caribbean governance fact or fiction an analysis

8/3/2019 Caribbean Governance Fact or Fiction an Analysis.

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ABSTRACT:

The importance of an efficient and effective Caribbean in the delivery of economic and social

development is a long-standing theme of development policy. This however has not always been

the case and the result is a Caribbean repeating past mistakes and compromising in some cases

the theme of the development strategy. Global recession has consistently tested the resolve of the

Caribbean and to this end there is a need to address the factors that have consistently led to the

economic decline of the island states. This paper examines the recent experience of the

Commonwealth Caribbean in dealing with the current Global economic crisis with a particular

focus on Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. It begins by examining the signs and the

effect on each island. The paper then identifies five key issues that have emerged as factors

contributing to and needing the attention of the heads in order to ameliorate against an

occurrence in the future: regionalism, integration, transparency and governance are examined as

being overarching themes the fundamental problems are dealt with individually within the essay.

In each case the background to its contribution to the problem is given along with the solution to

the problem. A history examining the recession as a new phenomenon and by extention

unprecedented is assessed. The paper concludes by discussing one key dimension of the global

economic crisis experience: globalisation and the importance of politics in promoting and

sustaining a successful relationship with the rest of the world. The final section sums up the main

points.

The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author (Jepter Lorde) and do not necessarily reflect the views

of The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus or its Board of Directors and/or Board of Governors.


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It is a fact that the world economy is facing the worst financial crisis since the great depression.

It can be argued the crisis is taking place at a time when Caribbean countries are grappling with

over arching themes of structural adjustment, transparency and governance as well as

globalisation, integration and regionalism issues indicating a Caribbean challenged. It is clear

that these reoccurring themes are a reflection of the global economic situation and can threaten to

reverse the few gains made by the region in recent years. The general consensus therefore is that

the near unprecedented period of national recession currently being experienced in English and

non English speaking Caribbean islands should be confronted with bold, swift and concerted

actions to reduce the potential negative effects of the crisis on these developing states. ECLAC

or The Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean clearly articulates five main

channels of impact or signs that can serve as lead indicators to the crisis they are financial

contagion, excessive external borrowing, and reduction in foreign direct investment, external

demand reduction of goods and services, reduced workers remittances as well as changes in

relative prices (particularly commodity prices). It is the position of this essay that the present

situation is not unprecedented, this essay will seek to clearly identify the signs of the crisis and

the corollary effects, as previously articulated by ECLAC, while at the same time outlining the

factors that account for the exposure of the national state to this current state of affairs. Attention

will be paid to three Caribbean islands where the issues are current and dynamic; they are

Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

In order to clearly identify the signs of the crisis it would be intuitive at this time to contextualise

the framework within which the essay is structured; the contributing key terms are global

recession, crisis and unprecedented. Global recession is widely accepted and can only be


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confirmed if GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is negative for a period of two or more

consecutive quarters, by extention a national recession can be defined using the same parameters

and be the recipient of a knock on effect attributed to the Global situation (Willis Peterson 2002).

A crisis is an end product, manifesting itself after showing signs the organs central to the

operation of a system begin functioning erratically; in extreme cases they stop functioning

entirely. The result, if the system is to be salvaged, is a slow and painful adjustment. (Barry

Eichengreen 2002).

External borrowing and the payment of interest rates is not new to the Caribbean and is described

by Norman Girvan as being responsible for the single largest movement of money out of the

region towards satisfying the myopic, parasitic appetite of an elite imperialist class. This

movement has contributed to the perpetual cycle of poverty, dependency and the corollary

criminality due to high debt servicing arrangements and the inability of Governments to invest in

the social and welfare development of its people, Jamaica therefore is no stranger to this. The

lack of good Governance however has lead to a further exacerbation of the condition. In

examining good governance and the effect of external borrowing two items of note, the JLP win

in 1981 coincided with the election of Ronald Reagan and the Neo-Liberal approach to global

economic relations, an ideology the Edward Seaga administration was sympathetic to, the

approach signalled not only a change in economic policy direction but also renewed contact

between the government of Jamaica and the IMF (Davies 1996). Having articulated a new policy

direction the expectation therefore would be a turnaround in the fortunes of the Jamaican

economy-this was not to be. The record showed a slowdown in key production sectors of

bauxite, agriculture and textiles to put it bluntly the country was in a worst position than was


