3 Characteristics of Caribbean Economies

HIGHLIGHTS

• read the article paying attention to the words in bold
• summarize the main ideas
• comment on the ideas expressed by the author
• compose 3 questions for discussion

FOCUS WORDS

PREPOSITIONS

DISCUSSION AND APPLICATION QUESTIONS

LANGUAGE REVIEW

FLASHCARDS

SYNONYMS

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS DEFINITION

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS SYNONYMS

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS COLLOCATIONS

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES BY FILLING IN  FOCUS WORDS

MATCH THE COLLOCATIONS FROM THE TEXT

COMPOSE MEANINGFUL SENTENCES BASED ON FOCUS WORDS AND COLLOCATIONS FROM THE TEXT

PREPOSITIONS

GRAMMAR MIX

VOCABULARY NOTES

HIGHLIGHTS:

• read the article paying attention to the words in bold
• summarize the main ideas
• comment on the ideas expressed by the author
• compose 3 questions for discussion

3 Characteristics of Caribbean Economies

By Warren Cassell Jr.

Updated January 31, 2022 Reviewed by Margaret James Fact checked by Suzanne Kvilhaug

Oftentimes the Caribbean region is referred to as a melting pot because of the high cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity among each of its islands. As many as 43.5 million individuals reside on a total of 28 different island nations in the West Indies, each of which possesses their own unique economic characteristics.

In almost all cases, a politically stable environment can be found throughout the Caribbean. Half of the islands that make up the region, for instance, are overseas territories of either the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, or France, while the other half are sovereign nations. Furthermore, some islands are a lot more developed than others. As an example, according to the World Bank, Haiti, the Caribbean’s second-largest nation by population, is the poorest country in the entire Western Hemisphere. On the other hand, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development no longer considers the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago to be a developing country.

Although every island in the Caribbean has its own distinct economic features, there are a number of common characteristics shared among the different economies of the region. A few of these characteristics are explored below.

Key Takeaways

• The Caribbean is defined by a series of island nations, many of which derive from a colonial lineage.
• These small economies rely on agricultural production (e.g. sugar cane), fishing, and tourism.
• The island nations, however, lack natural resources and are subject to natural disasters ranging from volcanoes to hurricane strikes.

Trade Openness

Caribbean economies have benefited tremendously from strong regional and international trade relationships. The small physical size of most islands has made it virtually impossible for any Caribbean nation to produce all of the goods that its citizens and firms need on its own. By way of illustration, the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat has an abundance of construction, however it is highly dependent on imports from neighboring islands and the United States in order to meet local demand for fruits and vegetables.

Trade is so vital to the survival of Caribbean economies that multiple trade blocs have been formed in the region, all of which aim to remove trade barriers, such as tariffs and quotas, among member-states. The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are the two most popular trade alliances in the West Indies. Additionally, many islands have established preferential trade agreements with Canada and members of the European Union. This helps expose these small economies to wider markets.

Limited Natural Resources

As mentioned above, trade plays a very significant role in the development of Caribbean economies. Although some islands like Anguilla, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands heavily rely on tourism and financial services to earn foreign currency, the majority of Caribbean nations make money from exporting raw materials and manufactured goods to international markets. In the long-run, this can be a problem because of the limited amount of resources that these nations possess.

Earning foreign exchange is a critical activity for every nation. A government that possesses sizeable foreign exchange reserves is able to further develop its local economies by acquiring state-of-the-art public infrastructure from abroad and thus improving its domestic social services. In an effort to increase their standard of living, Caribbean states may try to raise more foreign currency by exporting and, therefore, putting a large burden on their limited natural resources. This would lead to a complete depletion of what little resources they have.

Vulnerable to Natural Disasters

On numerous occasions, natural disasters have impeded economic progress in the Caribbean. As a result of the geographic location of the region, virtually all Caribbean economies are susceptible to the dangerous forces of nature. Between the months of June and November, hurricanes threaten these small nations. Added to that, there is always the possibility of a volcanic eruption or earthquake occurring without much warning. In other words, both businesses and governments constantly need to be prepared for unexpected events that could result in the sudden loss of much needed infrastructure, valuable capital, and irreplaceable lives.

When a Caribbean island is affected by a natural disaster, its government is forced to allocate its limited financial resources to rebuilding the economy by repairing damages. Thus, several occurrences of natural disasters will result in the inefficient use of capital and would hinder long-term economic growth. In addition, a major act of God will cause funds allocated to social services, such as healthcare and education, to be reduced and therefore decrease the country’s standard of living.

For example, in 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused more than $360 million worth of damage to property and infrastructure in Jamaica alone. Instead of servicing debt or investing that money in increasing the island’s productive capacity, the funds had to be used just to bring the island back to the state it was in pre-Hurricane Ivan.

The Bottom Line

Much like the culture of Caribbean islands, each nation’s economy is different. Some islands are much more sector diverse than others while others rely on foreign aid to keep the afloat. Nevertheless, many Caribbean nations share similar economic characteristics and challenges. Generally speaking they engage in trade liberalization, and are constrained to exporting a limited amount of natural resources in order to gain foreign exchange.

