COUNTRY #6: ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

The flag of Antigua and Barbuda is symbolic of their victory (the red V), where red represents energy of the people, blue provides hope plus the sea, black for their African ancestry, yellow for the Sun, and white for their sand.  Located east-southeast of Puerto Rico as two major islands in the Caribbean, there were settlements as early as 2900 BC.  Columbus landed here on his second journey in 1493.  Antigua/Barbuda became an English colony in 1667, and was established as an independent state of the British Commonwealth in 1981, making Queen Elizabeth II the chief of state.

 

The current population is 86,000 and, like many locations covered so far, the two islands are about 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.  That island regularly tormented by volcanic eruptions, Montserrat, is located just south.

 

Life expectancy is 74.8, 91% are black, literacy is well over 90% and, of course, English is the official language.  GDP/capita is $19,000, and the exchange rate is fixed at 2.7 East Caribbean Dollars to the U.S. Dollar.  It is a significant offshore financial center, and a minor transshipment point for narcotics to the U.S. and Europe.

 

Yes, Antigua and Barbuda are in the midst of an economic crisis, but so is the rest of the world. They had to cancel their June Romantic Rhythms Music Festival.  One of their ships was hijacked by Somalian pirates earlier this month.  

Should you choose to travel there, you will find 365 highlights.  Yes, they have casinos and are into online gambling and sport book sites.  In many of the countries featured thus far, you wouldn't even think of going there.  A/B is relatively safe, save for the usual petty stuff found everywhere, peaking during the 10-day Carnival celebration (July 23 to August 4 this year):  steel bands, costumes, parades and more.  The hurricane season extends from June to November.

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The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 29 to 8474.  We were the only stock market that dropped today.  Gold increased $7/toz to $926 and oil loitered just above and below $60/barrel.  Another prediction: oil will rise to $70/bbl next year.  This one seems like a pretty safe bet.  President Obama today announced his auto efficiency plan.  The average mileage of cars, today at 27.5 miles per gallon, will need to improve to 39 MPG by 2016, and light trucks from 23.1 to 30 MPG.  Clearly, electric cars got a plug, for they will balance the higher profit SUV sales.  I am thus compelled to again refer you to my HuffPo on what should be the future of the American auto industry.  

I am disappointed.  Mind you, an upgraded fuel efficiency standard itself is great.  But it appears that this Administration has swiftly been hoodwinked by the electric power industry, and further reinforced by wind power proponents such as T. Boone Pickens.  Their victory is that the commercial arena will be steered in the direction of the plug-in electric car.  There is no greater supporter of wind power than me.  However, this option currently only provides 1% of the electricity we generate, and enormous amounts of coal will continue to be burned for many decades, and somewhere in that upcoming period, the direct methanol fuel cell will supersede the electric car, and we will again miss out on the patents because the U.S. Department of Energy still prohibits providing funds to conduct research on this pathway.  A second HuffPo on this subject can also be consulted.

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