28620: Daily (reply) Re: Sprague (28615) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Peter Dailey <phdailey@msn.com>


According to Sprague, Anoop Singh stated in relevant part: "However, recent 
expenditure cuts have been very ambitious and have adversely affected the 
ability of the authorities to deliver basic public services."

Sprague then comments: "I explain again. Third time is the charm. Only from 
firing real workers would you receive a decline of basic public services when 
you are discussing expenditure cuts. This does not mean that ghost workers 
could have also been or not been fired. What it does mean, is that real workers 
were in fact fired."

Sprague's explanation "explains" nothing of the sort. Nowhere in Singh's 
statement does he say that there has been a "decline of basic public services" 
as Sprague alleges, and nowhere does he mention Teleco. Budget cuts could force 
the curtailing of infrastructural repairs, plans to extend service to areas 
outside of P-a-P etc. and in many other ways "adversely (affect) the ability of 
the authorities to deliver basic public services." It may very well be that 
"Real" workers were terminated and not replaced, but Sprague has so far not 
bothered to provide any evidence of it or "sites" to relevant material. And I 
would ask again if anyone knows what "basic public services" the Aristide 
government provided that had to be curtailed during the Latortue interregnum 
because of budget cuts.

Sprague advises me to "check out Michael Parkin's Sixth Edition Macroeconomics 
etc." I probably should do so. And in the same friendly spirit, I would urge 
him to investigate the history of municipal services and unions in Haiti over 
the last thirty years so that he will be able to employ his ideas about 
macroeconomic principles to Haiti in a more fruitful and productive way.

Peter Dailey