Don’t take it for granted
From ‘basket case’ to ‘robust economic fundamentals’
Aldous Huxley, renowned writer, philosopher, and author of the celebrated book A Brave New World and several other acclaimed works, famously said: “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” I agree.
We often forget to appreciate the people, things, achievements, and experiences that make our lives better. Certain basic human traits have not changed over hundreds of years.
Recall, for example, the story of the 10 lepers in the Bible who Jesus healed. Only one returned to say thanks. His disciples and many others were hugely surprised. Jesus was not.
On the matter of surprises, last Monday’s announcement that our Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke was leaving Government to take up the coveted appointment of deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was a great surprise to many.
“The best in Latin America and the Caribbean,” among other things, that was how I described our finance and public service minister in this space on June 23, 2024. I am, therefore, not totally surprised at Dr Clarke’s most recent ascendency.
He has steadied our economic ship. Hitherto his tour of duty, the Ministry of Finance was severely unpopular. Its unpopularity was surpassed only by whoever was the minister.
The exemplary stewardship of Dr Clarke has helped to reverse the severely negative perception of the finance ministry. This is a good paradigm shift.
Dr Clarke’s tangible and wide-ranging achievements at the Ministry of Finance and Public Service should cause Jamaicans to reflect on how far we have come. Those reflections must serve to strengthen us; though we still have a long journey before us.
This famed stanza from Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, by acclaimed American poet Robert Frost, is appropriate here:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
We fell asleep at the wheel for several decades. Too many of us seem not to remember that the ship of Jamaica was on the brink of capsizing.
Recall that several international and respected publications had labelled Jamaica as a “basket case”.
Recall, too, that we were dubbed the “poor man of the region”.
Today, thanks to the Herculean work of individuals like Dr Clarke, we are a model of recovery and stability.
Dangerous familiarity
Far too many of us take things for granted. I believe things which are accepted today as common sense in Jamaica, and indeed many parts of the world, for example, democracy, which functionally manifests itself in, among other things, jury trials which some among us seem to want to abandon; property rights; freedom of speech; regular and peaceful elections; the rule of law; etc, are seen by far too many as a kind of natural condition when societies become more technologically advanced and educated.
History tells us otherwise. There are examples of countries today, too, which are advanced technologically and have very educated populations, but without democracy.
Huxley is right. Human beings take things for granted. I believe we need to consciously avoid this human tendency of dangerous familiarity, especially with regard to the crucial societal advances and achievements which have helped to make the lives of humans much more tolerable and meaningful.
Taking things for granted is a debilitation. Left unchecked, the consequence of this foible is invariably negative, sometimes even catastrophic.
I don’t believe enough of us understand the uniquely dangerous position that Jamaica found herself in 2013. Ponder this: “By 2013 Jamaica’s public debt had reached a historic high of about 147 per cent of [gross domestic product] GDP, making it one of the most-indebted countries in the world,” said the IMF.
We were forced to start to think and behave sensibly after decades of what I term “Advanced Prodigal Son Syndrome” (APSS). This means we were forced to fast-track the economic recovery programme started by Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Finance and Public Service Minister Audley Shaw in 2010.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Peter Phillips were faithful to the implementation of the economic recovery programme.
Today, the Andrew Holness-led Administration with Dr Nigel Clarke, the minister of finance and the public service, continue to work tirelessly to prevent a repeat of past blunders.
The gargantuan sacrifices of ordinary Jamaicans are, without doubt, the most critical pillar in our economic recovery.
A short time ago
We have come a long way.
Recall this headline: ‘Bank of Jamaica gets its independence’. The Jamaica Observer news item of April 2021 said, among other things: “The Bank of Jamaica (Amendment) Act, 2020 took effect last Friday, allowing the central bank to operate independently of the Ministry of Finance.
“The principal objectives of the legislation is that the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) will oversee maintenance of price and financial system stability, with the primary objective being price stability.
“The minister, under the new law, will no longer have the power to issue directions on monetary policy and, as such, the BOJ will have operational independence in the implementation of monetary policy.
“One of the bank’s new statutory committees, the Monetary Policy Committee, will seek to achieve and maintain price stability through the achievement of an inflation target set by the minister of finance in consultation with the governor of the bank, as required under the Act.
“To ensure transparency and accountability, the notification of the inflation target, and minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meetings will be made public in accordance with the Act.
