"Imperialism does not come to an end when a particular country achieves its political independence. If the economic organization remains sufficiently in foreign hands it will continue to be subjected to foreign domination and exploitation to the benefit of the external power"' (Manley The Poverty of Nations).

Jamaica, as of August, 2005 has the third highest murder rate, per capita, in the world. Violence and corruption are in part, due to a spirit of hopelessness and despair. What is the point of abiding by the rules in an unfair system? The core of Jamaica's wealth is still distributed amongst just a few privileged families. The political and economic situation has created a significant group of people with nothing to lose, which is the most dangerous side-effect that world politics could produce. What happened to the hopefulness that the nation had at independence? The discussion of Michael Manley and the IMF's role in Jamaican development is relevant to obtaining answers. The argument here is not that the IMF is the route of Jamaica's problems, but that the agreements signed and the subsequent debt crisis play a major role in creating the spirit of hopelessness that looms over the island today.

Manley Takes Over

When Michael Manley became Prime Minister in February 1972, seventy percent of the Jamaican economy was already foreign dominated. The mineral industry was completely controlled by multinational corporations. The unemployment rate was 24 percent (doubled since independence) and illiteracy was between 30 and 50 percent. Forty- five percent of arable land was owned by 0.2 percent of the farmers, with the remaining 55 percent of the land shared by 99.8 percent of farmers.

The goals of the PNP were to develop an egalitarian society, a more democratic society and accelerate the process by which Jamaicans could "recognize their history" (Manley, The Poverty of Nations).

The development of national pride is necessary for a newly independent country with a history characterized by the psychological enslavement of its people. There is a need to develop confidence in the ability to thrive without a master. Manley recognized this and centered his policy around achieving political autonomy through democratic socialism.
His government took many steps towards achieving the reformation and development they thought was necessary.

Achievements

- a minimum wage for all workers.
- free education at secondary and university level, to the extent of spaces available.
- institution of literacy campaign.
- subdivision of 'idle lands' to peasants.
- formation of agrarian cooperatives.
- price controls on numerous staples.
- reduction of voting age to 18 years.
- institutionalizing paid maternity leave.
- public utilities, a large bank and part of the tourism business were rationalized.

Using the slogan "better must come", Manley instilled in the people faith in the possibility for development. He instilled a sense of pride in the poor black majority and contributed to building national pride and self- acceptance by encouraging employment of the Rastafarians in the workplace. By weakening the embedded racist attitudes from slavery and colonization he increased social mobility and the prospects for the poor. Foreign domination of the economy was reduced to percent.
Despite Manley's flaws and failures, his belief in democratic socialism was a "genuine attempt at profound social reform" (Michael Kaufman,Jamaica Under Manley).

When the price of oil rose in 1974, Jamaica faced a major crisis and development was seriously deterred. By 1976 declining exports a critical shortage of foreign exchange and investment. Manley's only option was to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a loan.

The IMF in Jamaica

Manley signs his first IMF agreement in 1977 and Jamaica's government has since signed 2 more. In reality, he had no choice in the matter. The IMF has a massive influence on the behavior of the entire world banking system. In order to get a loan from anywhere else, a nation requires an IMF 'seal of approval'. The idea is that the IMF works out a 'development plan' for the country. The IMF, however, failed to implement a plan for long term development.

Some of the requirements (taken from all three agreements) were that the Jamaican dollar be devalued and Jamaica open up its market to free trade. By opening up the market for more import we lost our banana industry to big banana companies like Chiquita from the United States, who rely heavily on fertilizers and the extremely cheap labor of their workers in Latin America. An influx of cheap powdered milk from the States devastated the dairy industry. Company's like Tommy Hilfiger established, in the eighties, 'free zones' in Jamaica. These zones are exempt from Jamaican taxation so are attractive to poor laborers looking for work. They are also exempt from Jamaican law, so there is no imposition of minimum wage. Workers slave away for extremely long hours for about thirty U.S. dollars a week (at the discretion of the manager that is), and are often replaced without warning, by Chinese immigrants.The government was forced to raise taxes, cut the budget for education, health and agriculture. The capitalistic model based on free trade is the antithesis of what Jamaica really needed. It was in fact designed to force Jamaica to turn from industries which it depended on for development.

Going to the IMF and signing that agreement was one of the more bitter, traumatic experiences of my life," says Manley. "[There is not one] IMF country that has a good educational system, a good agricultural system, a good public health system ... All of them are caught in the old colonial chains" (Life and Debt).

Manley fought bitterly with the IMF about that first agreement. He was able to see then what is far more clear now. The IMF was not created with the interest of the third world in mind. It is controlled by the country with the most economic influence, the hegemony. It was therefore designed as a part of that hegemonic political system in which the only true interest is to maintain the power of that hegemony. Manley also recognized that the IMF ideals of capitalism and free trade "attempt to ignore the fact that the dominant reality in the world today is the center-periphery paradigm and that the weaknesses in the periphery were created by the same process that created the might of the center and that further, the center was built through exploitative relationships with the periphery" (Poverty of nations). In fact the IMF has helped to perpetuate that center- periphery paradigm. Through their 'development plans' they have created peripheral economies that supply basic commodities, cheap labor or an extra market for rejected products. All economic activity is geared towards the advantage of the industrial powers. Where is the room for the development of a country like Jamaica that has had its whole history marred by economic exploitation?

A history of inequality must be made up for in some way, or there will be consequences for all. The imposition of free trade on a small new nation struggling to develop its economy shows a blatant disregard for history in the determination of world affairs. The assumption that a small island nation will have complex enough organization to find new avenues for income after agriculture, and the prospects of self- sufficiency, are taken away, is preposterous. The results have been devastating, not only for Jamaica, as poverty is now an international crisis.

The IMF has created a debt crisis by hindering development, thus making it impossible for Jamaica's economy to repay its loans. Manley appropriately compared this dilemma to trying to go "up the down escalator". Considering this feeling of despair that our leaders have, it makes sense, as Manley predicted, that the society is somewhat falling apart. Regardless of his failures, Michael Manley's foresight is key when addressing the most urgent issue in world politics today- poverty. Jamaica's situation with the International Monetary Fund explicitly highlights the fact that the world economic system facilitates the widening of the gap between rich and poor. The challenge of modern world is the development of a new system, and an abandonment of the current one in which the rich get richer and the poor only get poorer.

back to top