The Isle of Man Government’s latest move to “stimulate economic activity”– at a time of rampaging inflation – is a bone-headed move which not only fails to address the underlying causes of the inflationary crisis, but will exaggerate them.
Manx Radio reports:
The [LoveIOM] gift card will come with two new incentives: a bonus credit of 25% to a maximum of £10.00 will be automatically added to cards purchased from 22 November to 24 December, and from 23 January to 31 March 2023, any spend on the LoveIOM Gift cards during weekdays will earn a 25% credit back (up to £50 on a spend of £200) the next day.
LoveIOM gift card scheme re-introduced
“This is an economically illiterate solution which reveals that the Isle of Man Government continues to misunderstand the current cost of living crisis. The crisis is caused by insufficient supply of fuel, goods, and labour. Stimulating extra demand for fuel, goods, and labour without improving the supply is a bone-headed move which wastes taxpayer money by making the underlying problem worse,” said Michael Josem of the Manx TaxPayers’ Alliance.
“The only saving grace of this silly stimulus spending is that this is being delivered through the LoveIOM program – which we already know is deeply unpopular and is suffering from low usage rates,” said Josem. “
Elsewhere, in an unattributed online “news” article, Isle of Man Newspapers appears to have substantially copied and pasted the Isle of Man Government’s press release on this issue.