Exchange rate devaluations have been used by economies around the world in an attempt to enhance their external price competitiveness. This paper evaluates the efficacy of this strategy in small-island developing states. We classify countries around the world into two broad categories, large or...

The adverse impact of sovereign debt defaults on the international financial system has occasioned intense interest in methodologies for assessing sovereign debt risk. This is manifest in an outpouring of studies, research which has uncovered the fact that the riskiness of sovereign debt is...

This paper proposes an approach to macroeconomic policy which equips the authorities in small, open, financially-integrated economies (SOFIEs) to target the exchange rate by influencing the volumes of trade in goods and services to achieve equilibrium at the target rate. This is achieved by the...

The Barbados economy is dynamic and internationally competitive, led by a private sector that demonstrates remarkable enterprise and innovation, from our largest and most successful firms to youth entrepreneurs of outstanding promise. But our public sector is living beyond its means and its low...

Policy makers in small open economies continue to manage exchange rates as though there is a relationship between the US dollar value of the domestic currency (if they have one) and the performance of the economy. This paper, which presents some essential messages of my recent book Development...

This study uses changes in the Human Development Index (HDI) between 2019 and 2021 as an early (and incomplete) indicator of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the countries of Central America and the Caribbean (CAC). The HDI, which has been published annually by the United Nations...

This paper is concerned with the design of institutional arrangements for low inflation in small open economies. In the real world of information asymmetries, uncertain expectations and changeable preferences, it is not enough to create an autonomous and publicly accountable central bank. In...

A survey of the financial systems of Caribbean countries reveals systems dominated by banks, with services widely available. Jamaica is the only country to have experienced a financial crisis. The paper describes recent improvements in the regulatory framework, and examines factors, which affect...