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Rachel Life and Debt Global Perspectives In the documentary, Life and Debt, Jamaica gave their perspective of how the MIFF made things worse for their economy. The MIFF believed in order to encourage economic growth they would loan money to their country (short term borrowing). They encouraged Jamaica to export goods, but problems started to arise. Their currency devalued, the price of oil went up (more expensive to import gas, food).
The small country Jamaica was in competition with the rest of the big world, where countries like the United States were selling goods for cheaper than what Jamaica could offer. This hurt their economy because people in the stores were buying imported goods rather than the local farm goods that were more expensive. Jamaican farmers faced policies which made it difficult for them to sell goods. High interest rates forced them to import.
For example, milk production was getting dumped in the drain due to the farmers being unable to sell product. They had to switch to powdered milk which is cheaper than fresh. The people also faced struggles with free zones. Free zones are factories that aren’t liable to pay taxes. They hire cheap labor that assembles products made in other countries. Jamaica faced problems with he free zones in their country. They were working long hours, less pay and bad work conditions.
They would protest but companies would threaten to move to areas that are cheaper. Eventually a company brought in Asian workers claiming they had the “skills” they needed. Jamaican ended up losing their Jobs. The situation in Jamaica is a perfect example of globalization. They became dependent on developed countries; developed countries came in and built their corporations on land that is not theirs all with the mind set of greed. They owe money, forever in debt which paid a high price for the way people live in Jamaica.