The Rasheed Griffith Show

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Citizenship by Investment or CBI programs tend to get a bad rap due to the misconceptions surrounding how they work and how they came to be. Dr Kristin Surak shares some valuable insights on the origins of "passports for sale" and goes into more depth on the true meaning of citizenship through the eyes of the people and the state.
Several islands in the Caribbean offer prominent CBI opportunities. It is estimated that more than 40% of Dominica's government revenue is derived from their own CBI program, financing wide-scale infrastructure projects across the island, such as additions to their green energy generation and a new international airport. To truly understand the lucrative nature of CBIs, we'll explore the historical context behind their inception, the motivations behind those who invest in these programs, the suppliers involved, and the complexities of successfully executing such a multifaceted process.
A passport may not necessarily mean citizenship. Dr. Surak posits that to grasp the motivations behind CBIs, a better understanding of modern state and personhood concepts is required - what exactly does a foreign passport offer, and how does it differ from the perks of naturalization?
The history of CBI programs also sheds light on the driving factors behind their persistence. For example, Hong Kong's handover to China fueled much of the initial success of many CBI programs in the Caribbean and Canada. A passport can be an assurance or fail-safe against government-induced insecurity, evident by the number of Hong Kongers who took up the offer.
But are these programs also a backdoor for unsavory individuals to bypass global restrictions? Not necessarily. The screening process for many of these programs is vigorous, even more so than Visa approval from countries like the USA. Bad apples are not unheard of, but this is not an indictment on the industry as a whole.
These programs are the lifeblood of several smaller economies and are a legitimate source of revenue for vulnerable small island states. The question should not be if CBIs are harmful because they aren't, but how best they could be utilized to enable development in the countries that rely on them.

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What lessons can we learn from the current tech regulation climate in the United States? CPSI Director Shane Glynn joins us for a great discussion on efforts to reign in the juggernauts of the technology sector and the market factors driving the latest wave of scrutiny over household brands like TikTok and Amazon.
The Caribbean may not be a major player in global information and technology, but it is a notable customer and beneficiary. Social media proliferation in the region facilitates the dissemination of news and politicians have jumped on the latest trends to reach a younger and more socially active electorate. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok allow ideas and movements to propagate throughout the region in mere seconds. The importance of these platforms has not gone unnoticed by US regulatory bodies. The courts argue that the ubiquity of these public forums has crossed the threshold for which they can operate without increased oversight.
In the case of TikTok for example, the geopolitical tension between Washington and Beijing has brought the popular video-sharing network within the crosshairs of Congress. Shane discusses the broader implications of recent congressional hearings and the shift it could cause in the greater regulatory landscape. America's competitive and technological edge is often said to be driven by its open markets and de-regulatory practices. A leader in innovation and information access, The U.S. is powered by a thriving tech sector that largely functions without the fear of government incursion. But could this edge be dulled by a renewed focus on censorship? What could this increased oversight mean for privacy, free speech, and accessibility for the satellite regions of the Caribbean and greater Americas?

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In this fascinating episode, we dive into a more nuanced discussion for implementing dollarization in Argentina. Nicolás Cachanosky joins our Executive Director, Rasheed Griffith, for a detailed and technical rundown of the steps needed to transition the beleaguered economy to the US Dollar.
Firstly, there's the equilibrium rate. How many pesos would be needed to redeem one US dollar? How would this price be established? The government could remove the country's capital controls, which have been used to maintain an inflated and unsustainable rate. This would allow the market to determine a new rate at which the country would dollarize.
Secondly, you must dollarize the bank deposits. The checking and savings accounts of citizens and businesses must be converted to USD. This is the most straightforward step, as this form of money is purely digital. Bank deposits also act as a method of converting the physical currency into dollars when withdrawals are processed and redeemed in USD.
Thirdly, there's the dollarization of the central bank. Argentina's central bank is insolvent. Government bonds would be a viable solution if Argentina's trust rating on global markets weren't firmly in junk territory. To get around this problem, Cachanosky suggests using a special purpose vehicle, transferable bonds, equities, and other financial instruments based on assets in the government's portfolio, such as pensions and health insurance.
None of this can happen in a vacuum. Measures will also need to be taken to ensure that the policy changes are concrete enough to withstand a regime change. If successful, it could cause a cascade of financial reform across the Southern Cone and usher in a new financial era in Latin America.

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Full transcript on cpsi.media.
The gay “movement” in the Caribbean has stalled and we think it’s because they haven’t done their due diligence. The various rights groups throughout the region have skipped the necessary steps in the evolutionary progression of gay concepts in the Caribbean. They’ve hastily pushed to emulate their more developed American and European colleagues and now risk a paralyzing backlash that could set gay rights in the region back for generations.
How have we arrived at this critical impasse? We think the gay drain is to blame. Brain drain is a term coined to describe educated individuals who emigrate away from the Caribbean to seek out better opportunities for their degrees and fields of study. It’s no surprise that these emigrants are also, very gay. The “D.C gay” as we call them in this episode is any gay man or woman who has graduated from fighting for rights, to enjoying them. Whether they were on the streets with placard to bring them to being, or simply worked to escape the Caribbean region and join a more comfortable life abroad, these individuals have exited the conversation entirely.

With these moderate fighters gone from the equation, more radical personalities who often see the progress abroad and seek to copy it at home are all that’s left. And this overwhelming body of extremes is the new face of the gay rights movement in the Caribbean. The role models all but gone. Western societies are now at a completely different stage of the rights conversation, one that has been unnecessarily obfuscated by the introduction of concepts like trans rights, that are are not synonymous with the gay rights that were fought for earlier. This dilution of the gay rights movement via the addition of more and more letters now paints a picture of a slippery slope that conservative developing parts of the world are terrified of and keen to avoid. In our modern environment that is becoming hostile to external changes perceived as threats to culture, what paths are there to progress?

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