Chancellor of the University of Technology, Lord Morris of Handsworth, presided over the third staging of the Chancellor's Forum held on November 5 at Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel.

The forum, which was intended to, among other things, engage a wide cross-section of stakeholders in the university's growth and development, was attended by a large group of academics and members of the business community. The forum examined the impact of the global recession on the Jamaican economy and sought to posit some solutions to Jamaica's recovery in the short and medium terms.

Main speaker was Colin Bullock, senior lecturer in the Department of Economics, UWI, Mona, and former deputy governor of the Bank of Jamaica. Other distinguished panellists were economist Dennis Chung, Prof Gavin Chen, dean of the Faculty of Business and Management, UTech and Prof Rosalea Hamilton, vice-president - development, UTech.

macroeconomic constraint

Bullock contended that "crime is Jamaica's major macroeconomic constraint" and argued that there are no "painless choices" remaining towards putting Jamaica on a path to economic recovery.

He noted that debt-servicing has been eating up 50 per cent of Jamaica's budget over the last several years resulting in the prevailing socio-economic deficits affecting the country. He chided the government for its slow response in addressing the economic crisis. "We seem to be reacting to problems six months to a year after the problem is apparent," he said. He added that Jamaica must reduce its fiscal deficit and re-allocate resources in a way that facilitated growth.

This, he noted, would require "political courage and strong technical leadership". Bullock emphasised further, that Government must act faster and more decisively, employ more open effective communication, share the burden of adjustment and target significant benefits to the most vulnerable in society who need them most.

comprehensive study

Dennis Chung pointed out that the current economic challenges were not unique. He noted that Jamaica faced some of the same problems in the 1980s. Chung recommended a comprehensive study of the policies which enabled Jamaica to record a growth rate of 6 per cent at the end of the 1980s, while Prof Gavin Chen argued that Jamaica's current debt burden is was directly related to the country's move towards liberalisation in the 1980s without putting in place the attendant regulatory mechanisms to manage the change in policy.

Chung suggested a move towards improving local production for export and establishing policies that will change the relationship in GDP while focusing on sectors where Jamaica has a comparative advantage, such as athletics.