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Send us a text Would V.S. Naipaul have made a good venture capitalist? Join us for a whirlwind episode with prolific British writer, Henry Oliver as we tackle thought-provoking inquiries surrounding the age of heroes, cities as imaginary spaces, the tragedy of unique talent and, the late bloomer. Imaginary Cities To best describe a place you hold d…

Send us a text Full transcript on cpsi.media. The gay “movement” in the Caribbean has stalled and we think it’s because they haven’t done their due diligence. The various rights groups throughout the region have skipped the necessary steps in the evolutionary progression of gay concepts in the Caribbean. They’ve hastily pushed to emulate their more…

Send us a text The traditional definition of sovereignty is not afforded to the small island states of the Caribbean and should be redefined in our newly evolved and globalized world. Ivelaw Griffith joins us for another insightful discussion of the political balance of the Caribbean, this time in the context of true independence versus perceived i…

Send us a text Economic collapse, the largest native exodus in Latin American history, and border woes with Guyana. In this episode, we sit with political analyst Parsifal D'Sola to unravel the last three decades of Venezuela's tumultuous history and the path ahead for the embattled former juggernaut of South America. Venezuela has fallen from its …

Send us a text And we mean that. Rihanna's cultural relevance (despite her foray into cosmetics and fashion) remains deeply rooted in Caribbean society. Behind the generic summer beats and a few questionable lyrics, lies a regional thinker who has created 8 memorable albums, each chronicling her own evolution and development as an artist. Join us f…

Send us a text How do we categorize the Milei administration and its policies? Today on the show, we're joined by Argentinian economist Iván Carrino in a deep dive into political movements throughout the country's history, from the authoritarian economics of Juan Domingo Perón to the controversial interventionism of the Kirchners. Can Milei's own b…

Send us a text On this episode, we're joined by Patri Friedman of Pronomos Capital to discuss the more practical facets of building a charter city. What are the building blocks of a viable charter city project? At what milestone can a charter city be deemed successful, and what common mistakes can a nascent city stumble upon? Friedman himself is in…

Send us a text In a previous episode (Madrid: the Capital of Capitalism), we explored the nature of governance in Spain's capital. However, the bigger picture for the largest country on the Iberian peninsula is one of political turmoil and deadlock. Economist Daniel Lacalle joins us for a thought-provoking discussion and a somewhat cautionary tale …

Send us a text On this episode of the show, Rasheed is joined by international lawyer Thomas Laryea, who specializes in the mediation process for sovereign debt restructuring. As a senior lawyer with the IMF, Thomas holds a unique vantage point at the tables of the negotiation between state debtors and creditors when financial instability requires …

Send us a text Navigate the Barbadian political landscape with Rasheed Griffith and CPSI Podcast Producer Shem Best. In this episode, we discuss the evolution and decline of governance on the island, starting with one of its most prolific Prime Ministers, Owen Arthur. What tipped the scales for the David Thompson administration's rise after over a …

Send us a text Where does Caribbean tech infrastructure stand today? Join Cybersecurity expert Neil Harper as we investigate the slowdown in innovation and standards adoption that could further erode the region's competitiveness and digital integrity. Could 5G benefit the Caribbean? Neil says yes, outlining the surface benefits of the latest in cel…

Send us a text What lessons can we learn from the current tech regulation climate in the United States? CPSI Director Shane Glynn joins us for a great discussion on efforts to reign in the juggernauts of the technology sector and the market factors driving the latest wave of scrutiny over household brands like TikTok and Amazon. The Caribbean may n…

Send us a text In this fascinating episode, we dive into a more nuanced discussion for implementing dollarization in Argentina. Nicolás Cachanosky joins our Executive Director, Rasheed Griffith, for a detailed and technical rundown of the steps needed to transition the beleaguered economy to the US Dollar. Firstly, there's the equilibrium rate. How…

Send us a text Citizenship by Investment or CBI programs tend to get a bad rap due to the misconceptions surrounding how they work and how they came to be. Dr Kristin Surak shares some valuable insights on the origins of "passports for sale" and goes into more depth on the true meaning of citizenship through the eyes of the people and the state. Se…

