WORK, INCOME & POVERTY

Oil and Gas: Common Mistakes Governments Make and How to Avoid Them

Featured Resources, Policy Report, Tax, Work, Income & PovertyBy Dhanraj Singh February 4, 2020

A natural resource windfall is an opportunity to transform a poor economy. Unfortunately, it is also an opportunity for plunder. The struggle between these options is existential: for example, the same resource discovery, diamonds, propelled Botswana from poverty to affluence, and convulsed Sierra Leone into violence and destitution. In that struggle, the best defence is a critical mass of citizens who understand the issues. But that critical mass has to be built: the siren call of plunder has often been powerfully seductive, and some of the choices that turn out to be key are not obvious. This guide is a timely and well-crafted step in building that citizen understanding. Opinion-leaders in Guyana, both in politics and the media, now have a responsibility to give it the attention it warrants.

Budget 2019: A Disturbing Trend and Vision for Guyana’s Future

Budget, Featured Resources, Policy Report, Tax, Work, Income & PovertyBy Staff May 9, 2019

The Government’s budget for 2019 continues a disturbing trend and vision for Guyana’s future. Despite promising “a good life” for Guyanese, the budget continues to shape a future in which the government is not accountable to taxpayers, where corruption and political nepotism are entrenched, and future oil revenues benefit only the governing political class. More troubling is that taxpayers’ money is used to pay for the government’s priorities at the expense of their own livelihood and success. Fortunately, there are common sense policies that can make the economy work for everyone and put it on a sustainable path.

More Pain and Economic Hardship Ahead for Berbicians, Unless the Government Acts

Blog, Featured Resources, Work, Income & PovertyBy Dhanraj Singh October 26, 2018

Berbicians are in for more pain and economic hardship as the Berbice Bridge Company proposes tolls increases that are three times higher than current tolls. Families and businesses alike are already suffering from the ill-advised closure of multiple sugar factories that were the backbone of the County’s economy. The proposed tolls hike would devastate families, especially low-income and poor families, school children, and workers, and bring the County’s economy to a grinding halt unless the government takes the necessary steps to avoid the proposed toll increases.

Government Should Fund an Earned Income Tax Credit Program: A Better Option Than Cash Transfers

Blog, Budget, Featured Resources, Tax, Work, Income & PovertyBy Dhanraj Singh August 22, 2018

The government should use a portion of oil revenues to fund an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program to help lift families out of poverty and put them on a path to prosperity. It also incentivizes work as opposed to discouraging it resulting in greater labour market activities and improvement in social and economic well-being. The EITC is one of the most successful anti-poverty reduction policies and a better option than direct cash transfers. In addition to lifting poor and low-income families out of poverty, the EITC has been successful in growing the tax base and reign in informal activities in the formal economy.