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the case with the former PNP administration after having received more than preferential terms

under the JLP administration. One aspect of the relationship was clear; it could not continue

(Davies 1996). Clive Thomas offers some insight to the situation, he makes an observation

concerning the class relations in the Caribbean but the analysis in the Poor and the Powerless is

collectively intuitive, salient and reflective of the relations taking place:

A fourth observation is that the petty bourgeoisie that presently controls state power is not ahomogeneous group, but includes several fractions - professionals, political administrative, state-economic, and private - and although fractional conflict exists generally, in the absence of anentrenched ruling class, its self-interest leads it to develop closer relations with national privatecapital. Because of these considerations the state takes on the characteristic of being a "state foritself", and in the absence of bourgeois democratic constitutional restraints, it can proceed

rapidly to the institutionalization of all forms of corruption. This, we believe, is the centralexplanatory factor behind the rise of corruption, and the pattern which it has taken in the region,i.e., it constitutes a means of facilitating the consolidation of an economic base and theenlargement of property held by this class.

The socioeconomic fallout from the association with the International Monetary Fund has

stymied the development of the island and as undermined the limited gains made in the post

independence era, is the current situation facing Jamaica unprecedented the answer is simply no.

The year is 2009 and the incestuous relationship between aspects of the governing elite and

unsavoury elements of the society has not so subtly festered to the surface. The JLP is once again

in office and scandal of epic proportions has gripped the party with the arrest of Christopher

Dudus Coke, drug lord, reputed strongman and don to the JLP. Horace Campbell Professor of

African American and Political studies at Syracuse University had this to say:

The arrest of Christopher Dudus Coke in Kingston has reopened the issues of the use of thugs

and gunmen to intimidate the poor in Caribbean. From Mexico to Guyana and from Brazil to

Trinidad, gunmen and criminal elements integrated into the cocaine, guns, politics and banking

business terrorise the poor and ensure that international capitalism thrives on the backs and

bodies of the most oppressed. Dudus had inherited a criminal infrastructure from his father (also

known as Jim Brown) that had been organised by politicians to coerce and intimidate the

working poor.


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The phenomenon of Garrison politics has been around since the 1970 in Jamaica, no doubt

having the blessing of the political elite; it has however bought into sharp focus the inability of a

Government to govern and to tackle the pressure of a Global and National recession in the face

of excessive external borrowing and the filtering of Government funds to support an underworld

dominated by gangsters and social parasites. Thirty years later Christopher Coke operates a state

within a state funded by Government largesse, patron Clientilism and the sale of illegal drugs. It

takes the action of a grand jury in the USA and pressure to be brought to bear on Jamaicas

political elite to expose the attempts made by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to prevent the

extradition and his relationship with the Jamaican Don by contracting the services of Manatt,

Phelps and Phillips to lobby the US Government to discontinue extradition proceedings against

Dudus. While grappling with this the country has found itself in the hands of the IMF to

restructure the economy-a familiar refrain. Some seventy three died and prior to this latest

embarrassment to the Caribbean hundreds if not thousands dispersed in 1980 in an attempt to

settle differences between international capital, the local elite and the lumpenproletariat. Given

the present state of affairs it would appear that many more will die but what is more alarming is

their lack of knowledge of that fact.

The Caribbean and its association to the metropole can be traced back to about five hundred

years, from the inception the colonial states were established only to serve the hegemonic and

self serving ambitions of a ruling class far removed from the economic deprivation visited upon

the inhabitants of the Caribbean. The relationship was brutal and coercive and structured to

extract the maximum by way of output while at the same time perpetuating and maintaining

constant dependence on the metropole (Eric Williams 1970). Barbados, given its geographic


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location at the time, had become a victim of the economic structure and showed signs of this

during the early stages of the national recession from 1991-1994. The country suffered reduction

of foreign direct investment and external demand reduction for goods and services, led by the

then DLP administration under the leadership of then Prime Minister Lloyd Erskine Sandiford.

