Economist wants support for workers displaced by economic change

Trinidad and To­ba­go risks so­cial up­heaval if eco­nom­ic trans­for­ma­tion leaves large sec­tions of the pop­u­la­tion be­hind, econ­o­mist Dr Ralph Hen­ry has warned.

Hen­ry said grow­ing in­equal­i­ty, low labour force par­tic­i­pa­tion and in­ad­e­quate sup­port for dis­placed work­ers could un­der­mine so­cial co­he­sion. Draw­ing par­al­lels with un­rest in 1937, 1970 and 1990, he said eco­nom­ic re­struc­tur­ing must cre­ate op­por­tu­ni­ties for or­di­nary cit­i­zens, not just growth on pa­per.

“We can­not ig­nore the is­sue of con­di­tion­al trans­fers be­cause we have to deal with the poor, be­cause the econ­o­my is still go­ing through struc­tur­al trans­for­ma­tion. Some peo­ple are hard done by the trans­for­ma­tion process, and short-term em­ploy­ment has to be sup­port­ed to en­sure so­cial co­he­sion. Oth­er­wise, we can have sit­u­a­tions that we have had be­fore, as in 1937, 1970 and 1990,” Hen­ry said.