by Lumas Kendrick, Jr. The Caribbean is an area long admired for its alluring beauty and captivating lifestyle. Yet, beneath the surface of this tropical paradise, the people in the Caribbean are locked into a struggle that threatens their very lifestyle. The issue is the struggle to control the spiraling cost of energy that threatens to undue all of the hard won gains of … [Read more...] about Dispatches from the Front Line: The Caribbean Struggle for Energy
Economy & Investment
How Rich are the Caribbean Countries if Compared Globally?
The World Bank’s International Comparison Program (ICP) released its data recently, which uses the most thoroughly developed methodology yet to compare the income of 179 countries in 2011. This is the first time the Caribbean countries participate in the exercise. The program constructs GDP from detailed expenditure data for all countries using the so-called purchasing … [Read more...] about How Rich are the Caribbean Countries if Compared Globally?
Shaping the Future of Treasure Beach, Jamaica
Treasure Beach is a small, interesting and dynamic community with a great sense of its own identity whose main areas of economic activity are tourism, fishing and farming. However, the need for growth in all three sectors has led to the formation of a complex tourism cluster comprising small hotels, villas and guest houses; restaurants; tour companies and operators; … [Read more...] about Shaping the Future of Treasure Beach, Jamaica
Top Five Reasons to Love Development Work in the Caribbean
I keep getting variations of these same questions and comments about working in economic development in the Caribbean: “You work on the Caribbean? Haha…. Tough job...Take me on your next mission (work trip) and we’ll grab a 3pm piña colada on the beach” “Caribbean countries are so small and they’re already middle income countries… you should try real development work like in … [Read more...] about Top Five Reasons to Love Development Work in the Caribbean
Dog, Cockroaches and White Elephants
Yesterday, Day 1 of a conference on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs, 3Ps or P3s) in the Caribbean, I heard references to these animals and creepy crawlers. As a new dog owner I took offense, as did several others. Speakers were trying to explain that a badly designed PPP turns out to be a dog, or a cockroach or a white elephant. Whichever is more palatable as a … [Read more...] about Dog, Cockroaches and White Elephants