THE RECENT CALL for a national wage freeze by Minister of Economic Empowerment Dr David Estwick is the type of statement which proves the state of the economy is always a hot button political issue. No such statement was ever heard escaping the lips of any political party during an election campaign, for that would be political suicide.

Instead one heard about plans, particularly by the then Opposition Democratic Labour Party about a proposed attack on the cost of living and how plans would be executed to wrestle the cost of living to the ground.

Two years from the last election the mere utterance of such an idea by a Cabinet minister must be taken seriously, since the view from the Cabinet table is obviously different. That realistic and sobering view prompted Dr Estwick's startling views, but he went even further in laying out his proposals for getting out of what he saw as "this economic problem."

According to him, his advice to Prime Minister David Thompson is that he should "look hard and when you find something, sell it".

His view is that such a national wages freeze is "something that we have to do. We don't have a choice. We don't have the fiscal space to do otherwise".

To some, this language may set alarm bells ringing, and to others, it may not ruffle any feathers; but to any aspiring businessman, the immediate watchword will be caution.

The image conjured up by the totality of the minister's language is of an economy which is in so desperate a situation that items akin to the family jewels must now end up under the acutioneer's hammer. Business confidence is not easily bought, but can be easily lost!

Whatever one may think of the politics of Dr Estwick's view, the function of a political party is to win power, but the duty of a Government is to safeguard the public interest, and views that will catch the vote may sometimes have to remain "pie-in-the-sky" promises while more urgent attention is paid to unemployment, and the state of the foreign reserves and the fiscal deficit are given front burner attention.

Needless to say, Dr Estwick's thesis has been attacked by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party and the National Union of Public Worker's general secretary Denis Clarke.

Mr Clarke is unhappy with the manner in which the idea first saw the light of day. He felt that the Government should have spoken to the union before any such public disclosure.

On the other hand, Miss Mia Mottley sought to place the blame squarely at the feet of the Government and the Minister of Finance in particular. In her view the inappropriate budgetary policies of the Government since January 2008 have exacerbated the situation and caused the recession to have deeper and more deleterious consequences for this country than might have been the case.

The debate will continue, but it is now clear that voters will have to pay greater attention to the articulation of economic policy by all parties during election campaigns.

All types of window dressing and outrageous promises are served up by all political parties at election time, even when it is clear that the public purse and the public interest cannot accommodate them.

Sometimes too, attempts to implement such grandiose promises have seriously imperilled the welfare of the very people whose votes were attracted by the promises, oftentimes resulting in a diminution of the standard of living, and consequential increase in social hardship.

It behoves us all to follow the unfolding story; but whatever the outcome of Dr Estwick's proposals, greater scrutiny must be paid to the consequences of the economic proposals contained in party manifestos.

The economy will long remain a front burner issue as it is the foundation on which all other programmes depend.