Economic study author to hold presentations on island

One of the economists of the recently released economic study on the Northern Marianas is coming to Saipan next week to meet with local government officials, business leaders and the community.

Malcolm McPhee, one of the authors of the study titled Economic Impact of Federal Laws on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, will meet with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, 11am.

On the same day, at 1:30pm, McPhee will put on a presentation “exclusively” for the members of the Legislature and the governor’s Cabinet on the economic report, according to a memorandum that the governor issued yesterday.

Richard A. Pierce, the governor’s special assistant for economic affairs and trade relations, said McPhee will make the presentation at a luncheon meeting with major business groups in the Commonwealth, including the governor’s Strategic Economic Development Council, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Pierce, the Cabinet official primarily responsible for seeking funding and facilitating data for the economic study, also said the Fitial administration is still ironing out details of a planned presentation for the members of the community.

The comprehensive economic study provides a wide-ranging and detailed analysis of the current CNMI economy. It explores the factors that affected the CNMI’s economic development in the past decade, as well as the CNMI’s current economic situation. Most significantly, it examines how new federal laws, especially those relating to labor and immigration, will affect the CNMI’s ability to produce jobs, revenue and a private sector tax base.

One of the major conclusions made by the study is that, under a “federalized” immigration system, the Commonwealth will lose approximately 44 percent of its gross domestic product, 60 percent of its jobs, and 45 percent of its personal income by 2015.

The report also lists eight recommendations for the Commonwealth to achieve economic recovery:

1. Repeal the statute extending the U.S. immigration laws to the CNMI.

2. Provide emergency financial assistance to respond to the economic crisis in the CNMI.

3. Produce better data in order to paint a better picture of what is happening in the CNMI economy.

4. Amend the statute extending the U.S. minimum wage to the CNMI.

5. Provide effective representation in the U.S. Executive branch.

6. Create a stronger partnership between the private and public sectors.

7. Seek federal assistance to small investors.

8. Consider amending the Covenant.

McPhee and his co-author of the report, Dick Conway, are the same people who wrote the CNMI economic study released by Northern Marianas College in 1999.