Economist urges Jamaica to leave oil alone

University of the West Indies (UWI) economist Dr Damien King hopes Jamaica never strikes commercially viable oil – and he means it. King, who lectures in economics at UWI, fears what development economists call the ‘resource curse’ – a pattern in which the discovery of natural resources weakens, rather than strengthens, a country’s institutions and governance. “I hope commercially viable oil is not found, because I don’t want to put this in front of our political parties,” King told the Financial Gleaner.