«A critique that aims to be bold, but is based on a misinterpretation»
Presented as a welcome critique of victim-centered rhetoric, the op-ed titled “The Myth of the Caribbean Economic Model” claims to reintroduce the responsibility individual and collective in the public debate from Martinique. The intention may seem commendable. However, it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding: confusing the general economic principles with the institutional and structural arrangements specific contexts in which these laws are applied.
«An economic model does not negate market rules.»
A business model does not mean either a cultural exception or a waiver of the market rules. It refers to a productive architecture, a organization of exchanges, a system of’tax, social, and logistical incentives, as well as a clear division of roles between the’Status, the companies and the households. As such, there is indeed a Caribbean economic model, in a descriptive and analytical sense, just as there is a Nordic or German model. To deny this is to reject any thorough economic analysis.
«Genuine legal integration, but unbalanced economic integration»
Martinique is fully integrated into the France and at the’European Union. But this integration is functional, no balanced. The local economy is characterized by a heavy reliance on imports, a low production diversification, a dominance of the distribution on the production, a key figure among the public transfers and the’limitations of the internal market. These findings are documented by the’INSEE, the’IEDOM, the Court of Auditors and the European Commission.
«Individual responsibility and structural constraints are not mutually exclusive»
Recognizing structural constraints does not abolish the individual responsibility, nor the’economic initiative, nor the’performance requirement. Quite the contrary: We can only reform what we understand. The regions that have successfully transformed themselves are those that first established a clear diagnosis of their real economic model, before taking action on the training, the logistics, the’innovation and the’regional expansion.
«The Caribbean is not a neutral economic space»
No independent Caribbean territory has both European minimum wage, comprehensive social protection, European currency, EU standards, geographical distance and food addiction. This combination results in a specific business model, with its forces but also its stiffnesses. To deny this is to condemn the public policies inefficiency, due to a lack of tools suited to the realities of the region.
«Name the model so you can transform it»
The Economic Debate in Martinique does not suffer from an excess of memory, but from a lack of political insight. Refusing to question the the economic model actually in place, its incentives, its annuities and its blind spots, amounts to continuing the same ineffective public policies under the guise of proactive rhetoric. The political responsibility does not mean denying structures, but rather transform. Without this requirement, the call for the’individual effort becomes a convenient excuse for the’collective inaction.
Jean-Paul BLOIS
