No one who has been following the economic performances of Caribbean countries over the past five years can deny that the developmental challenges facing these small, open economies have been endless and there really isn’t any true blueprint in terms of policies and programmes that can be applied to ease the burdens on the backs of the citizens of most of these countries.
Despite Governments’ efforts and assistance from friendly countries and regional and international organisations such as the Caribbean Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank, our countries still have very long ways to go before they can begin to realise sustained levels of real economic growth and development.
While Caribbean countries continue their search for new models and strategies of economic development, an astonishing report from Oxfam has confirmed what some economists have long seen as a growing problem in the world economy – a problem of inequality in the distribution of income.
According to the report, entitled Working For The Few: Political Capture And Economic Inequality, published on January 20, 2014, “Almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population. The wealth of the one per cent richest people in the world amounts to $110 trillion. That’s 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world’s population.
“The bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world. Seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years. The richest one per cent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012. In the United States, the wealthiest one per cent captured 95 per cent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90 per cent became poorer.”
Clearly, therefore, the struggles of Caribbean countries to generate sustained levels of economic growth and development cannot be blamed on insufficient income in the global economy. In fact, the report by Oxfam confirms that there is sufficient income to go around if only the income there were more evenly distributed as opposed to being concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy individuals.
What then is a possible strategy for Caribbean countries to pursue as they seek to grow and develop their cash-strapped economies? The answer is simple: development through philanthropy.
You see, philanthropy has been an essential area of economic activity for decades but has intensified in recent years particularly, given the massive changes in technology. We already know that there are some very generous people among us who have and continue to give quite willingly.
For example, Warren Buffett donated $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Other notable acts of humanity were the $9 billion from Chuck Feeney to Atlantic Philanthropies, $2 billion from Azim Premji to the Azim Premji Foundation and Ted Turner’s $1 billion to the United Nations.
Therefore, going forward, since Caribbean countries have Embassies and Consulates all over the world, these important foreign affairs institutions should be given clear mandates by our Governments to pursue quite vigorously all philanthropic avenues to source much needed funds for developmental projects in our countries.
If successful, Caribbean countries can soon see themselves back on sustained growth and development paths without having to incur massive public debt. What say you, our leaders?
