Today’s column by Pedro Silverio tries to answer the question of, “Who did more?” To the key issues of government competency, such as economic policies, social policies and institutional stability, Silverio adds a fourth area of management, called material fulfillment. To each and every point the lead economist at the PUCMM sponsored economic think tank Cenantillas finds fault with the current administration. He points out the failures in the economic policies and calls the promises made in 2000 to “end poverty” today. In the face of all of these failures, Silverio says that the government is leaning toward an area in which it has less of a disadvantage, which is to say in the area of small projects throughout the various provinces. While the opposition might trivialize these small public-works projects, the point is that even here the results cannot be viewed as favorable for the government – especially if a cost-benefit analysis is performed. How these projects were financed is a question that comes to mind. According to figures from 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 (September), the government spent RD$42 billion in capital expenditures, and over the same period took in RD$45 billion in foreign loans. For every peso spent the cost was more than a peso. If all of this money was designated for these small projects, the rationale of such a policy should be thoroughly questioned. Therefore, according to Silverio, the question of whether Dominicans are better off today than four years ago will have to be foremost issue in any electoral debate. The notorious plummet of the welfare of the Dominican people will play a decisive role in the upcoming elections, he concludes.