Not profitable with Government in charge of mas

THE EDITOR: Is the TT Carnival a profitable event? The answer is not straightforward.

If the question is posed as a simple matter of expenditure versus returns for the country as a whole, the answer is most likely in the negative. According to the CSO (Central Statistical Office), visitors who come for the Carnival period spend an average of $350 million in total. However, the average government expenditure on Carnival is about $300 million.

This would seem to generate a profit of $50 million, but one also has to take into account the fact that Carnival Monday and Tuesday are, ipso facto, public holidays. This means that productivity (and hence GDP) drops precipitously in those two days. Since our GDP is about $130 billion, this means a loss, conservatively calculated, of about $500 million over the two days of Carnival.

On the other hand, Carnival does generate profits for the organisers of Carnival bands and ancillary entrepreneurs, from fete promoters to vendors.

As for the citizens who participate in Carnival, they obviously feel they get utility from spending money on fetes and costumes or else they would not make those purchases.

As long as Carnival is government-sponsored, however, it will remain a loss-making event, like most other state enterprises.

ELTON SINGH

Couva