I understand former minister of finance, Dr Omar Davies, in giving evidence at the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) enquiry to be saying, inter alia:

1. That those responsible for the mess should be brought before the commission to give account, naming the principals of Caldon Financial, Century National Bank, Blaise Trust and Horizon among those who he said "should be held responsible for the collapse"; and

2. That one error he made during the crisis was to trust some of the players in the banking industry to deliver on the promises they made to introduce capital, which did not materialise.

Even if you accept that everything Dr Davies said with respect to the above is accurate, it does not even begin to explain the systemic collapse of banks, insurance companies and businesses which occurred in the mid-1990s.

Simultaneous collapse

On the above theorem, one would have to go into contortions to explain the simultaneous collapse or severe financial problems of National Commercial Bank, Citizens Bank, Eagle Commercial Bank, Workers Bank, Life of Jamaica, Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society, Island Life and numerous unnamed businesses (all customers of the same banks) which one by one became insolvent at the then prevailing interest rates. Were they all more or less the same - a bunch of criminals - as seems to be suggested? I think not.

I am also puzzled by the fact that the enquiry appears to have begun at the scene of the collision rather than the speed of the approaching vehicles and the conditions of the road. From my perch, for it to be of any value, the enquiry will need to go back to some point as far back as, say, 1990 (or earlier), and trace the economic policies and changes in variables leading to the collapse: money supply, foreign exchange liberalisation, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, government deficits, etc.

Many businesses that were viable at the interest rates in place when these businesses borrowed were caught in an insolvency trap when these rates rose, hitting 60 per cent and more in short order. No legitimate business model can deal with 60 per cent-plus interest rates. What was the rationale behind any dramatic changes in variables observed over the period? Was the so-called defence of the exchange rate sufficient justification?

So, forgive me if I am somewhat sceptical about the process. Indeed, I am unable to fathom how a clearly systemic problem impacting a broad group can possibly be explained by pointing to criminality which, I am also prepared to assume, co-existed with the real culprit: a combination of flawed, short-sighted, or rather, half-baked economic policies, which has led us to where we are today: drowning in debt.

I am, etc.,

DONOVAN JACKSON

donovan.jackson@gmail.com

6A Holborn Road

Kingston 10