Economic Development In The Caribbean

"A collection of essays by Caribbean scholars on the development experience of the English-speaking Caribbean countries, with an emphasis on policy-oriented analyses and alternative development strategies. Explores such issues as import substitution, regional integration, self-reliance and State-led development, and structural adjustment"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

This book sets out the economic challenges facing the island nations of the Caribbean and presents policy options to ameliorate external shocks and embark firmly on a sustained growth path. While the countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union that are the focus of the book have enjoyed a sustained period of price and exchange rate stability, they have been buffeted in recent years by adverse shocks, including the erosion of trade preferences, declines in official foreign assistance, and frequent natural disasters. Strengthening their growth performance will require design of a multifaceted strategy that integrates the Caribbean with the global economy, facilitates an economic transformation from agriculture to tourism, fosters greater regional cooperation, and preserves macroeconomic stability. This volume examines the critical issues that are part of that process, including fiscal and financial sector policy, management of external flows, trade integration and tourism, macroeconomic cycles and volatility, and the economic implications of natural disasters.

First published in 1982, this study attempts to put contemporary Caribbean development into historical perspective. By first constructing a Marxist framework for the study of development , Jay Mandle assesses the reasons why the region emerged underdeveloped and evaluates post-world-war two efforts to overcome the legacy of poverty through a strategy of "industrialization through invitation." Identifying the reasons why a Marxist framework yielded results which were unsatisfactory, the author then explores the requirements which must be met for a more reliable study of the Caribbean’s economic development. Case studies of Cuba, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago examine the extent to which these requirements have been met.

Caribbean economies have been faced with mounting challenges arising from the increasing pace of economic globalization. The financial crisis of 2007 further exacerbated economic instability due to high foreign debt, lack of competitiveness, declining productivity, and high unemployment and underemployment. This in turn has precipitated increasing social and environmental problems, including poverty, inequality, crime and violence, and environmental degradation, all of which require new perspectives and policy approaches for transformative change and sustainable development. In this two volume multidisciplinary edited book The Modern Caribbean Economy, Volume I provides scholars and practitioners with alternative theoretical perspectives and concrete policy recommendations, while Volume II discusses economic, industrial, and social problems facing the Caribbean along with pragmatic proposals to successfully deal with these, while building local resilience and enhancing institutional strength in the region.

Several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are suffering severe economic downturns and the success of market-oriented reforms is being called into question. This report seeks to contribute to the debate by examining the nature of economic growth in the region. The aim is threefold: to describe the basic characteristics of growth; explain differences across countries and to forecast changes over the next decade.

First published in 1996, this insightful and informative text examines the post-emancipation and recent economic history of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Jay R. Mandle offers an explanation of the region’s continuing underdevelopment. Through the use of an analytical framework derived from the works of Marx and Kuznets, the book focuses attention on technological change as the driving force behind economic modernization. Persistent Underdevelopment begins by exploring how plantation agriculture had a limiting effect on industrial growth. Ultimately, plantation dominance receded; technological stagnation continued, however, and, under British colonial policy the Caribbean failed to modernise. The post-World War II era brought new efforts at modernisation through the economic policies of the left regimes of Manley, Burnham and Bishop. The concluding chapters point the way to policies that would enable the Caribbean to escape its current poverty and become an effective participant in world markets, finally achieving the goal of modern economic development.