We’ll prosper if we do what we do well

Dear Editor,

A word in response to all those who have been suggesting that we must be competitive to prosper.

I respectfully submit that our objective to contribute to our prosperity must be to enjoy at least monopolistic competition, that is, monopoly in a state of competition — commonly called the competitive edge.

It is not possible for us to compete with, for example, the United States — one of our principal trading partners in most areas. But Brand Jamaica has so much to offer and this can be buttressed by our creative thinking towards our competitive edge.

And as far as being economically defensible is concerned, we can produce the things we can and not import them — eat not only what we grow, but use what we manufacture, and export mainly through tourism and educated Jamaicans to earn us foreign exchange.

Finally, encourage investment and advice.

We can use successful entrepreneurs and technocrats from anywhere to build our programme. These are some open secrets to the wealth of nations.

Owen S Crosbie

Mandeville, Manchester

oss@cwjamaica.com