Bermuda is to blame for the current state of the economy and now the Island has pull itself out of the mess, according to former Premier Sir John Swan.Sir John, who was being inducted into the Bermuda Employers’ Council (BEC) Bermuda Business Hall of Fame at City Hall yesterday, said that his comments on the economy made last week had been generally well-received, describing the feedback as “encouraging” and “heartening”.Having sounded a warning about the plight of the Island’s economic future, Sir John told The Royal Gazette that the seriousness of the issue was brought home when he saw homeowners defaulting on their mortgages, workers being laid off and parents struggling to pay their children’s school fees.In addition, the supply of money was starting to dry up and pension provisions were deteriorating along with Government’s sinking fund for the repayment of debt.“This very un-Bermudian, very alien to us,” he said. “We have got to get Bermuda back on track through a public-private partnership as well as in collaboration with foreign people and investment coming into Bermuda.“We just can’t sit back and blame the rest of the world for our problems it is of our own making and un-making.”Sir John was inducted along with Sir David Gibbons, who unveiled the plaque with BEC president Keith Jensen. The other inductees were the late Sir Henry Tucker and Brian Duperreault, the CEO of Marsh & McLennan, who was overseas and unavailable for the ceremony.“Sir John, Sir David, Brian and Sir Henry span generations, have diverse opinions, have different management methods and operate in different economic sectors and sometimes even have had different visions about Bermuda,” Mr Jensen said.“But there are, I think, some similar threads of purpose for which we should express our gratitude.“We have to thank them for their over-riding drive to make Bermuda successful not just their businesses; and, if you will give practical effect to the saying ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ then a rising economy benefits all citizens.“We have to thank them for their unshaken belief in Bermuda and stimulating innovation so we could prosper.“We have to thanks them for ignoring our motto ‘where fate leads us’ and instead providing the leadership to choose the right things to be done at the right time.”Mr Jensen acknowleded the City of Hamilton and Mayor Charles Gosling and the founding sponsors of Bacardi, Belco, Butterfield Bank, HSBC Bermuda, Renaissance Re and Total Marketing Communications, senior sponsors of Ernst & Young, Gosling’s, Island Glass, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the junior sponsors of the Association of Bermuda International Companies, CableVision, Catlin, the City of Hamilton, Deloitte, Lindo’s, MediaHouse, North Rock Communications, the Oil Group of Companies and Rubis.