The Caribbean : from vulnerability to sustained growth / edited by Ratna Sahay, David O. Robinson, and Paul Cashin.

Includes bibliographical references.

Overview / Ratna Sahay, David O. Robinson, and Paul Cashin -- Stabilization, debt, and fiscal policy in the Caribbean / Ratna Sahay -- Fiscal policy: is the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union a free-riding paradise? / Rupa Duttagupta and Guillermo Tolosa -- Key features of Caribbean business cycles / Paul Cashin -- Islands of stability? Determinants of macroeconomic volatility in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union / Tobias Rasmussen and Guillermo Tolosa -- Eastern Caribbean Currency Union banking system in a time of fiscal challenge / Jingqing Chai -- Natural disasters and their macroeconomic implications / Tobias Rasmussen -- Government responses to natural disasters in the Caribbean / Paul Cashin and Pawel Dyczewski -- Emigration and brain drain from the Caribbean / Prachi Mishra -- Tax concessions and foreign direct investment in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union / Jingqing Chai and Rishi Goyal -- Eastern Caribbean tourism: developments and outlook / Ruby Randall -- Integration and growth in the Eastern Caribbean / Montfort Mlachila, Wendell Samuel, and Patrick Njoroge.

This book sets out the economic challenges facing the island nations of the Caribbean and presents policy options to ameliorate external shocks and embark firmly on a sustained growth path. While the countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union that are the focus of the book have enjoyed a sustained period of price and exchange rate stability, they have been buffeted in recent years by adverse shocks, including the erosion of trade preferences, declines in official foreign assistance, and frequent natural disasters. Strengthening their growth performance will require design of a multifaceted strategy that integrates the Caribbean with the global economy, facilitates an economic transformation from agriculture to tourism, fosters greater regional cooperation, and preserves macroeconomic stability. This volume examines the critical issues that are part of that process, including fiscal and financial sector policy, management of external flows, trade integration and tourism, macroeconomic cycles and volatility, and the economic implications of natural disasters.--Publisher's description.