I am coming to the conclusion that poverty is influenced far more by macro economic policy than by antipoverty projects. I've just read Philip D Osei's 2001 critique of the antipoverty programs in Jamaica. He asserts that although poverty did drop significantly during the implementation of this program, it was more the result of macroeconomic improvements than the specific antipoverty projects. This fits well with the idea that people move into and out of poverty depending on a variety of circumstances as described in my previous post. It also matches the experience of the Dominican Republic when poverty rates doubled as a result of macroeconomic problems (as described in my post on the DR). It also matches the Haiti experience where despite excellent antipoverty projects, bad macroeconomic policy has led to terrible poverty rates (the IMF put out a paper comparing macroeconomic policies of Haiti and the DR entitled "Growth in the Dominican Republic and Haiti: Why has the Grass Been Greener on One Side of Hispaniola". The current global financial mess will probably increase poverty rates far faster than antipoverty projects can protect people.
Therefore, we cannot end poverty in the Caribbean by mobilizing support for antipoverty projects--we could never mobilize enough energy and resources to overcome bad policies.
I'm not sure where to go now with this blog. I'm not ready to give up on the idea of working to end poverty in the Caribbean, I'm just not sure where to go. Any ideas?
