“Sustained High Growth and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries: What We Know and What We Do Not Know at This Stage of the Development of the Global Economy..." by Michael Spence
By Joy Mills-Ward
Reporter - SKNVibes.com
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| 2001 Economics Nobel Laureate - Professor Michael Spence |
Basseterre, St. Kitts, Nov. 9 - Government officials, representatives of local commercial banks, and representatives of regional commercial banks turned out to hear the 12th Sir Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture last evening, Nov. 7.
The lecture was given by 2001 Economics Nobel Laureate - Professor Michael Spence at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Professor Spence presently sits as Chairman on the World Bank Commission on Growth & Development.
The proceedings were chaired by Mr Trevor Brathwaite Deputy Governor, ECCB and welcome remarks were given by Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Sam Condor, and an Introduction of the lecturer was made by Sir K. Dwight Venner - Governor ECCB.
Professor Spence addressed the gathering on the topic: “Sustained High Growth and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries: What We Know and What We Do Not Know at This Stage of the Development of the Global Economy”.
In times marked by global warming, the CSME and CCJ, this topic was both timely and informative to everyone there.
The Professor Spence gave his definition of “Sustained High Growth” as economic growth at 7% or more for at least 2 decades or 25 years consistently. His rationale for using 7% was that a country’s income doubles every 10 years at this percentage rate.
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| (L-R) Representative for St. Lucia, Joanna Charles & Representative for Anguilla, Valentine Banks |
In his dissertation Professor Spence said that “Growth” in and of itself is not something that humans are interested in. Humans, he said were interested in things like Health, Opportunity to create, and Interactions with other human beings.
He further intimated that “Growth creates options” and that it was a supporting condition for humans to have more freedom to deal with issues like Health and Creative Opportunities etc.
In his power-point slide presentation, professor Spence attempted to show the audience how long it takes to go from the economy level of a relatively poor country to that of a relatively advanced country.
Professor Spence concurred with the views of Sir Arthur Lewis in saying that “you cannot grow an economy at these high speeds without the knowledge and demand that comes from the global economy”.
An actual timeframe was indicated of five decades (50yrs) necessary to make that transition from a relatively poor economy to a relatively advanced economy.
~~Adz:Left~~He said that competition needed to be the driver to enable the economy to grow.
Professor Spence further defined competition as being a set of service providers/producers on a level playfield setting the prices themselves to attract the largest share of the available market, and not one where an incumbent monopoly with Government interest is regulating market prices to generate as much government revenue as possible.
Hence in creating an economic model country leaders should veer away from setting time horizons which only encompasses the projected length of time in office for the governing/elected party.
Professor Spence used India and China as models to make his comparisons, and further said that investment in Infrastructure and Education are imperative for Sustained High Growth, especially in this age of Technology.
Business owners/stakeholders in the economy need to make sure that they invest enough into developing infrastructure and education to ensure stability and sustainability for their respective ventures.
In his closing sentiments, Spence revealed that “If a country has a set of valuable human resources someone in the global economy will find them and make use of them”.
Alluding here to what is commonly known as “brain-drain”.
Last night, was co-incidentally the birthday of the esteemed lecturer and the occasion at which the Best Corporate Citizen Awards among Commercial Banks were announced and presented.
The Best Corporate Citizen Awards among Commercial Banks was designed by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (whose Head Quarters are in Basseterre St. Kitts), to recognize banks that take time to reach out to members of the communities in which they operate and from which they draw their strengths.
Recipients in each category are listed below, however only 3 representatives were available to receive the awards:-
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Award Category
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Recipient (Representative Name)
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Educational Development
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REPUBLIC BANK OF (GRENADA) LTD
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Community Outreach
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ABI BANK LTD
(Marie-Antoinette Mora – P.R & Marketing Mgr)
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Environmental Awareness
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NATIONAL BANK OF DOMINICA LTD
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Social Services
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REPUBLIC BANK OF (GRENADA) LTD
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Customer Services
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NATIONAL BANK OF ANGUILLA LTD
(Valentine Banks – C. E. O)
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Cultural Development
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BANK OF SAINT LUCIA
(Joanna Charles – Assistant General Manager)
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Financial Literacy & Awareness
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REPUBLIC BANK OF (GRENADA) LTD
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Good Corporate Citizen Award for Sports Development
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BANK OF SAINT LUCIA
(Joanna Charles – Assistant General Manager)
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ECCB’s 2007 OECS Best Corporate Citizen Award
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REPUBLIC BANK OF (GRENADA) LTD
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