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Economic Reforms in Jamaica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Anders Danielson
Anders Danielson*
Affiliation:
Royal Agricultural University in Copenhagen (Denmark), University of Lund (Sweden)
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Abstract

This paper briefly discusses the economic reforms that have taken place in Jamaica for the past 15 years and argues that the reforms, at least so far, are mixed, particularly with regard to the elimination of poverty. The basic problems are (1) a slow response of exports to large, frequent adjustments in the exchange rate, which prohibits low-wage labor, in the informal sector, from being absorbed into the formal sector; and (2) the large budget deficit, with the associated demands for large cuts in expenditures, which primarily affects the rural poor. It is suggested that the principal reason that reforms have been slow is because of the political price to be paid for unpopular measures in a competitive democracy

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 38 , Issue 2-3: Special Double Issue: Poverty and Inequality in Latin America , Fall 1996 , pp. 97 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1996

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