Market Failures In Jamaica Case Study

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Introduction
The purpose of this work is to identify the market failures of the Jamaican economy in addition to its contribution to the country’s current economic state. According to (Arnold, 2011) Market failure occurs when a production of a specific product is less than optimal (Microeconomics, 2011, p. 365). A look into how Jamaica’s supply and demand, market structure, and market variables will reveal some of the causes contributing to the country’s current economic condition. Jamaica is an island among thousands throughout the known Caribbean region. The island is the third largest in the Caribbean. According to (Mtholyoke.edu, 2014) the country was first inhabited by Arawak Indians whom were annihilated through violence and decease
Eventually, the island was besieged and taken over by the British Empire in 1655 who in turn harvested the island’s resources through slavery. Slavery was eventually abolished in 1834 leaving the island with two hundred and fifty thousand African descendent (Mtholyoke, 2014). In 1962 the Jamaican people gained their independence from Great Britain and began a path towards economic prosperity. After gaining their independence in 1962; the Jamaican economies quickly transformed into a paradoxical state of which appeared to have no escape. The country’s market failures were and still remain a result of failed rules, policies, regulations, and greed that is subjecting the country’s economy to what seems to be an uncontrollable down spiral. The Jamaican economy is caught in an economic cycle of haphazard policies by a debase government determined to validate and obscure their exploitation of power for their own gain and the only way to economic prosperity is economic
Even though the global recession was impactful, tourism has sustained growth by at minimum 4% annually; tourism accounts for 25 percent of Jamaican employment and is 10% of the GDP (Jamaica-travel-secrets.com, 2014). Foreign tourist patrons however are threatening the Jamaican ecosystem with its income dependent activities such as pollution, tailored division of labor, and costal development. These environmental conditions will eventually take a negative sway in the tourism industry because travelers will no longer desire a destination with high pollution or they will be compelled to pay even less to come to the country which ultimately will affect the Jamaican economy

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