Mark Wignall | Bank of Jamaica governor’s balancing act

Mr Richard Byles, as the governor of Jamaica’s central bank, must exist in two places at once. The first place is that fog, that bubble where he must coexist with people who talk the language of the highly skilled financial technocrats. He must be constantly grounded by the rules dictated by standard economics.

Too much money in the system will push inflation into a territory which may necessitate painful fixes. Hence, he may believe that it is incumbent on him to warn private sector companies that wage increases significantly above the ‘liveable’ inflation rate may upset that balance and tilt the delicate equation.

The other place that Mr Byles must exist in is Mr Everyman walking in a supermarket aisle and forcing himself to appreciate the price of a tin of corned beef, a head of cabbage, two onions and a Scotch bonnet pepper. Try as he may, that is a world where Mr Byles cannot really occupy, because he is socio-economically shielded from the pains of that existence.

If a warehouse supervisor meeting all his productivity goals believes that he is deserving of a 17½% increase in pay, should he grin and bear it when he is handed a paltry five per cent. Or, to put it another way, what is the best argument that can be used to convince that worker that he has a right to share in the growth of the company and the much-heralded economic health of the country.

The worker wants cash in his pocket and he is not interested in the words from a man who will never be able to walk in his shoes. I sympathise with Mr Byles.

The country wants a super competent Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) governor where the rate of inflation does not end up in something like this which I experienced a few weeks ago. I was in a small supermarket at the bread section. A young man was packing out some fresh bread on the shelves. No prices were displayed. I held up one and asked him, “How much fi dis?”

“Boss yu haffi ask at di cashier. Di price dem change every minute,” he replied. Of course, the prices were not literally changing by the minute but I got the point.

I can appreciate the harsh criticism of the BOJ governor by Dr Canute Thompson where he refers to Mr Byles as heartless and wanting Jamaicans to remain on low wages, but with an important tweak.

I genuinely do not believe that Mr Byles is as cold as that criticism would imply. Instead, in the regime where we have a central bank that is no longer in the grip of reckless ‘run wid it’ politicians, it requires a man, a man of means to hand over himself as that fatted, sacrificial lamb and pretend that he is heartless. At the very least, it lets the politicians off the hook and gives them less dangerous toys to play with.

WORTH OF OUR ATHLETES

About 20 years ago, I was in a discussion with some academics where we were trying to place impossible ‘worth’ or ‘values’ of superstars in the entertainment industry, sports stars and the standard professions - teachers, doctors, engineers, etc.

Many of us were missing the key point. The value of anything is its money value, and it is purely based on what the market will pay for it. A highly skilled and experienced neurosurgeon may charge US$300,000 for a particular operation but, if he could attract 60,000 paying people in a stadium, that same operation could probably fetch him, as a start, $10 million.

Superstars on a stage at a large gathering will be giving us a sweet mental rush that the mechanical engineer on an oil rig can never give.

One reader emailed me recently. “I was distracted all day at work on August 21 waiting for the women’s 100-metre final in Budapest. It was a great race. While I wanted Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to be one and two, or vice versa, in the race, being two and three is a great achievement.

“Sha’Carri Richardson ran a great race. She is fast. I did not think she had that much speed. 10.67 seconds for a woman in the 100 meters is very fast. While Richardson’s personality may grate on people a bit, I am so very proud of Jackson and Fraser-Pryce, who were very gracious in defeat. Both congratulated Richardson and showed grace and good sportsmanship. It is my observation that women athletes are more gracious and show better sportsmanship than the men.”

With much of the mayhem that we have grown used to continuing, it was good to see our athletes still there, showing us what the best of us can achieve.

THAT CHRIS BROWN CONCERT

I am so much in love with Rihanna that her assault at the hands of megastar Chris Brown has placed me in the stables of those that cannot even bear to discuss the fact that Jamaica has handed him the welcome mat and said to him, “It’s okay. It was only a split lip.” Ugh!

I suspect that, if Rihanna were Jamaican, Brown would not be welcome here, but not even that I am sure about. One does not get the sense that Brown is comfortable with remorse. I support the general notion that all young people make mistakes, and it could be that, over the years, the young man has been overhyped on his ‘bad boy’ image.

But then again, our people have paid top dollar to see Brown tonight, so maybe the bank balance can dull the senses when we judge exactly how the split lip came about. Or, again, maybe I ought to keep my mouth shut and make the big party rock up, rock down and ‘big up’ Chris Brown.

If our women are okay with it, I am disappointed, seriously so. Our young men? Enough said.

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.