By Michael G. Donovan and Therese Turner-Jones This article first appeared as a Web Exclusive on April 20, 2017 for policy journal Americas Quarterly. Read the original piece here. The Caribbean is caught in a housing trap. The cost of living is high: building a house in Kingston is three times more expensive than in a typical Latin American city. This has left ten … [Read more...] about Caribbean Housing Is Expensive and Scarce. Here’s How to Change That
Secret Company Ownership Disclosure – EITI Tackling the ‘Eat Ah Food’ Mentality in T&T
By Nazera Abdul-Haqq Imagine your reaction if you heard that a person holding public office was found to have fraudulently acquired oil, gas or mining contracts by using the name of a company that he or she secretly owns? Or, what if tomorrow’s newspaper headlines read: “Businessman found financing $TT 6 billion through a company set up in wife’s name.” It is likely that you … [Read more...] about Secret Company Ownership Disclosure – EITI Tackling the ‘Eat Ah Food’ Mentality in T&T
What we know and what we don’t know about the social realities in the Caribbean
By Héctor Salazar Did you know that in the Caribbean, youth unemployment is higher and adolescent fertility is lower than in the rest of the region, and that women’s participation in the labor market stands out for being higher than elsewhere in Latin America? These are just three of the empirical findings, from the universe of 28 million observations analyzed, which can … [Read more...] about What we know and what we don’t know about the social realities in the Caribbean
Four reasons why the Caribbean private sector must invest in renewables
By Vanessa Matos Tudela and Michelle Evans In the Caribbean, the year-round sunshine and extremely favorable insolation levels have not been enough to spur significant investments in renewable energy. Now, a year after the signature of the Paris Agreement, investments in solar energy seem more appealing than ever before, mainly due to four reasons: High vulnerability to … [Read more...] about Four reasons why the Caribbean private sector must invest in renewables
Fall from Grace: How Suriname’s Macroeconomic Fundamentals Have Changed After The “Perfect Economic Storm”
Suriname experienced a triple commodity shock in 2015. The price of gold declined by 30 percent relative to 2012, oil prices declined by 56 percent relative to 2012 and alumina production came to a halt (Figure 1). With these three commodities being the mainstay of Suriname’s economy, it was like a “perfect storm”. The result was a sharp drop in economic growth and rapid … [Read more...] about Fall from Grace: How Suriname’s Macroeconomic Fundamentals Have Changed After The “Perfect Economic Storm”