Typologies of Developing Countries: Origins of Jamaica's Economic Decline

Many economists, ¹ political analysts and newspaper and magazine columnists have sought to link the behavior of the Jamaican economy to the policies followed by successive governments. Because of the marked difference in political rhetoric with each change in leadership, the tendency has been to assume that the policy mix of one government was distinct from the other and in each case was consistent with its rhetoric. The government formed by the Jamaica Labor Party, which was in office from 1962 to 1972 and has been in office since November 1980, is free enterprise-oriented in its rhetoric. The government of the (Socialist) People's National Party, which was in office between 1972 and 1980, favored a mixed economy with state enterprises operating in areas where market competition was inadequate to assure efficiency and reasonable pricing of goods and services and also advocated a fair degree of central planning and direction. ² It is not surprising, then, that the behavior of the economy has usually been explained in terms of the differential impact of liberal policies before 1972 and since 1980. ³ The overall (albeit slight) improvement in the economy since 1980 has given some credence to this view.