After far too little and much too shallow a debate about it, President Moscoso has promised to essentially do away with Panama's banking and corporate secrecy. Our banks have been losing international depositors for quite some time, and the announcement provoked a minor run, even though the promise was made, in most opportunist fashion, to comply by a date after the president's term ends. Whatever battles are still to be fought and won or lost, it's still a safe bet that Panama's heyday as an international center for corporate shell games and money laundering is over.

What's unfortunate is that there has been so little intelligent discussion of what we should do to replace that part of our economy.

The costs of forming and registering a corporation in Panama may have been a bargain for those major international corporations who used our laws to hide multi-million-dollar bribes to the bureaucrat who held the purse strings for a huge southern African water project. They are ridiculously high, higher than in most of the wealthy countries, for the small investor who wants to limit personal liability for her restaurant or retail business.

Too many simple forms that a lay person could fill out and file will not be accepted by government offices unless submitted by a lawyer or a CPA. That puts us at a disadvantage in comparison with many other jurisdictions.

Shakedowns by public officials who are given or who usurp arbitrary powers result in a major increase in the cost of doing business. This sort of thing keeps many Panamanians with money to invest from putting it to work here, and leads many foreign investors to steer clear of Panama.

Our public schools and universities are treated as political patronage plums, and most private sector initiatives to improve the quality of public education are scorned by the venal mediocrities in charge. Thus it's the exception, rather than the rule, when a youngster enters the labor force ready to compete according to world standards.

Even though Panama had to agree to end international protectionism in order to join the World Trade Organization, all sorts of little protectionist rackets fluorish within our national economy. Our immigration laws favor gangsters from Europe and North America over PhDs from Asia and the Caribbean.

Now the debate has to switch from how privileged little groups can defend their prerogatives, how competition can be kept out, how foreign investors can be bamboozled, how markets can be cornered. What we need to get past our economic predicament are a positive sense of direction and lots of hard work.

The national debate must focus on what Panamanians can do to rescue Panama, and the first order of business must be to put our business climate in order.

In any business, whether of government or mere merchandising, somebody must be trusted.

Woodrow Wilson

In the hands of a bore, nothing is as dull as a fable; but in the hands of a master, it can be one of the wittiest and most charming commentaries on the human condition.

Diane di Prima

We know how cruel the truth often is, and we wonder whether delusion is not more consoling.

Henri Poincare

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