The Bruce Golding administration has given notice of its intention to implement further tax measures early in the new year. While I appreciate the untenable and precarious situation in which Jamaica sits today, the approaches so far have been grossly short-sighted. In the words of a young Proposition Joe from HBO's The Wire, "You thinking short here, when what you ought to be doing is thinking long."

The Government has not shown a recognition of taxation's potential as an instrument of policy. Rather than focusing simply on the dollars and cents of plugging the holes in the Budget, the Government should instead be considering how its various tax measures synchronise with its overall policies on health, education, crime, economic development, agriculture and energy.

Limited gov't foresight

The fact that the Government, even for a moment, considered levying a tax on books is evidence that its goal is to collect as much revenue as possible without paying attention to possible ramifications.

It is this failure to anticipate the consequences of its actions that has caused the Government to see its tax packages fail to meet their revenue targets. It has consistently underestimated the effects of taxation on citizens' behaviour and spending.

Please Mr Golding, give some thought to pursuing a cohesive taxation policy that embraces a broader, longer-term vision for our island's future - one that encourages investment, growth, efficiency and unemployment while discouraging corruption, private and public-sector waste and social decay.

If you do not, there will come a point where you simply run out of fingers and toes to plug the ever increasing holes in our fiscal bucket.

I am, etc.,

ANTHONY SMITH

stretch_jm@hotmail.com