I finally listened to this.
The economic "miracle"
- Debt to GDP ratio dropped from 140% to ~70%
- Lowest Unemployment
- Because of the currency - Exports are Cheaper, but Imports are more expensive (she also notes that Jamaica imports 90% of its goods)
- This is an IMF plan!! (it's actually "working")
On Homicide (versus Tourism) - it's a regional problem, and we're in the middle of it
- Tourist Areas, are generally safe
- Guns are coming from the US
- Trini Music and Dancehall Music are promoting gangs!
- Because of the health system - people don't survive gun shots like they do in the US
- Drug Trade Stopover (guns, drugs, money laundering)
Some lip service to colonialism, some bad mouthing of left wing politics, but it's not a first rate economy.
Jamaica, and for the most part, all of the islands, and every non-G20 country - needs to industrialize.
If 90 cents of every dollar leaves the country, then life can't get better. Back in the day, Drug Runners would brag about bringing foreign currency to the island. (the fact that rude bwoys and yardies think in those sorts of terms actually says a lot about the Jamaican education system....)
Nevertheless, natural resource extraction, low value add services, tourism, and agricultural exports can't secure a future for any nation.