Send us a text Should Canada dollarize? Should sovereign debt be modeled as risk-free? Why is monetarism unfit for modern financial markets? John Cochrane, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute and blogger at The Grumpy Economist, joins Rasheed on the podcast. They discuss core themes in macroeconomics and why financial tools are underutilized in s…

Send us a text If you were asked to rank cities based on their level of libertarian policy implementation, it is very unlikely that at the top of the list, you would intuitively put Madrid. Of course, liberalism, classical liberalism, libertarianism, or capitalism are not usually thought of as being abundant in European cities. But on today's episo…

Send us a text Former Minister of Finance Manuel Hinds joins us for an eye-opening account of how El Salvador dollarized. We get down to the nitty-gritty of monetary policy and prudent governance in what should serve as a poignant lesson for the Caribbean region. Dollarization in Latin America is back in the economic headlights. The policy is simpl…

Send us a textBy CPSI Podcasts

Send us a text Talent will make or break a band, a company, and even a country. We're joined by Dr Collin Constantine to explore the requirements for successful growth, primarily in the context of Guyana, the region's potential rising star economy. Does Georgetown possess the necessary talent to bolster its social and political institutions or will…

Send us a text This episode takes us deeper into the idea of art as part of the welfare state. Music journalist and critic, Andrew Mellor is our guide to the historical nuances that fuel the Nordic's ongoing domination of the classical music space. Finland boasts the highest number of conductors per capita in the world. This has not happened by cha…

Send us a text A return to Argentina. On this episode of the Rasheed Griffith Show, we focus again on the beleaguered South American economy and discuss Javier Milei's meteoric rise to claim victory in the recent elections. Our guest, Argentinian political analyst Bruno Binetti, explores the socio-economic conditions that paved the way for Milei's …

Send us a text From gold to Bitcoin. In this episode, we are joined by Professor Lawrence White to explore a comparative history of money, starting with the era of the gold standard. We trace the origins of bank notes, private money, and the underpinnings (and shortfalls) of monetary systems across Latin America and the Caribbean. Our discussion be…

Send us a text "1 in 10 Icelanders write books." This curiously repeated statistic, (accuracy notwithstanding) stems from Iceland's proud literary heritage. The North Atlantic island nation is renowned for its contributions to the arts, gender norms, and governance. This episode's guest, Egill Bjarnason (a writer himself) gives us some insight into…

Send us a text Why is Venezuela on the verbal offensive and threatening to carve off more than two-thirds of Guyana's land area? The answer is wrapped in a tale almost 200 years in the making. Dr. Ivelaw Griffith takes us on an insightful journey from the nascent years of the Bolivarian Republic and its then-colonial neighbor, right up to today's w…

Send us a text Picture this: a tropical island, white sand beaches, bustling outdoor markets, and a burgeoning tech hub. It's not the Bahamas or Barbados. Instead, this episode takes us 11,000 kilometers away from the Caribbean, to Zanzibar, an autonomous archipelago of Tanzania and home of our guest Daniel Yu. The CEO of Wasoko, Africa's fastest-g…

Send us a text The British Empire was more than just colonialism and slavery. Framing it as such does a deep disservice to history, impedes progress in the present, and is an attempt to rewrite history in a manner that could endanger a stable future. Professor Nigel Biggar joins Rasheed for a thought-provoking discussion to give some ethical clarit…

Send us a text What does it actually mean to "restructure" debt? Federico Sequeda, a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley, discusses the intricacies of default with our CEO Rasheed Griffith. No two restructurings are the same and we get to the bottom of the how and why behind the hard conversations Caribbean governments find themselves in to attempt…

Send us a text Argentina is gearing up to make one of the most pivotal decisions in its economic recovery: dollarization. The country heads to the polls this weekend, and a win for presidential hopeful Javier Milei means a vote for the shift to an officially dollarized financial system. Emilio Ocampo is the man tasked by the potential new president…