“The oversight capacity of the board has also been strengthened and the governance of the bank has been made more robust by staggered board appointments, which prevents the entire board from being changed in a single political Administration. Instead, a single board vacancy will arise every two years.
“The Act also prohibits the Government from borrowing from the central bank, except in a declared national emergency, by way of an order made by the minister subject to affirmative resolution, and in keeping with the provisions of the Act.
“According to Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke, the legislation, which was passed earlier in the 2020/21 fiscal year, paves the way for the central bank’s modernisation.”
The fact that we have an independent BOJ today must not be taken for granted. Not so long ago the central bank could be called upon to crank up the printing presses. Men, who were obsessed with power and only the winning of elections, then ruled the roost.
The money illusion was carefully choreographed by political rascals to seduce the senses of our people.
Far too many, despite strenuous and repeated public warnings, were led astray. Jamaica’s economy, as A consequence, landed in an almighty muddle.
We must not take for granted the fact that we have today, a stable dollar, relatively low inflation, the highest net international reserves since independence, and the lowest unemployment figures since Jamaica started to keep records of such data. These achievements must not be taken for granted.
Jamaica would be foolhardy to return to the days, for example, when our inflation rate skyrocketed. Inflation averaged 27.2 per cent per annum over the period 1990-1999, according to BOJ figures.
There was a time not so long ago when unemployment averaged 15 per cent for several years. Individuals with postgraduate degrees could not find jobs.
Consider this: ‘High youth unemployment worries PNP’. This screaming headline captured the biting and debilitating impact of high unemployment.
The Gleaner news items of July 26, 2015 said, among other things: “After yesterday’s meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Pickersgill told The Gleaner that joblessness among youth as well as bad roads and water challenges are major worries for the party.
“ ‘If the unemployment level, especially among the youth, is not improved, you are going to have some amount of basic resentment,’ Pickersgill predicted.
“He added: ‘It’s the first time in the history of Jamaica that you have so many qualified young people, including secondary degree and doctorate, and they are having difficulty gaining employment.’
“The unemployment rate in Jamaica is about 14 per cent, with youth unemployment more than twice the national rate at 34.3 per cent.”
Today some have the temerity to tell us that starvation is better than what they mean-spiritedly characterise as “starvation wages”. What nonsense!
There was a time not so long ago when the police were hard-pressed to respond to emergency calls because they did have vehicles. Today the police are the most mobile since 1962.
I have not heard our security forces complain that they do not have security vests and critical related apparatuses in recent times. There was a time when our borders were massively unprotected because we did not have the needed vessels and attendant wherewithal to patrol. The fact that citizens can now access basic health care services without fear of being turned away for lack of money is a major achievement. For many years hundreds of children and parents were shamed because they could not pay obligatory tuition fees charged at the secondary school level. The removal of obligatory fees ended that great travesty. We must never take this for granted.
Along a better road
“The biggest legacy we can give to future generations of Jamaicans is low debt!” Dr Peter Phillips, former finance and public service minister and People’s National Party (PNP) president, told the country this in July 2019. He is right!
Jamaica is able to avoid the begging bowl today because she has been steadily paying down her debt. Jamaica’s 74 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio today is a giant improvement compared to 147 per cent in 2013. This is a major reason that the country was able to give public sector workers the largest increase in salary in 50 years recently.
Dr Nigel Clarke has played a mammoth role in situating Jamaica in a better place socially and economically. We must never take that for granted. Unlike some, he did not “run wid it”.
The IMF said Dr Clarke “Is an exceptional public servant and policy-maker with proven leadership in institution building and economic crisis management, who has stewarded his country’s economy to a stronger and more sustainable position.” He will leave Jamaica “with robust economic fundamentals”. I agree.
There are some among us who say, “Cho, economic fundamentals cyaan nyam.” And others will shout, “Good roads cannot full belly.” A few will bellow” “100 new Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses is not it.” These are often gut reactions due to lack of knowledge.
I am concerned about people who share this perspective. Admittedly, greater public education is needed to reduce the number of Jamaicans who have this myopic view.
More importantly, though, as the country’s economic position improves, more and greater attention will have to be concentrated on the needs of our most vulnerable.
Those among us, however, who manipulate especially the unsuspecting into believing that Jamaica can afford to repeat the calamitous “run wid it” of the past, mean Jamaica no good.
They must be democratically repudiated with great fervency.
Thanks for your superb contribution, Dr Clarke.