FOCUS WORDS

reside	находиться, принадлежать
distinct	отдельный, особый, отчетливый, определенный
subject to	подвергаться, зависеть от
abundance	множество, избыток
depletion	истощение, опустошение
impede	препятствовать, мешать, затруднять, задерживать
susceptible	восприимчивый, поддающийся, допускающий
allocate	распределять, назначать, отчислить
capacity	мощность, способность, возможность, объем
constrained	ограниченный, сдержанный

PREPOSITIONS

1. refer to  
2. defined by
3. derive from
4. range from
5. dependent on 
6. demand for
7. burden on
8. allocate to
9. subject to 
10. vital to
11. susceptible to 
12. in the long-run
13. constrained to
14. engage in 
15. in an effort 

FLASHCARDS

SYNONYMS

VOCABULARY TEST

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS TRANSLATION

reside	истощение, опустошение
distinct	восприимчивый, поддающийся, допускающий
subject to	мощность, способность, возможность, объем
abundance	находиться, принадлежать
depletion	ограниченный, сдержанный
impeded	отдельный, особый, отчетливый, определенный
susceptible	препятствовать, мешать, затруднять, задерживать
allocate	подвергаться, зависеть от
capacity	распределять, назначать, отчислить
constrained	множество, избыток

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS DEFINITION

reside	sensitive to, easily moved by, or easily touched by some influence, agency, force
distinct	an extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply
subject to	forced, compelled, or obliged
abundance	to abide, lie, or be present habitually; exist or be inherent
depletion	to set apart for a particular purpose; assign
impeded	to decrease badly; use up the supply of
susceptible	the maximum amount or number that can be contained; volume; ability to perform, yield, or withstand
allocate	distinguished as not being the same; separate; dissimilar
capacity	to cause to slow down in movement or progress
constrained	open or exposed to; being under the rule, control, or influence of

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS SYNONYMS

reside	vulnerable, prone, inclined, liable, exposed
distinct	apparent, distinctive, distinguishing, typical, peculiar to
subject to	wealth, bunch, plentiful supply
abundance	hinder, hamper, block, prevent
depletion	allot, designate, assign, appoint
impeded	lie, rest, be located, be found, be situated, be present, be vested, exist, belong
susceptible	restricted, restrained, confined, stifled, inhibited
allocate	limit, size, volume, range; ability, aptitude, skill, talent
capacity	prone to, liable to, susceptible to, vulnerable to; dependent on, reliant on/ upon
constrained	exhaustion, reduction, drainage, consumption, shrinkage, wasting

MATCH THE WORD WITH ITS COLLOCATIONS

reside	of supplies/ provisions/ resources/ strength/ power/ resistance
distinct	to damage, disease, infection, poisoning
subject to	limited, restricted; mental, emotional, cognitive
abundance	in the city/ the country; permanently/ temporarily
depletion	time/ money/ budget
impeded	to discrimination/ racism/ starvation/ poor working conditions
susceptible	by the law, rules, regulations; work, admit, study, accept, pay
allocate	completely, from each other, in character/ color/ style/ shape
capacity	progress, efforts, access, success, work, development, progress
constrained	of resources/ sites/ wealth

PREPOSITIONS

1. refer __
2. defined __
3. derive __
4. range __
5. dependent __
6. demand __
7. burden __
8. allocate __
9. subject __
10. vital __
11. susceptible __
12. __the long-run
13. constrained __
14. engage __
15. __an effort 

VOCABULARY NOTES

reside  находиться, принадлежать	definition to abide, lie, or be present habitually; exist or be inherent  synonyms lie, rest, be located, be found, be situated, be present, be vested, exist, belong  collocations reside in [London, the city, the country, that house] reside [permanently, temporarily] resides in the fact[power, talent, strength] resides in him
distinct  отдельный, особый, отчетливый, определенный	definition distinguished as not being the same; separate; dissimilar synonyms apparent, distinctive, distinguishing, typical, peculiar to  collocations are distinct from [each other, the others] are [very, completely] distinct distinct in [character, color, style, shape]
subject to подвергаться, зависеть от	definition open or exposed to; being under the rule, control, or influence of something synonyms prone to, liable to, susceptible to, vulnerable to; dependent on, reliant on/ upon collocations have been subjected to [discrimination, racism] subjected to [such, cruel, unnecessary] humiliation subjected to [starvation, poor working conditions]
abundance множество, избыток	definition an extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply synonyms wealth, bunch, plentiful supply collocations of resources/ sites/ wealth
depletion  истощение, опустошение	definition to decrease badly; use up the supply of synonyms exhaustion, reduction, drainage, consumption, shrinkage, wasting collocations the depletion of [supplies, provisions, resources, water, ammunition] the depletion of [strength, power, resistance, energy] the depletion of the [ozone layer, arctic ice] depletion of [funds, capital, money, reserves]
impede препятствовать, мешать, затруднять, задерживать	definition to cause to slow down in movement or progress synonyms hinder, hamper, block, prevent  collocations impede their [progress, efforts, access, success, work] is impeding the [development, progress] of
susceptible  восприимчивый, поддающийся, допускающий	definition sensitive to, easily moved by, or easily touched by some influence, agency, force synonyms vulnerable, prone, inclined, liable, exposed  collocations susceptible to [damage, disease, infection, poisoning] the [birds, patients, children] are susceptible to [may, could, might] be susceptible (to)
allocate  распределять, назначать, отчислить	definition to set apart for a particular purpose; assign synonyms allot, designate, assign, appoint collocations time/ money/ budget
capacity мощность, способность, возможность, объем	definition the maximum amount or number that can be contained;volume; ability to perform, yield, or withstand synonyms limit, size, volume, range; ability, aptitude, skill, talent collocations a maximum capacity of [40,000] [people, guests] The capacity is [limited, restricted] to [40,000]. the capacity has been [extended, boosted, increased] tois at full capacity has the capacity to [provide, meet, produce, make] [mental, emotional, cognitive] capacities
constrained ограниченный, сдержанный	definition forced, compelled, or obliged synonyms restricted, restrained, confined, stifled, inhibited collocations constrained to [work, be, admit, study, accept, pay] constrained from [punching, speaking, hitting, approaching] constrained by [the law, rules, regulations, rules and regulations] constrained by [officers, her husband, friends]