alwyn jordan : continuing the legacy of success remarks by mr alwyn jordan, deputy governor of the central bank of barbados, at the 25th frank collymore literary endowment awards ceremony, bridgetown, 30 january 2023. * * * good evening ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of the bank, i welcome you to the 25th frank collymore literary endowment competition awards ceremony. twenty - five years is a remarkable achievement! i recall that early in my first tenure at the bank, this competition was very much in its infancy, so i was quite impressed when i returned, after being away for over a decade, to discover how much it has grown and developed over its teenage and now young adult years. on that note, i want to congratulate, in advance, the winners of tonight's competition and to offer encouragement to those of you who, on this occasion, are not among the awardees. i promise that if you keep writing, keep honing and developing your craft, you will reap the rewards. when i delivered remarks at last year's ceremony, the central bank of barbados was beginning a year of celebrations to mark its golden anniversary, which was held under the theme " living the legacy : continuing the journey ". i said then that the frank collymore literary endowment has contributed greatly to that legacy. it forms part of the bank's commitment to contribute in a meaningful way to barbados'overall national development, which includes fostering a strong cultural identity. that's because it has always been, and continues to be, our belief that we must be a part of, and not apart from the society we serve. indeed, it is fair and accurate to point out, that over the past quarter century, the frank collymore literary endowment has developed a legacy all of its own. it was born out of the bank's silver jubilee celebrations, and conceived as a way that we could help to nurture our island's literary tradition. we are therefore very proud to see that as it marks its own milestone anniversary, it has become a symbol of excellence in this area, and that this awards ceremony is seen, to quote two - time winner linda deane, as barbados'" literary grammys or oscars. " similar to those awards, the frank collymore literary endowment recognises and rewards the best of our local literary voices and elevates their status on the local, regional, and dare i say international stage. over the years

an ever - present concern - that governments are asked to use regulation to fix every problem. domestically, there is now healthy scepticism that rules can provide the universal fix - all. in the international arena, the starting point is not one of over - regulation. widespread acceptance of the starting point given by the washington consensus ( “ deregulate and open - up internationally ” ) and acceptance of an international version of the medicos ’ dictum “ first do no harm ” should avoid the mistakes of over - zealousness. part of a good rule - making regime is a recognition that parsimony is a virtue and that some rules are bad - where vested interests or misguided lobby groups gain influence in the process, we can end up with the wrong rules. conclusion my starting point was that globalisation has been enormously beneficial for australia, and for the world. even if we cannot design a perfect set of rules to govern its development, it will go on being enormously beneficial, and most will share in that process. but this does not in any way diminish the importance of trying to ensure that the rules are appropriate both in their technical aspects ( providing the right incentives for further innovation and dissemination of ideas ), and in an income - distribution sense, both between countries and within countries. during the asian crisis, larry summers argued that we would not wish to restrict the use of airline travel just because of the occasional plane crash, and by analogy that we would not want to slow globalisation. this seems to me to be correct, but to emphasise the wrong issue : we respond to crashes ( and crises ) by putting in place rules, regulations and procedures to diminish the chance of a recurrence, and to be better prepared should that eventuality arrive. australia cannot, as a medium - sized player on the international stage, hope to dominate the outcomes or achieve all its objectives. but we need to be at the table, to speak up, and to work actively for a better set of international rules, not only for the set of issues encompassed by the international financial architecture, but for the entire gamut of the globalisation process. although the un is attempting to coordinate international patents - see the economist ( 2000b, p 99 ). references friedman, thomas l ( 1999 ), the lexus and the olive tree, farrar, straus and giroux, new york. grenville, s a ( 1999a ),