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 HenryEvidence 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”
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:29 AM
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