in this election. When we say "economy'' we do not mean the things which people rightly find confusing such as the "national debt'', which even PLP Shadow Minister of Finance Mr. Eugene Cox seems to have misunderstood. What we mean is what people understand, the simple facts of how Bermuda lives and how much money Bermudians have to spend.

It is probably true to say that Bermudians have a tendency to take their very high standard of living for granted. Once any person has lived for a good number of years as well as Bermudians generally live, it is easy to assume that good living will continue. A good economy is not, of course, a given or a right. A good economy which produces good living, is the result of hard work and good management.

There are people in Bermuda criticising what Government did or did not do during the long and difficult recession. On the other hand, there are highly knowledgeable people in other countries who marvel at Bermuda's success in managing the recession. Government gets very little credit for Bermuda's remarkable achievements, which other countries envy, but Government takes a great deal of abuse every time there is a small hitch in the economy. But that is politics, not reality. Reality is Bermuda's success and the cash and the good jobs and the good life that success produces.

Reality is also the fact that Bermuda has achieved high standards without income tax. We could not be happier that PLP leader Mr. Frederick Wade has finally stated clearly that the PLP would not impose the burden of income tax on Bermudians. But, like much of Bermuda, we must wonder if Mr. Wade is rushing to cover-up the truth. It could be that Mr. Phillip Perinchief spoke the truth about the PLP planning for income tax, to the horror of PLP leaders who were going to tell us about income tax after the election.

The truth is that Sir John Swan and the Finance Minister saw the recession coming to Bermuda and prepared for it with a very tough budget. The PLP and its friends in the BIU complained long and loud about that budget. The PLP even claimed that the Premier and his Government had created an international recession to plague the Bermudian worker! Yes, like the rest of the world the recession hit hard at some Bermudians but it had nowhere near the impact it might have had if the Premier and Dr. David Saul had not prepared Bermuda. Therefore it is clear to Bermuda that if the PLP had been running things, we would have had a soft and easy budget and a much harder recession.

What any people understand best is how much cash they have. Compared to the rest of the world, Bermudians do very well indeed. In the years that the United Bermuda Party has been in office, the economy has provided hugely increased wages and Bermuda has created a large, prosperous and secure middle class which travels constantly and educates its children abroad. That middle class was largely undamaged by the recession and that was not true in the United States.