It was John Maynard Keynes, the British economist who, in his 1923 publication, ‘A Tract on Monetary Reform’, famously said: “But this long run is a
misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task, if in the tempestuous seasons they can only tell us, that when the storm is long past, the ocean is flat again.”
While the length of what constitutes the ‘long run’ will remain contentious, to say that the impact of an economic policy will be beneficial “in the long run”, presupposes that enduring current hardship is a necessary condition for the promised prosperity to occur. It also assumes that the sustenance of those policies and maintaining every other factor in the equation constant until the ‘long run’ is reached are necessary conditions for the supposed benefits of those policies to crystallize.
President Tinubu’s declaration on the day of his inauguration that “subsidy is gone” has been widely held as a bold initiative by many analysts. However, it remains debatable whether the manner in which the fuel subsidy was removed was the best for the economy. Again, owing largely to a belief that the fuel subsidy regime was mired in unbridled corruption, there seems to be an uncritical consensus that fuel subsidy must go in its entirety.
Two, following the wrong assumption that those defined as the poor would be the most adversely affected by the impact of removing fuel subsidy is an equally misleading belief that the impact of removal of fuel subsidy can be ameliorated through targeted cash transfers of $800m loan from the World Bank to the very poor. We are told that under the proposed cash transfer scheme, the ‘poorest households’ will each receive the sum of N5000 per month over six months.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bayelsa group laments month-long restriction on keke ridersA pressure group, Bayelsa Development Initiative, has berated Governor Douye Diri for the continued ban on night operations of commercial tricycles, also called Keke, in Yenagoa and its environs.
Read more »
Russia Says It Foiled Ukraine’s Plan To Kill Head Of Crimea Republic | Sahara ReportersRussia’s FSB security service said it thwarted an attack on Moscow’s installed head of the Crimean peninsula and arrested a suspect. Citing an FSB statement, the Russian state-run agency TASS on Monday reported that the assassination attempt was organized by Ukraine’s special services. 'An assassination attempt organised by Ukraine's special services targeting the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, was foiled,' Russian state-run agency TASS reported, citing an FSB statement.
Read more »
Who owns Agenda 2050 national plan?Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2023 launched a long-term national development plan as one of the quick takes toward his exit from power.
Read more »
Tinubu Rejects EU Mission’s Position On 2023 Election, Calls Report ‘Jaundiced’, ‘Poorly Done Desk Job’ | Sahara ReportersPresident Bola Tinubu has rejected the report of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) on the 2023 general election in Nigeria. The EU Mission had stated that the presidential selection of the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) leaves the electoral body vulnerable to the perception of partiality. The Mission asserted that the 2023 general elections did not ensure a well-run transparent and inclusive democratic process as assured by INEC.
Read more »
Senegal's Macky Sall rules out third term bidSenegal's President Macky Sall on Monday ended months of tense uncertainty by saying he would not seek a third term next year, clearing the way for open elections in the West African nation, long considered a bastion of democracy in a troubled region.
Read more »
JUST IN: First FCT minister, Ajose-Adeogun, dies at 96The first Federal Capital Territory minister, Chief Mobolaji Ajose-Adeogun, is reportedly dead.
Read more »