Relative to its assets — talented people; sun, sea, and sand; minerals, like bauxite and gypsum; agricultural produce, like Blue Mountain coffee; and the country’s proximity to the world’s richest markets in North America — Jamaica’s economy may be the world’s most underperforming. One of the reasons for this is the tendency to go for growth often at the expense of development.

In an article titled Jamaica as a development state, which appeared in the April 14, 2023 edition of The Gleaner, former pro-vice chancellor of graduate studies and research at The University of the West Indies and professor of anthropology at City University of New York Don Robotham wrote, “We must distinguish between growth and development. Growth is simply an increase in gross domestic product (GDP). Development, however, is the transformation of the production structure.” To put it another way, growth focuses on the quantity of life, development focuses on the quality of life.

Influenced by multilateral agencies, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), successive governments boast about economic growth measured by GDP. But shouldn’t we also place emphasis on economic development that comes from investing in the country’s human and social capital, which is the bedrock of sustainable growth?

By itself, GDP says little or nothing about the economic health of a nation. Professor Robotham, in that newspaper article, refers to Harvard’s Economic Complexity Index, which he says attempts to measure investments in wealth-creating areas of an economy, not just the final number relating to production of goods and services. In the latest ranking on the index, Jamaica came in at 83 out of 133 countries. Not good.

The increasingly popular and widely used Human Development Index (HDI), which combines life expectancy, education, and income gives a more balanced if nuanced assessment of the wealth and health of an economy than does GDP. Jamaica’s budget is skewed towards recurrent expenditure, with very little going to the capital side in the form of investments in innovations in education, health, infrastructure, information technology, research and development, and inclusiveness to bring more Jamaicans out of the shadows into the mainstream of the economy. Not surprisingly, Jamaica perennially falls below the average HDI ranking for some 186 United Nations member countries.

Without the concomitant economic development, GDP growth inevitably leads to a more unequal society and unsustainable economy. The changing Kingston skyline, expensive cars on the streets, and high-end condominiums replacing single-dwelling houses are in a sense a mirage of progress. It is not reflected in most people’s standard of living.

The National Industrial Policy (NIP), that much-celebrated but stillborn roadmap to Jamaica’s growth and development from the mid-1990s, in a betrayal of the title of the document that bears its name, fails to sharply contrast the concepts of sector and industry, at times using the words interchangeably.

The NIP identified five broad sectors or clusters to serve as the engine to drive the national effort towards growth and development of the Jamaican economy. These are:

*Cluster 1: tourism, entertainment, sports

*Cluster 2: shipping and berthing, telecommunications, information technology

*Cluster 3: agro-processing, fresh produce, natural fibres, horticulture, marine products

*Cluster 4: apparel, other light manufacturing *Cluster 5: minerals, caustic soda, chemicals, ceramics

Except for agriculture, Jamaica is characterised by sectors, not industries. There is a reason why in years when agriculture performs badly, the economy performs badly as a whole. Agriculture is an integrated economic activity from farm to market and includes agro-processing to produce value-added products. Jamaica and Jamaicans control much of the points along the value chain.

With recent efforts at backward and forward integration through the Tourism Linkages Network, led by Edmund Bartlett in the public sector and Adam Stewart in the private sector, tourism is fast entering that realm. Although not typically listed among export products, it earns over 50 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange and directly and indirectly provides about one-fourth of all jobs.

Other people and countries benefit more than we do from the wealth-creating activities at which we are among the best in the world. They see more economic value and consequently make more strategic policies and investments in these areas while we are content with accepting trophies and medals. While a few talented individuals may garner wealth for themselves and their families, the impact on the country’s GDP, which causes all boats to rise, is almost negligible. Two examples are sports and culture. In neither case does Jamaica meaningfully participate in the multi-trillion-US dollar integrated global creative industry.

In the age of global competition, countries must compete like companies do. Only industries can help a country to do that.

Dr Henley Morgan is founder and executive chairman of the Trench Town-based Social Enterprise, Agency for Inner-city Renewal and author of My Trench Town Journey — Lessons in Social Entrepreneurship and Community Transformation for Policy Makers, Development Leaders, and Practitioners. Send comments to Jamaica Observer or hmorgan@cwjamaica.com.