This structured economic isolation has its genesis not within the context of a dynamic global

economic arena in which Barbados is a contributing player but from a system, long established

by the former colonial masters, of Plantation Economy which posits that plantation slavery and

specialization in export of primary commodities, in this instance Tourism, has marked the

evolution of the societies in which it existed. The plantation economy theorist Lloyd Best

explains, The legacy of institutions, structures and behaviour patterns of the plantation system

are so deeply entrenched that adjustment tends to take place as an adaptation within the bounds

of the established framework (Best 1968, p. 32). The Caribbean economist Norman Girvan

contends that the transnational corporation (TNC) is an institution that exists within the rules of

the game of the plantation economy. He points out that the historic continuity of foreign

ownership, terminal stage of production, limited domestic linkages, repatriation of profits, and

persistence of the incalculability of value flows with transfer pricing by TNCs are similar to

slave plantationmetropole flows. The tourism product in Barbados resembles exactly the

description advanced by Girvan. Undiversified for almost fifty years it depends solely on the

England, USA and to a lesser extent Canada for annual tourist arrivals. Major players Hilton,

Marriott, Sandy Lane and Four Seasons with the all inclusive package leave most if not all of the

spend in the country of origin. Specialist areas within the culinary arts are held by foreign

professionals with limited or no transferable skills to local workers. The results are unapologetic;

with the fall in investment capital demand as a consequence shifts inward due to the exogenous


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shock resulting in reduced output in consumption and government spending. With this shortfall

in potential output as opposed to actual output unemployment is the result with all of the social

ill associated with it. Unprecedented therefore cannot describe the present occurrence because

Barbados has experienced it before. The year is 2008 and the Barbados government led once

again by the DLP administration has found itself in the unenviable position of managing an

economy with reduced output, falling external demand for the mono crop tourism, increase in

unemployment and marked increases in criminality as well as reduction in foreign direct

investment. This situation has been highlighted by the inability of the country to restart the

famed Four Seasons project; it is not difficult to understand the dynamics between International

finance capital and local investment. With the impact of the world economic crisis tightening its

grip flight of capital was seen as an understood result. The sector depends heavily on the foreign

visitor who has stopped travelling, with reduced spend the sector is not seen as attractive by way

of investment. The result is a contraction of the industry and the flight of the funds to the

metropole of origin the past has once again repeated itself. It is no doubt therefore that civil

assignments such as the Four Seasons project valued currently at US five hundred million has

been on hold for two years, Merricks Beach Resort and Residence development project unable to

secure the funding but also valued at some five hundred million US dollars and the long overdue

Bridgetown to Hilton development project are all victims of the dependence on International

finance capital and foreign direct investment. These projects are substantial and impact directly

on the tourism sector the chief pillar of economic growth to the island.

Its outrageous and insane, those crazy prices in Port of Spain. Its sad, and getting so bad,

Oh Lord, capitalism gone mad. This was the cry of the Mighty Sparrow former Calypso King of

Trinidad and Tobago in 1983. Prices were described as among the highest in the Caribbean. The


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latest style from the United States catches on with the unspoken assumption the rest of the

Caribbean is behind the times (Barry et al 1984). An editorial in an Antiguan paper sums up

Trinidad at the time:

Port of Spain is a hustlers paradise, a fair ground with pirates at large, music booming, New

York trinkets on the side walk, everybody on a hustleOur diseased and destitute sprawled on

the roadsides, our mad directing traffic or otherwise engaging with their demons and quoting the

song Capitalism gone mad.

