Jamaica has struggled with issues common to many small island states - high debt, low growth, limited fiscal space, and economic vulnerability arising from climate change and global economic shocks. Footprints in the Sand details how Jamaica, through disciplined and deliberate policymaking, confronted these and other issues and emerged resilient in this time defined by polycrisis. Nigel's well-organised book holds valuable lessons for countries big and small!
Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados
Jamaica's macro-economic indicators are the best they have been in nearly fifty years. If you want to understand the thought processes behind the economic policies that led to this achievement and that institutionalised economic stability, increased economic resilience, guided and realised economic recovery from historic economic crises and that created opportunity for Jamaicans, while pioneering ground-breaking transactions, then this book is definitely for you. Nigel's data driven analytic approach, clear-thinking pragmatism and courageous implementation have left Footprints in the Sand, that are worthy of emulation.
Horace Chang, Deputy Prime Minister of Jamaica
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
