Description
Footprints in the Sand: The Jamaican Economic Policymaking Experience 2016–2024 by Nigel Clarke is a triumphant farewell to his stewardship as Minister of Finance and the Public Service and Ambassador of Economic Affairs in the government of Jamaica for a combined eight and a half years.
Submitted for publication prior to taking up his new role as a Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Clarke takes the reader into the mind of a policymaker focused on the pursuit of economic independence.
He advocates for credible policies that promote economic stability and create buffers against future shocks not as ends in themselves, but as the only means to sustainably create opportunity for all Jamaicans. The work covers a wide range of topics, from inflation, debt, and international capital markets to disaster-risk financing, public-private partnerships, and strong institution building.
About The Author
Nigel Clarke served as Minister of Finance and the Public Service and Ambassador of Economic Affairs in the
Government of Jamaica for a combined period of eight and a half years between April 2016 and October 2024. He
served as a Senator between 2013 and 2015 and he was twice elected to serve as a Member of Parliament between
2018 and 2024. In 2022, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development
Bank and the Inter-American Investment Corporation. Mr Clarke currently serves in the position of Deputy
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
He holds a D.Phil. in Numerical Analysis and an M.Sc. in Applied Statistics from Oxford University where he was a
Rhodes Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar. He also holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science from
The University of the West Indies where he was a Jamaica Independence Scholar.
Contents
Contents
FOREWORD
PREFACE
ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Part One: Beginnings
Part Two: Intention
Part Three: Stability
Price Stability and Central Bank Independence
Fiscal Responsibility
Financial Sector Resilience
Part Four: Crises
Pandemic Policymaking
Financing the Risk of Natural Disasters
Part Five: Opportunity
Empowering the Private Sector
Reforming the Public Sector
Strengthening the Social Safety Net
Part Six: New Beginnings
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
Reviews
Nigel’s footprints in the sand are very large indeed! Under his leadership, Jamaica moved from serial failure of IMF programmes to being the institution’s crown jewel of macroeconomic management. If you want to know what countries, large and small, can learn from the journey, Nigel’s book is a must read.
Peter Blair Henry, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution,
and author of TURNAROUND: Third World Lessons for First World Growth
Footprints in the Sand stands as a major contribution to the practice of fiscal reform and grounded economic transformation. Through his unique, insider’s perspective, Nigel Clarke chronicles one nation’s journey in successful crisis management strategies, and illuminates more general pathways toward sustainable economic independence. His account of Jamaica’s transformation from debt-ridden instability to a model of macro-economic stability reveals the high-stakes challenges and bold policies that shaped this Caribbean success story. It is essential reading for policymakers, economists, and specialists in emerging economies. And for the general reader interested in the story of one nation’s triumph against economic odds, Footprints in the Sand provides both inspiration and invaluable insights.
Orlando Patterson,
John Cowles Professor of Sociology, Harvard University and author of
The Confounding Island: Jamaica and the Postcolonial Predicament
