Word: jamaicas
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...this is an economy which had managed to maintain a high annual growth rate of nearly five per cent throughout the 1960s. Under Manley's system of "land reform," production of agricultural goods declined dramatically, and farm exports plummeted. Tourists, who had flocked to Jamaica's scenic north coast in droves despite widespread instances of political violence--for which Manley's followers must be held partly to blame--left in a stampede after Manley's election, even though, not surprisingly, the violence had subsided. Foreign and domestic capital, which Manley so relentlessly insulted in his harangues against "imperialism" virtually vanished...
...more devastating than any of these factors was Manley's treatment of Jamaica's bauxite industry. In 1978, the industry still provided more than 70 per cent of all export earnings; in 1974, Jamaica produced 18 per cent of the world's bauxite; by 1976, its share had slipped to 12 per cent. Part of the blame for the decline falls on strikes and an explosion in an aluminum plant, but the heart of the problem lies in Manley's effort to increase the percentage of government revenue from bauxite exports. In so doing, the prime minister raised the price...
...result of all these things, Jamaica is essentially bankrupt. Foreign reserves are almost nonexistent. More than 90 per cent of export earnings go to service foreign debt and to pay for oil imports. High unemployment, which was a major factor prompting Manley's election in 1972, has skyrocketed. Youth unemployment, which was about 40 per cent in 1972, now hovers around 70 per cent...
...these problems on external factors. Examining his claims superficially, one finds a specious appeal in almost all of his arguments--precisely what would most excite his almost spiritual following. But they do not add up to a convincing case for his PNP. Oil prices have little to do with Jamaica's failures...
...Jamaica improved its balance of trade--and, given rising sugar and bauxite prices, it probably could have continued to do almost as well had it kept producing about as much as it had previously. And the IMF does not enter a foreign nation unless the nation is having severe difficulties in meeting its balance-of-payments. By the time the IMF came on the scene with promises of loans under stringent conditions Jamaica was already in economic convulsions. To blame the IMF for Jamaica's downfall is to point to a symptom and not the cause. Furthermore...