Certainly not the paradise the Caribbean is known for however this clearly shows a Trinidad

embracing the negative aspects of both a developed and underdeveloped world. A number of

social ills to consider: increased criminality, alienation, decadence and as previously mentioned

consumerism of the industrial metropole alongside perpetual poverty, social decay, economic

dependence and foreign domination. This essentially summed up what Trinidad had become in

the wake of a slump of global oil prices that had once catapulted the island ahead of its regional

counterparts (Barry et al 1994). Trinidad had adopted a laid back approach to ownership only

seeking tax dollars and production sharing contracts as the basis of relations with the TNC

instead of direct ownership of the non renewable. Barry, Wood and Preusch describe the results:

The in rush of foreign exchange, as a result of petrodollars, into the economy has been largely

wasted on lavish import bills rather than transformation of the economy. There is no morality

left, wrote one Caribbean commentator. It is now a free for all. The paramount value today is

money.


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The economic expansion ended as prices and demand for oil in global markets retreated. In1982,

for the first time in eight years, the country suffered a trade deficit which totaled some two

hundred million dollars. Put bluntly by the then Prime Minister George Chambers in the 1983

budget report, The fete is over. The reality of a situation having its genesis in the global arena

but with contributing factors locally saw the economy and most importantly people of Trinidad

suffering then as they do now. The contributing factors are that of transparency and good

governance on the part of the then Eric Williams administration and an ethnic and class divide

that is the result of the imposition of colonial domination has sought to divide and separate the

groups (Harewood and Henry 1988, 1989). Once again another island state and once again

precedence is set. The year is 2008 many in the Caribbean depend on the charity of friends and

families to supplement incomes as well as to serve as a depository for the hard earned foreign

currency. Trinidad and Tobago is no different; two major dynamics are being played out the first

is the challenge for developing countries to create economic opportunities for trained nationals

and second the marginalization of the said countries as a result of globalisation. The result has

seen aging economies such as Canada and Europe attracting younger skilled labor from the

Caribbean. For these reasons, it is certain that the phenomenon, that is remittances, will be with

us for a long time. In Trinidad for example, these remittances have impacted the economy as

they represent, although undocumented at some levels, a proportion of foreign exchange

earnings, contributing to an improvement of the standard of living of many Trinidadians and

Tobagonians, provide finance for balance of payments support, and aided economic growth and

development of the economy (Solas 2001). The Inter American Development Bank has lauded

the efforts of the Caribbean in this area, it is in fact one of the instances where the thrift of

Caribbean people is put to sound economic use. The analysis does not end there, Solas goes on to


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Trinidad has once again found itself in an undefined position and unable to act with the decisive

and determined forcefulness needed to bring to heal the pervasive rot that has encircled the

Caribbean, this time from within and compromising at the micro level the immediate well being

of its citizens. On examining the issues class relations must be of importance as this once again

has shown itself resilient and poignant with respect to an explanation of the results direction

taken by the present administration led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar as opposed the

decision taken by the then PNM led by Patrick Manning. Initially the PNM seen as a party

representing the interest of the black community positioned a 100% payback on all monies

deposited, this is however not the case with the present coalition UNC identified with the ethnic

Indian population. The entire picture is very confused, which seems to be deliberate. The two

investments made in this situation firstly, the basic and traditional insurance products such as

pensions; life, health and general insurance and secondly, the depositor who was seeking high

returns. The pension products offered a 12% rate of return, but the short-term depositors were

much higher. The current discussion and argument is actually about the repayment of the

depositors, not the traditional insurance policyholders. The fate of the policyholders is often

invoked by depositors arguing for the return of their own deposits and that is why the separation

between the two, which Winston Dookeran Minister of Finance makes, is so important. To quote

The number of traditional, long term policyholders affected by this crisis, covering pensions,

life and health insurance, is around 225,000 persons and accounts for $6 billion in liabilities

That is an average of $26,666 per policyholder. Again There are approximately 25,000

customers holding these short term contracts, and the liability to this group is in the region of $12

billion That is an average of $480,000 per depositor.


