The Mighty Sparrow died in New York on 27 September at ninety-one. In 1956 he won his first Calypso King title in Port of Spain, the same year my great uncle Winston “Uncle Charlie” Lewis carried the Invaders to victory at Georgetown’s Astor Cinema. An appreciation of the Caribbean’s auditor in verse, and a question for Guyana: who is singing the audit now?
The authors of the 64/80 paradox answer Rory Fraser, Errol Benn and the readers who pressed them on why the failures they measured outlast governments — and argue that an independent audit body is a political device, not a technocratic one.
Rory Fraser’s study of land tenure, forestry enforcement and the public service reaches the same conclusion as Gampat and Mahabir’s 64/80 paradox by a different road, and asks why the failures they measure outlast changes of government.
Drawing on a book-length comparative study of eighteen countries, Ramesh Gampat and Minakshi Mahabir document what they call the 64/80 paradox: Guyana out-invests 64 per cent of its comparators in health and education, yet 80 per cent of them obtain better human capital outcomes. Efficiency deficits, inequality and governance failure explain the gap — and the oil window for closing it will not stay open for ever.
Sunday Essay · Diaspora & Development Why Guyana keeps having the same diaspora conversation — and what it will take to finally stop By Terrence Richard Blackman, Ph.D. ·…
Infrastructure | Analysis The Hourly Intensity Problem: A Data-Driven Approach to Flood Management in Georgetown By Guyana Business Journal Data Desk|Guyana Business Journal|March 30, 2026 139.4 in Peak Annual Rainfall…
Sunday Essay · Education & Society In the era of oil, what is Guyana teaching its children about their own worth? By Terrence Richard Blackman, Ph.D. · March 30,…
Social Policy | Analysis The Diaspora Is Not the Problem: On Citizenship, Belonging, and the Architecture of Oil-Era Benefit Policy By Terrence R. Blackman, Ph.D.|Guyana Business Journal|March 23, 2026 878,674…
Sunday Essay · Caribbean Political Economy Why coordination is no longer enough — and what the region must build instead By Terrence Richard Blackman, Ph.D. · March 21, 2026…
A Report on the GlobeSpan Policy Webinar — examining Guyana’s position amid Middle Eastern conflict, the closure of Stabroek News, governance gaps, and ExxonMobil’s $100 million STEM investment.