- CONTRIBUTED
Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson (right), has the attention of president of the Jamaica Exporters Association, Dr. Andre Gordon (left); chief executive officer of GraceKennedy, Douglas Orane (second left), and president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Beverley Lopez, at the launch of the Target Growth Competitiveness Committee at JAMPRO'S offices on Wednesday, in New Kingston. The committee will be charged with examining policies and institutional barriers that pose challenges to effective business operations.
A group of the island's leading economists and social scientists has come together to produce this august series. The well-considered views reflect careful and in-depth analyses of the state of the Jamaican economy as well as identify trends and ideas which will take us into the future.
ASK ANY group of Jamaicans to rate the performance of the economy since independence, and they will likely come up with one word: bad.
But, then ask them to account for this poor performance, and you will find the agreement breaks down. Indeed, it may well break down acrimoniously, as fingers are pointed all over the place.
No doubt, this has something to do with the dearth of systematic research into the topic. You have to go back several decades before you can find a comprehensive analysis of Jamaica's economy, and even that is relatively thin.
Nevertheless, this academic silence has done little to impede a steady stream of proposals on what direction the Jamaican economy should take in the future.
A VISION UNFOLDS
A casual listen to the plethora of radio talk-shows that have sprung up in Jamaica over the last decade or so will attest that there is no shortage of ideas for what must be done to put Jamaica back on a growth path.
But, this can appear like a doctor who prescribes a course of treatment without first conducting a diagnosis of his patient.
And, like a doctor who prescribes painkillers for a headache without bothering to find out that the patient actually has a tumour, prescription without diagnosis even when done with the best and most sincere of intentions can lead to deadly consequences.
Mindful of this need to understand how we have got to where we are before we can talk about where we are going to go, a group of concerned citizens from various walks of Jamaican life gathered early in 2004 to discuss the possibility of launching a research project on the topic.
ENGAGING ENERGY
By the following summer, we were ready to launch a full and multifaceted investigation of the Jamaican economy since independence.
In the course of the group's discussions, we agreed a project document which would guide the conduct of the research, and began to enlist a set of researchers who would lead the project.
From the start, it was envisioned that the project would move beyond the confines of the academic community in order to reach out to the wider society for a broad array of input. The state of the Jamaican economy is a national problem. It therefore invites a nationwide solution.
The timing for the project seemed opportune. One of the things which had become apparent to many of us in recent years is that there is much positive energy among young Jamaican intellectuals.
They have broken with the country's political establishment, and distrust the verities of old. But still retain a deep yearning to see their country succeed and prosper. Their research often questions or challenges existing orthodoxies.
This intellectual energy dovetails with a growing assertiveness on the part of Jamaican civil society, which demands more of its government, but also sees that the public must break with some of the ways of old to make more of a contribution to the nation's well-being.
CITIZEN-ACTIVISM
One manifestation of this new trend was the Partnership for Progress, a vehicle for change that opted not to wait for government action, but press for it. This emergent theme of citizen-activism was embodied in the title that would be given to the research project: Taking Responsibility.
Many people offer intelligent, critical commentaries, which assess the state of the nation, identify the problems, and offer solutions. But, if they differ greatly in their conclusions, they all too often seem united by a common premise.
The culprit for any sub-par performance by the country is always an other: foreign countries, a pernicious external economy, the other party, a class or ethnic group other than one's own.
There seems to be no shortage of culprits. It is perhaps natural, as one of Mussolini's relatives lamented, victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
Yet, if there seems to be a common thread running through the research of the new generation of Jamaican intellectuals, it is that whatever the external hindrances on Jamaica's success have been, little will change until Jamaicans themselves take the reins of the nation, and the attendant blame - or credit - that would come from any choices.
Join In Focus every Sunday for the series 'Taking Responsibility'.
