The Caribbean Economy: A Reader

The Reader analyses the changes which have taken place in the economies of the countries of the Caribbean since political independence from the 1960s onwards. It also describes how the Caribbean economy works and examines whether it can deliver imported standards of living for Caribbean people. To fully understand the dynamics of the present-day Caribbean economy, the analysis is given a historical perspective with a discussion of developments starting from the post World War Two period, which represented a turning point for much of the world’s economy.

The selections in the first section of the book may be described as ‘The Classics’ providing a historical overview and featuring some of the seminal works on the fundamentals of the Caribbean economy by W. Arthur Lewis, Lloyd Best, William Demas, Eric St. Cyr, Havelock Brewster and C.Y. Thomas among others. Thereafter, the focus shifts to sectoral analyses including the Traditional Commodity-Based Export Sectors like Sugar, Banana, Petroleum and Bauxite; the new Service-Based Export Industries like Offshore Financial Services; the Music Industry and an examination of such issues as Migration and Remittances, and the future of Caribbean economies in the new trading environment.