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It is observed however, the voice of the traditional policyholders, who outnumber the depositors

nine-to-one, is silent. But then again, it is clear that by far the greater liability lies with the

depositors and further, that they appear, on average at least, to be owed about 18 times more than

the typical policyholder. The question must be asked who composes the ordinary shareholder and

the answer is intuitive it would be the black working class of Trinidad and Tobago who by

assessment by Harewood and Henry dominate the class of citizen in Trinidad unable to own the

factors of production, have available to them large tracts of cash and therefore could not invest in

dubious short term annuities as depositors. Trinidadians who did not invest are faced with the

idea of taxpayers funds being used to rescue those who placed bets on high-return deposits it by

extention will not end there because if the financial sector is seen as dubious and questionable in

its operation then small incremental investors will find alternatives thus impacting the industry

overall and GDP. CL Financial chiefs and the depositors are being spared the consequences of

their decisions by the bailout process. Afra Raymond concludes by making some telling points of

identifying those groups as being differently treated from each other.

Duprey and his cohorts negotiated a Blank-Cheque Bailout at zero interest, without losing any

of their assets. That deal is absolutely unique. Our taxpayers have effectively made a huge single

loan (probably the largest in the Regions history) to the wealthiest individual in the Region at

Zero interest virtually every relevant professional body and Civic Society organisation has

remained silent on this bold-faced attack on our Treasury. Nothing from the Accountants,

Lawyers, Bankers, Economists, Trade Unionists or Religious bodies the one recent exception to

this has been the call by the Trinidad & Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) for investigations

into the Angostura disaster. The CL Financial bailout has been cloaked in the robes of

benevolence and stability, resulting in a situation which has minimized the floods of lawsuits


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which would have been confronting some of those responsible parties Auditors, Attorneys,

Company Directors and Officers In reality, the common-wealth of our entire society has been

pledged to rescue a fortunate few. The CL Financial bailout is in urgent need of re-negotiation, to

say the least, it wrong like a biscuit. It is a refrain that has haunted the island state for many

years and each time the mistakes of the past are repeated the results are more debilitating, it is

therefore necessary for the Caribbean to reassess the position and to chart a new way forward. It

will be intuitive to examine what was done wrong and implement what can be done right.

It is by no means an easy undertaking addressing the problems of the Caribbean these problems

are complex and entrenched in the colonial relationship of the past, it is believed however that if

the attempt is genuinely made by leaders in the region to engage five key areas of interest the

effects of the present global recession and any future business cycle fluctuation can be managed

and at the same time reducing the impact on the socially vulnerable groups.

CARICOM can be described as the worlds second deepest regional integration scheme and as

such set the framework for further structural development with the signing of the revised treaty

of Chaguaramas creating the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). Its mandate sets

out the free movement of goods, services, capital and certain categories of skilled labour. It also

envisions harmonization and coordination of economic policy and eventually a single currency.

While ambitions under the CSME are very high, the institutional structure remains minimal. To a

greater extent, the CSME still operates in an intergovernmental framework and as such its

relevance to a Caribbean faced with exogenous shocks, the likes of which has the ability to erode

decades of hard won gains, should be called into question. The link between economic and

political integration remains a contentious issue in a region where failed attempts at political


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unity still haunts the political landscape and where national sovereignty is guarded suspiciously.

Decisions are still made by unanimous voting in both the Heads of Government Conference the

highest decision making bodyand the Council of Ministers. Even the newly created Caribbean

Court of Justice (CCJ) lacks supranational authority in the form of direct effect of decisions. To

date Barbados, Guyana and Antigua are signatories to the court but what is even more

scandalous is the location of the court within the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago a non

signatory and critic to its establishment.

The devil therefore is in the details, the lack of commitment on the part of the leaders has left the

Caribbean exposed. If the Caribbean had shown the maturity at the time of the West Indian

Federation under the leadership of the then Grantley Adams the community would have been

more than able to weather the global economic storm and mitigate against a rise in

unemployment and foreign direct investment having forged closer ties under the banner of

Integration and regionalism. The reasoning is intuitive; with free movement labour will gravitate

to where there is effective demand thus alleviating the pressure where there is no effective

demand. This is further buttressed by the industrial and merchant capital in the region being able

to plan and invest in sectors in the Caribbean collectively thus spreading the risk and directing

investment where it is most needed at preferential interest rates and sharing in the profits.

