$120 a Barrel Oil

As of writing this article oil on the world stage has hit US$120.00 sometimes peaking above that. That is good news for oil producers such as Trinidad who benefit from the windfall that it brings so much so that the associated rise in food prices can be cushioned by this new oil revenue. However other Caribbean states are not so lucky. In Haiti the rise in food prices have reached alarming levels with social unrest equal to those in the starve ridden provinces in many African nations.

Caricom governments have endeavoured to increase the number of goods in the economic basket and remove duties on them in order to provide some alleviation to the consuming public, however it is a bit too little too late. The reason is the continued rise in oil prices will negate any efforts by Caricom governments to reduce food prices as we are so heavily dependent on imported food.

Hind sight is always 20/20 and we should have not allowed our Agricultural Stock to be marginalise to only production of cash crops but a a balance should have been struck in order to ensure a greater level of food security. Now we are faced with food inflation as has not seen in recent times.

We have to brace ourselves as in the long-run it may not get better. many world leaders are refusing to admit that at the rate we are going a world "depression" not recession as the world is recession.

What can we do? Well for starters we have to watch what we buy in the super markets. Limit our spending on "unecessaries" (Sorry spoiled children and adults). Limit our dining out and the use public transport as much as possible. Monitor your energy usage at home turn off lights in rooms when not in use. Limit the use of the telephone. Reduce your bills by taking the basic service and leaving out those premium features which you can do without anyway. Monitor your cellphone usage as well. Recycle outfits, do you really need to buy an outfit every time you step out into the world?

Shop at thrift stores and not the designer boutiques and instead of spending so much to get that top-notch cellphone why not get a cheaper model. we need to monitor our spending in this new era or we risk financial difficulties down the road. The same goes for businesses. they need to monitor phone use, the use of other company resources such as vehicles and electricity. Try to limit wastage in terms of raw materials and time. Now is the time to improve productivity and limit wastage and improve company efficiency. Employees need to show up on time and give a fair days work for a fair days pay.

Most of all we we need to monitor world money markets at it determine who we spend our dollars. Daily its value is being eroded by this new era.