Jamaica, a small island of only 4411 square miles (10,991 sq km) and located in the Caribbean Sea, is known to many the world around as a tourist destination, the birthplace of reggae, or the former home of reggae superstar Bob Marley, but “the rock” has a much greater legacy than these few points of recognition. As a country, Jamaica has endured, adapted to, and in some cases overcome myriad experiences such as colonialism, population depletion, and slavery to name a few and has still managed to secure a place in the sphere of world affairs by excelling in sports, cultural contributions and social, political, and economic advancement. This little island still has a long way to go and our focus here is to look at the road travelled thus far with relation to it’s economy.

During the years of slavery, the Jamaican economy was constructed in such a way that all benefits were returned to the mother country. The fruits of slave labour were sent directly back to Britain while the tiny island was forced to import all imaginable goods from Britain, doubling the returns for the motherland. This created a model of economic dependence, a model that rooted itself solidly. “social and economic structuring, and governing of Jamaica was entirely a British affair…. In practice, the governing of the colony was left to the local elite”. The system of government was dictated in such a way to exclude the possibility of slaves or even freemen from having an opportunity to run for, or contribute to any form of political position. Only whites who met certain qualifications were allowed to vote. As a result the government was made up of representatives that did not represent the interests of the majority of the population.

Today, the Jamaican government is a Constitutional Parliamentary Democracy and the country has two main political parties, The jamaica Labour Party And the Peoples National Party, both of which were established in the late 1930's. Elections for a new prime minister are held every five years and the current Prime Minister, the Honourable Bruce Golding was elected in the fourth quarter of 2007. His victory marked the end of over 15 years of rule by the Peoples National Party.

Jamaica joined the International Monetary Fund in and completed final payments of over XX years of roll over debts in September of 19XX