The governance debate in the region is currently 'in abeyance'. The lack of application of sound

and consistent standards to the operation of the regions administrative business has prevented its

ability to adapt to dynamic changes in the global economic environment. The belief therefore is

that it should be revived, this time however in a manner which gives greater prominence to the

development dimension and provides a broader interpretation of the elements of 'good

governance' (Payne and Sutton 2000). This will mean both more deliberative and purposive


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action by the state at the national and regional levels and more generally a reconsideration of the

role of the state in the region. This brings into focus the Jamaica situation in handling the Coke

affair. In so doing, the Commonwealth Caribbean must look beyond what Clive Thomas has

described as 'the post colonial development state' and the successor 'neo-liberal state' (Thomas,

1998) to a new form of state with greater CSO involvement, a more supportive public sector and

a wider vision, characteristics that are sadly lacking in a Caribbean that should know better given

its colonial past and association with self serving hegemonic system. It must also be a more 'pro-

active' state, given the generally weak record of the private sector outside of a few enclaves in

relatively few countries and the Trinidad and CLICO affair is bought into focus. The company

was allowed to grow without regulatory control throughout the Caribbean; excuses were made

from Trinidad to Barbados to Bahamas with the result being the disadvantage of the working

class in the Caribbean. The key here is to build 'state capacity' in state management and planning

in addition to the delivery of more effective and efficient public services to its citizens. In short,

the role played by the state in the process of governance is another matter that has to be

rethought in every dimension if Commonwealth Caribbean development is to proceed.( Payne

and Sutton 2000)

Globalisation is not a new problem to be solved and in as much as it is not new the solutions to

the problem are just as illusive now as they were more than five hundred years ago. Indication of

such a time line confirm that the Caribbean is in fact no stranger to the concept, the Caribbean

has had a longer and more direct relationship with the modern economy than any other

peripheral sections of the world. It must be noted that identifiable characteristics derive in large

part from the extensity, intensity, velocity and impact of its interactions with the core countries


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of the world systems over the last five hundred years (Payne and Sutton, 2001: 11-20). It is

therefore important that the concept is embraced and the extent to which the embrace is to be

made articulated in clear and concise terms to the population. The debate and it must move from

the realm of debate if it is to have meaningful impact on the way the Caribbean engages the rest

of the world is the concept of Strategic Global Repositioning SGR a formula coined by Richard

Bernal, Jamaican ambassador to the USA during most of the 1990s. He advanced this concept in

a series of presentations from 1996 onwards, defining it as: a process of repositioning a country

in the global economy and world affairs by implementing a strategic medium to long term plan

formulated from continuous dialogue of the public service, private sector, academic community

and the social sector. It involves proactive structural and institutional transformation (not

adjustment) focussed on improvement and diversification of exports and international economic

and political relations. Achieving SGR requires changes in both internal and external relations.

(Bernal, 2000: 311). It required the following disparate and demanding actions: abandoning

the traditional mind-set; diversifying exports; adjusting pro-actively; improving human

resources; supplementing the skills pool with overseas nationals; developing strategic corporate

alliances; creating a business-facilitating environment; improving physical infrastructure;

modernising international marketing; and garnering capital, technology and skills (Bernal, 1996:

7-14). Although a vital role was obviously assigned to a dynamic private sector in this vision,

SGR also envisaged an important redefinition of the capacity and purpose of the Caribbean state,

with a view to making it more 'effective' and generally bringing it into line with the 'good

governance' modalities of the PWC. The concept of SGR unquestionably struck a chord with

mainstream Commonwealth Caribbean political leaders and was widely embraced, especially by

Owen Arthur, the prime minister of Barbados, who gave it voice in a number of forceful


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speeches delivered in the latter part of the 1990s (Arthur, 1996; 1999). This lapse in economic

prudence has left the island state with little option to attempt stabilization and hope that the

global environment to which it is inextricably tied improves.

