The Big Issues

High Aspirations in 2021: The First COVID Budget

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Gaston Browne unveils a 1.4 billion-dollar 2021 budget promising no new taxes, no austerity, and hundreds of millions in investment despite a global recession and a roaring pandemic. We ask two economists and a political scientist whether its fairly positive outlook is in line with reasonable expectations for 2021, and what its social impacts are likely to be. The host is Kieron Murdoch.  


The guests are:

  1. Dr. Thomson Fontaine, an economist and Dominica national currently working in South Sudan. As an economist he worked at the International Monetary Fund for 13 years and his work and writing have focused on growth, currency crises, development, fiscal management and debt. He has also lectured in his field  at the University of Maryland University College and at Clemson University.
  2. Dr. Ankie Joseph-Scott, a Vincentian economist a currently a Lecturer of Economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill. Her focus includes economic public policy analysis, public finance, regulation of financial institutions and developing the Caribbean business environment.  
  3. Dr. Isaac Newton, an Antiguan and Barbudan graduate of Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Oakwood Universities. Among other fields, he has studied economics, administration, social policy ethics, and public policy. He focuses on Organizational Capacity Building, Executive Leadership, Government and Business Relations; and Political Campaign Management.


    4. This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on January 31, 2021.

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    The Big IssuesBy The Big Issues Production Team