt-down, which would not only hurt it's millions of citizens, but also it's friends and neighbors around.
Clarence E Pilgrim,
Antigua and Barbuda
(Ed note. Condensed from a longer post by the writer)

When I entered the UK 10 years ago as a student from the Caribbean I deposited my finances at (a bank). I later requested a loan from the bank and was turned down due to having no “credit ratings” in the UK. Ten years later I have a mortgage, my own home and no debt! However at the same time 10 years ago my UK colleagues were granted similar loans and had money thrown at them from credit card companies even if they had no savings and no income – their loans were guaranteed by their “credit ratings”. I immediately knew that this was an unsustainable banking system. Today, these same colleagues do not own a home but have higher debt then the balance on my mortgage! I remember saying to my UK colleagues that where I come from you borrow based on your assets or what we in the Caribbean call collateral. And that is the fundamental difference between the lending facilities of the developed world i.e. U.S.A and UK and the developing world like the Caribbean. Our financial lending models are fundamentally different in this regard and I hope the Caribbean sticks to its model.
Discussions by leading bankers and economists in the UK are already turning into a debate about the return to traditional banking – banking as we know it in the Caribbean and the developing world. All we have to do in the Caribbean is to retain our traditional banking rules and methodologies. We are usually quick to copy all things American – well let this be a lesson to us – this is one financial model we do not need to or want to copy.
With or without the US $700 billion rescue plan, it is now universally accepted that the value of the US dollar in the medium to long term will not be worth the paper that it is printed on – Caribbean Central Banks make hay while there is still a ray of sunlight left!
Gerald La Touche JP
Roseau and Birmingham
Dominica and England
(Ed note. Edited)

My overwhelming concern as a citizen of the small Caribbean of St. Lucia is the competence of my own government to deal with the global financial crisis. The appreciation of the crisis by the government extends only to the extent to which they can use the crisis as a scapegoat. We are doomed not by the global economic crisis but by inability of Prime Minister Stephenson King and his men.
Virnet Fontenelle
Castries, St. Lucia