Countries can affect their international performance based on the resources that are committed to elite sports along with specialization in the sports in which they are more competitive. But, how should resources be allocated between elite sports and sports at the national level? These decisions go beyond economics and competitiveness issues and involve broader national priorities.

 For Jamaica to achieve developed status by 2030 the country must embrace an ICTbased strategy for national development requiring the infusion of ICT in all sectors of the economy. Based on successful ICT application elsewhere this will involve converting ICT infrastructure into knowledge-based applications that enable national strategies and targets needed to accomplish development objectives.

Stephen Meghoo is a great believer in the idea that preparation is the master key to unlocking the door to success. “The more prepared you are, the luckier you get.” His life proves the point...

Any consideration of a return to a peg by Jamaica is not an exercise in textbook abstraction nor can it be the result of a simple comparison of Jamaica and Barbados in 2010. A fuller historical comparative analysis will conclude that stronger macroeconomic results in Barbados are due to greater sustained commitment to fiscal prudence that also guaranteed the preservation of peg and parity.

What we are witnessing in Jamaica today is really a ‘recession within a recession.’ In the past decade Jamaica has only been able to muster a paltry 1.4 % average annual economic growth due largely to a weak macroeconomic multiplier and high levels of import in relation to GDP. Achieving higher growth rates with stability will require transforming the pool of unemployed into a productive force with an export focus; embracing innovation, quality and productivity; a renaissance of the ideas of Lewis and proponents of Plantation Economy theory; and the exploration of new ideas.

With the world economy showing signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2010 there are indications that the global aluminium industry is beginning to rebound. However, recovery of the Jamaican industry will lag behind world trends as the alumina plants are high-cost by global standards and so are not likely to come on stream until the global economic recovery strengthens. Hence,turnaround in the medium to long-term will depend substantially on the industry switching from oil to cheaper energy sources like coal or liquid natural gas (LNG) while achieving other operational efficiencies.

The Jamaican economy remained in the grips of recession at the start of 2010 and, even with a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund the return to a growth path will be slow and uncertain. In this inaugural issue, MSB Business Review looks at some of the strategies and the economic sectors that are likely to lead the way.