THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, MONA

ECON2021: Caribbean Economic

Problems
Semester II, 2013-2014
Pre-requisites: ECON1001 or ECON1002
Anti-requisites: ECON2020
Lecturer: Georgia McLeod
Office Hours Tuesdays 2-4 p.m. and Wednesdays 4 - 6 p.m.

Description
This course seeks to expose the student to selected Caribbean economic problems of
contemporary significance. A brief overview of the structure of the Caribbean economies
and a review of the development strategies and their theoretical bases will initiate the
course. Following that, the course will focus on three (3) broad areas of challenges to
Caribbean economic development debt; unemployment; economic impact of crime and
violence.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:

Understand the different approaches for defining the Caribbean

Understand the characteristic features of Caribbean economies within the

context of small island developing states

Understand the conceptual and definitional issues related to public debt

Effectively asses the Caribbean regions contemporary debt situation

Determine the main factors impacting on respective Caribbean countries

public debt levels

Identify and understand the various policy approaches that have been designed
to address public debt concerns by respective Caribbean countries.

Define and explain unemployment and related concepts

Understand how unemployment is measured along with the various

approaches used in the data collection process

Understand the regions experience with unemployment as well as the factors

influencing unemployment trends observed

Identify and understand various policy measures developed and applied to

reduce unemployment

Examine the major causes of crime and violence

Discuss the impact of crime and violence on the business environment in the
Caribbean

Analyze the dimensions and trends in crime in the Caribbean and its impact
on the economy

Discuss the coping strategies and the policy options employed to combat
crime

Modes of Delivery
Two lecture hours for the week and one tutorial hour.

Assessment

4 quizzes worth 15% each to be administered throughout the semester

Final exam

- 60%
- 40%

Syllabus
What is the Caribbean?

Defining the Caribbean

Overview of Caribbean economies

Debt

Conceptual and definitional issues (Understanding Debt and Debt Indicators)

The Evolution of Debt in the Caribbean
Policy Responses to managing public debt in the Caribbean

Unemployment

Conceptual and Definitional Issues (Understanding and measuring

Unemployment)

Unemployment in the Caribbean

Policy Responses to addressing unemployment

Crime and Violence

Conceptual and Definitional Issues (Understanding the different types of

criminal activities and their major causes)

Economic impact of crime and violence in the Caribbean

Coping strategies and policy options employed to combat crime and violence
in the Caribbean

Resources
There is no prescribed or recommended text for this course. There recommended readings for
each topic, some of which will be provided.

Readings
What is the Caribbean?
N.Girvan, Reinterpreting the Caribbean, in D. Pantin (ed), The Caribbean
Economy: A Reader, Kingston:Ian Randle, 2005, P.304
Debt
Alleyne, Trevor. The Challenges of High Debt, Addressing the Debt Overhang: The
Cases of Jamaica and Antigua
Hare (2011). Growth and Indebtedness in the Eastern Caribbean: Recovering from
the Global Crisis.
Hyman (2007), The Impact of High Debt on Small Island Developing States
UNDP (2010) Discussion Paper Jamaica Debt Exchange: A Case Study for Heavily
Indebted Middle-Income Countries

Kirton, Claremont (2004) Jamaicas External Debt: Estimation, Analysis and Policy
Implications, Arawak Publications, Kingston
Francis, A. (2000) The Dynamics of Debt in the Jamaican Economy or Domar vs. Omar:
The Burden of Debt and the National Income, Paper presented at a Symposium entitled:
Budgetary Policy in the 1990s: Implications for the Year 2000 Budget. Department of
Economics, U.W.I., Mona and the Association of Development Agencies (ADA) Kingston,
Jamaica. January 29, 2000

Unemployment

Downes, Andrew (2006) Caribbean Labour Market Challenges. UNDP, Santiago de

Chile, 2006
Kazi, Tamjidul Huda. Youth, Unemployment in the Caribbean: Social and Economic
Backgrounds
St. Bernard, Godfrey (2003) Human Resources Development and Labour Market
challenges: Empowering Caribbean Youth. Paper presented to the Fourth Annual
SALISES Conference, Barbados, 2003.
The Economic and Labour Market Situation in the Caribbean in the Context of a
Global Crisis.

Crime and Violence

Bonnick, Gladstone (1994) Crime and Violence: Implications for Economic Expansion, in
Patsy Lewis eds, Jamaica: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, Ian Randle Publishers:
Kingston

Francis, Alfred, Harriott, Anthony, Kirton, Claremont, and Gibbison, Godfrey (2003) Crime
and Development: The Jamaican Experience, Report Prepared for the World Bank

Additional readings to be provided.