After the 1973 oil shock, Jamaica financed the shock with large deficits, foreign borrowing, nationalization and import/exchange restrictions rather than adjusting, and consequently suffered a 14-year economic decline (1973-1987), contracting ~2.3% per capita per year while Barbados, which adjusted, grew ~1.2%—a roughly 3.5-point annual gap.

causalpending

Speaker

Peter Henry

Evidence Quote

in response to the external environment Jamaica decides to essentially... run bigger deficits rather than... adjusting to the shock they try to finance it

Source

Peter Henry on Growth, Development, and Policy 07/27/2009EconTalk
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:29 AM

My Notes

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