ABSTRACT
This volume aims to illustrate the uniqueness of the economies of the countries and territories of the Caribbean as well as the similarities they share with other regions. While most countries in the region share many of the characteristics of middle-income countries, theirs is a matter of extremes. Their generally small size suggests a fragility not found elsewhere. While much of the world is beginning to feel some effects of climate change, the Caribbean is ground zero. These factors suggest a difficult road ahead, but the chapters presented in this volume aim to help to spur the search for creative solutions to the region’s problems.
The chapters, written by expert contributors, examine the Caribbean economies from several perspectives. Many break new ground in questioning past policy mindsets, while developing new approaches to many of the traditional constraints limiting growth in the region.
The volume is organized in four sections. Part I examines commonalities, including issues surrounding small economies, tourism, climate change and energy security. Part II looks at obstacles to sustained progress, for example debt, natural disasters and crime. In Part III chapters consider the specific role of external influences, including the USA and the European Union, the People's Republic of China, as well as regional co-operation. The volume concludes in Part IV with country case studies intended to provide a sense of the diversity that runs through the region.
1. Introduction
Robert E. Looney
Part I Commonalities
2. An Alternative Policy Approach to Growth and Stabilization in Small Open Economies
DeLisle Worrell
3. Impacts of Climate Change on Caribbean Economies
Masaō I. Ashtine
4. Caribbean Energy Security: Regional Profile and Challenges to Integration
David Goldwyn and Cory Gill
5. The Caribbean Holds Its Own in Global Tourism Competition
DeLisle Worrell
6. CARICOM and that Vexing Issue of Size and Viability
Patsy Lewis
Part II Obstacles to Sustained Progress
7. Debt and Fiscal Constraints
Lester Henry
8. Crime, Violence, and Drugs in the Caribbean
Sherill V. C. Morris-Francis
9. It’s Complicated: The Caribbean’s Relationship to White-Collar Crime
Kristina Hinds
10. Caribbean Natural Disasters and Country/Regional Responses
Robert E. Looney
11. Why and How to Use Fiscal Policy to Target the Exchange Rate
DeLisle Worrell
Part III External Influences
12. Venezuela: The Descent into a ‘Soft State’
Anthony P. Maingot
13. The External Economic Relations of the Caribbean: The United States and Europe Union Compared
Ginelle Greene-Dewasmes and Tony Heron
14. China’s Increasing Influence in Central America and the Caribbean
Richard L. Bernal
15. Regional Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean: New Challenges and Agendas
Cintia Quiliconi and Renato Rivera Rhon
Part IV Country Case Studies
16. The Puerto Rican Economy
Brad Setser and Sergio Marxuach
17. Haiti
Wenche Iren Hauge
18. The Cuban Economy: Socialist Stagnation with Caribbean Characteristics
Richard E. Feinberg
19. Trinidad and Tobago
Lester Henry
20. Belize
Victor Bulmer-Thomas
21. Guyana and the Advent of World-class Petroleum Finds
Clive Y. Thomas
22. Development and Underperformance in the Barbados Economy, 1946-2018
DeLisle Worrell
23. Suriname
Scott B. MacDonald
24. The Bahamas: Facing a Period of Climate Change and Slow Growth
Robert E. Looney
25. The Cayman Islands
Scott B. MacDonald
26. Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean Basin: A Comparative Analysis of Models and Trajectories
Alain Maurin and Patrick Kent Watson
27. The Dominican Republic
Susan Pozo and Antonio María Giraldi
28. The Jamaican Economy: A Caribbean Success Story at Last?
Keith Collister and Robert E. Looney
29. The Dutch Caribbean
Scott B. MacDonald