Send us a text Is US Dollar dominance going away? No. Let's get that out of the way immediately. Rasheed Griffith and Daniel McDowell sit down for a much more serious and interesting conversation, grounded in the reality of economic and political history. The US dollar has been the reserve currency of the world since Bretton Woods in the 1940s. How…

Send us a text The Caribbean's brand potential on the world stage is not being fully realized. Deodat Maharaj, Director of Caribbean Export, argues that several regional obstacles must be addressed before the Caribbean product can be unified and finally achieve true recognition globally. Firstly, there's financing for small and micro-businesses. Th…

Send us a text British imperialism might be why Singapore has such high living standards today. The British were able to transplant their social norms and institutions more easily onto colonies like Singapore and Hong Kong. This, at least, is part of what Bryan Cheang argues in this episode of Caribbean Progress with Rasheed Griffith. But what made…

Send us a text Welcome back to Caribbean Progress with Rasheed Griffith, a podcast of CPSI. In this episode, I am joined by the insightful Joseph Wang, a former senior trader on the open market desk at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. We discuss the expanding internationalization of the Fed and the steadfast dominance of the USD in global trad…

Send us a text From QQ Girls to CFIUS Reviews. In this episode Rasheed is joined by Martin Chorzempa, a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute, to discuss Martin's book The Cashless Revolution about China's reinvention of money and the future of America's dominant role in the global financial technology industry. Martin on X (formerly Twitter): @C…

Send us a textBy CPSI Podcasts

Send us a text This week, we discuss the fascinating chronicles of monetary evolution with Dr. Dror Goldberg, an economics scholar from the Open University of Israel. From the captivating myth of Yap stone money and its striking similarities to Bitcoin. We dive deep into the economic journey of the Massachusetts colonies in the 17th century. The 17…

Send us a text Let's unravel the complexities of Charter Cities with Mark Lutter, a pioneer who is shaping urban landscapes as the CEO of Braavos Cities, and founder and chairman of the Charter Cities Institute. Is it possible to revolutionize economic growth through innovative governance? This episode, Rasheed and Mark unravel the intricacies and …

Send us a text Can you imagine the catastrophic consequences of your country being blacklisted internationally? Join Rasheed as he chats with Marla Dukharan, a top Caribbean economic advisor, as we unpack the intricacies of this reality many Caribbean nations face. They dare to question the motives and fairness of international entities like the Fi…

Send us a text In this episode of Caribbean Progress, Rasheed speaks with Humberto Macias, who previously served as the Deputy General Counsel of Honduras PrósperaThe promoter behind Próspera ZEDE. Being one of the first team members to relocate to Honduras for this tremendous project, Rasheed and Humberto discuss the growth of Próspera thus far an…

Send us a text In this experimental episode of Caribbean Progress with Rasheed Griffith, Rasheed reviews three Caribbean songs with two long-time friends, Kenidi Prescod and Akil Walton. These songs fall under the genre of social commentary calypso, referencing political decisions throughout the Caribbean. This episode was fun, and we hope you enjo…

Send us a text In this episode of Caribbean Progress, Rasheed interviews Anton Howes, a historian of innovation. This conversation had no bounds as they speculated what the world could have been if we had utilized water for power in the industrial revolution instead of coal. What if the Caribbean countries remained under British rule? They examined…

Send us a text In this episode of Caribbean Progress, Rasheed chats with Tianyu Fang, a Fellow of CPSI and a well-known tech journalist. This was a far-reaching conversation, from philosophizing on the ideological limits of selling citizenship to the practicality of fiscal policy constraints from reductions in passport demand. They explained why so…

Send us a text In this episode of Caribbean Progress, Rasheed speaks with Dr. DeLisle Worrell, a renowned economist and former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados. They discuss many policy topics, including why the standard macroeconomic models of the foreign exchange constraint in open economies should be revised. How dollarization brings fis…

Send us a text In our first episode, Rasheed invited Craig Palsson to discuss the current state of Haiti. They delve into its past, from pre-independence rivalry to the turbulent period of US occupation, up to the most recent presidential assassination. Next, they analyze Haiti's lack of institutional credibility as a significant factor in perpetua…