Merry Christmas Bermuda! So I bought my Christmas tree this week! So we have been talking about the economy, buy Bermuda, etc. Well, local merchants, here is why people don't like to buy in Bermuda!The cost of a seven-foot Christmas tree is $85; and those are the discounted ones. You have to be kidding me right? Are we not still in a recession? You people are jokers! You want people to buy Bermuda but you price yourselves out of the market on virtually everything! Geesh! Like, what gives? More on this after the top 20.Finally at the top of the pops right where it deserves is a former essential new tune and one of DJLT's faves Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera. This track is a banger and is a tribute to Mick Jagger. Leave it to the Brits. They are so cool. I had a blast dancing to this one at the Wine Cellar the other night. It was good to see my fellow DJ buddy since childhood, Craig (Bubbles) Darrell, still getting it done on the ones and twos. But he was mixing videos, which is totally cool.Tumbling to #2 is She Will by Lil Wayne featuring Drake. Now another killer dance track. Way Up to #3 is another former essential new tune, Mr Saxobeat, by Alexandra Stan. This dance hit is huge and has loads of energy, provided by the bright sound of the saxophone dancing atop a punchy dance beat. Alexandra Stan, born June 10, 1989 in Constanza, Romania, is a singer-songwriter who released her debut single, ‘Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)', in late 2009. The song impacted Romanian mainstream radios in early 2010, peaking at number 18. Her sophomore release, Mr Saxobeat, became her worldwide breakthrough hit, selling almost one million copies in less than a year and reaching the top five in over 20 countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the top 30 in Australia, Canada and on the Billboard Hot 100. She released Saxobeats, her debut album, in August 2011. It spawned another single, ‘Get Back (ASAP)'. This girl is HOTT. OMG is she sexy. Fellows, look out.Falling to #4 is Party by Beyonce featuring Andre 3000. Falling to #5 is Put Your Hands Up (If You…) by Kylie Minogue. Up to #6 is Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO. These guys truly know how to rock a party. Slipping to #7 is Rolling In The Deep by Adele. Down to #8 is Chris Brown's hit entitled She Ain't You.Jumping out of the gym to #9 is Love On Top by Beyonce. This is one of her best songs in years and anybody who is anybody in the business is impressed. Definitely a collector's item.Tumbling to #10 is I'm Into You by Jennifer Lopez featuring L'il Wayne. Down one spot to #11is Fly Away by Mavado. Tumbling to #12 is Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock. At #13 is another hit by Mavado, Pepper. Motivation, by Kelly Rowland featuring L'il Wayne, falls to #14 this week.Improving to #15 is We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris. This is continued excellence from Rihanna and her producers. Yet another chart topper. But the song has a major message about love, the pain of losing love and how when it's gone one can feel so empty, as if one is worthless, wishing to have back that lost love, harbouring a willingness to do anything or put up with anything to have it back. Many of us have been there and felt that. But this hit, like so many of Rihanna's fills dancefloors.Up to #16 is Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People. On the way up at #17 is Countdown by Beyonce.Down to #18 after several months toward the top of this and international dance charts, is Give Me Everything by Pitbull, Neo, AfroJack & Nayer. This is one of the best dance tracks produced this year and when played causes crowds to make their way to the dance floor. Slipping to #19 is Enrique Iglesias' current hit Tonight I'm Loving You. New at #20 is Without You by David Guetta featuring Usher. Yet another hit from David Guetta, arguably the top house/dance music producer in the business at the moment, and for a few years now. The collaboration with Usher guaranteed a hit, which this one certainly is.Now back to this week's topic, understanding the psyche of local merchants. So we are deep into a recession that has lasted two years. A recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth. A recent statistic released by people in the know suggested that we have had eight consecutive quarters of negative growth! So help me understand how merchants can justify charging ridiculous prices for items like Christmas trees?I noticed the trend of Christmas tree prices increasing about five years ago and it ticked me off. I wanted to boycott the whole sham by not buying a tree; but my wife and son overruled, as wives and children do in many homes around Christmas! But it is this sensitivity that local businesses play on, at certain times of the year, to capitalise on the Bermudian populace.So my message to shoppers, who have definitely sent a message to merchants by shopping overseas, is to continue to speak to them by how you choose to spend your money. In some instances businesses are being reasonable, fair even. But in other cases, as with the Christmas trees, this is not the case.Admittedly, I haven't done the math because I don't know what it costs to land a tree in Bermuda. However, given that the world is in a recession, it cannot be more than it was last year! If that be the case, how then can the cost of Christmas trees go up year over year. Oh, wait, right, the Government raised the duty!OK, that is one thing, but at the end of the day Christmas is about giving, it is for the children, it is supposed to bring families together and God's intent, in sending his son, to die for us so that we might have everlasting life was never for us to use the celebration to suck as much money out of citizens as practically possible.It's almost like it's an us against them deal; shops versus consumers. Consumers win some of the time and shops win on special occasions like Valentine's, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, Bermuda Day, Cup Match, Labour Day, Canadian and American Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. Bermuda recently had its very own Black Friday. Some of this is clever marketing on the part of local businesses, many of whom are simply trying to survive, but at the core, in some instances, it appears that there is greed.It is unnecessary for the price of roses and flowers to go up around Valentine's Day, for instance. You can't sell me a story about them being more expensive overseas at that time of year also, because we all shop and surf the internet.One useful source of deals, for those of you who don't know, is to sign up for Bermuda deals on Bermuda.com and shop whenever things are on sale. That's what I and many others do. Sometimes, even if things are on sale, I still don't buy stuff, but the key to sensible spending is to not spend when you don't have to or only spend when prices are reduced. Just a little word to the wise.In conclusion, I am simply asking if we can all just be fair and reasonable. Bermudians should buy Bermuda as much as possible and whenever they can, support local businesses so that we have a retail industry for both visitors and ourselves. It also creates jobs so we can bolster the retail sector at a time when we are trying to grow our economy.One way to grow the economy is to keep all our money circulating in our own economy. That means not shopping overseas. But businesses need to make it make sense for people to shop in Bermuda, because unless it makes sense, masses will continue to wait until they travel next and shop overseas, or they will bring items in themselves. Peace ... DJLT