In the preceding sections, the essay has had a long, critical look at the period of national

recession, identifying the signs of the crisis and an analysis of the factors that might have caused

the exposure of the national state. An important aspect of the discussion was the establishing the

possible unprecedented nature of the crisis this was seen as important to give a historical land

mark for discussion and a benchmark for future recommendations. These signs are not

constrained exclusively to any one state and reflect the economic dynamic taking place at the

particular time.

ECLAC or the economic commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has been able to give

a contextual framework by way of identifying the signs of the crisis and the overarching themes

served as a bulkhead of both reasons for the crisis and possible solutions for the future. The essay

to some extent has tried as well to draw a quantitative picture of the extent and nature of the

crisis impact with reference to the research of Harewood and Davies and to a lesser extent

Raymond. The signs as articulated by ECLAC begin with, the major findings from the existing

literature nothing new to the Caribbean, the issues of financial contagion, excessive external

borrowing, and reduction in foreign direct investment, external demand reduction of goods and

services, reduced workers remittances as well as changes in relative prices (particularly

commodity prices). First and foremost, in spite of differences in the vantage points chosen and

the theoretical constructs utilised to explain these phenomenon interested observers generally


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grant that the underlying forces dictating progress in the Caribbean or lack thereof has had a

strong element from within. Evidence was presented of failed IMF bailouts, ineffectual

administrations, and questionable governance issues. It should be no surprise that academic

within and without the Diaspora have raised their voices in opposition. In assessing the signs the

positions taken by Davies and Thomas with respect of the class system brings into focus how

Caribbean treat to each other and its contribution to the undermining of economic development.

Where does the analysis lead by way of conclusion? The essay drew attention at the outset to the

importance of Bernal's argument about the Commonwealth Caribbean's need for 'strategic global

repositioning', but argued that his formulation of this conception had not been given sufficient

critical scrutiny within the region and thus remained underdeveloped intellectually and

politically. We identified competitiveness, diplomacy and governance as the formative elements

of SGR and have sought in this study to take the debate about SGR forward by working through

in turn the key issues that arise in relation to these three policy agendas. They manifestly

constitute the most pressing, and intractable, aspects of the Commonwealth Caribbean's current

development problematic (Bernal 1996). They also feed off each other in a series of ways that

have been repeatedly highlighted.


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Works Cited:

Eichengreen, Barry,. Financial Crises and What to Do about Them: New York, Oxford

University Press, 2002.

Peterson, L Willis,. Principles of Economics: IL 60430, Irwin Homewood, 199.

Davies, Omar. 1986. The Debt problem in Jamaica: situation and solutions. Mona, Jamaica:

University of the West Indies, Dept. of Economics.Thomas, Y Clive., The Poor and the Powerless: Economic Policy and Change in the Caribbean

London: Latin America Bureau, 1988)

Williams, Eric, Capitalism & slavery: Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1944.

Best, Lloyd., The mechanisms of plantation-type economies: outlines of a model off pureplantation economy, Social and Economic Studies 17 (3): 283-323.

Barry et al. The Other Side of Paradise. New York: Grove Press, Inc 1984.

Harewood Henry.. Inequality in a post-colonial society :Trinidad and Tobago, St. Augustine,Trinidad : Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of the West Indies.

Payne and Sutton, Repositioning the Caribbean within Globalisation 2001: 11-20

Bernal, Richard., Strategic Global Repositioningand Future Economic Development in Jamaica,North-South Agenda Papers, no. 18, Dante B. Fascell North-South Center University of Miami.


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TITLE: We are currently experiencing a near unprecedented period of national recession inalmost every English Speaking Caribbean country. Clearly identifying the signs of the crisis,what factors in your informed view account for the exposure of the national state to this currentstate of affairs?

NAME: Jepter Y Lorde

COURSE NAME: Caribbean Governance 1

COURSE NO.: GOVT 3017

INSTRUCTOR: Cynthia Barrow-Giles

UNIVERSITY: University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus.

DATE: 1st

November 2011.

caribbean governance fact or fiction an analysis

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