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
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How Smart Data Management Can Solve Caribbean Policy Disputes
Administrative records are collected and stored by different public and private entities to carry out and monitor their own activities. Ministries of education collect school enrollment and academic achievement records; police departments store records of criminal activity; emigration services record movements of people in and out of the country; tax authorities collect … [Read more...] about How Smart Data Management Can Solve Caribbean Policy Disputes
Brexit Effects after All? : The Case of Jamaica
The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union immediately led to anxiety in the Caribbean. Initially, critics pointed out that the Brexit vote might lead to a slowdown of the world economy, fallout of remittances and tourism, and the loss of a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, potentially bringing renewed challenges to the already-weak … [Read more...] about Brexit Effects after All? : The Case of Jamaica
Are Governments Wasting Your Tax Money?
The fiscal and debt problem in the region has been engendered in part by weak fiscal institutions and frameworks that have perpetuated chronic fiscal procyclicality. Without binding rules geared towards budgetary discipline, can Caribbean countries successfully overcome their fiscal and debt challenges? In a recent working paper, issues surrounding the applicability, design … [Read more...] about Are Governments Wasting Your Tax Money?
5 Obstacles to Overcome for a more Productive Caribbean
Caribbean economies have hardly grown in the last 30 years. The last significant growth was in the 1980s when tourism and banana production expanded, but has since declined due to the loss of competitiveness in the bananas market and the emergence of other tourism destinations. To make matters worse, the Caribbean countries are severely indebted and have very limited options to … [Read more...] about 5 Obstacles to Overcome for a more Productive Caribbean