Wesley Morris | It was ‘ta-ta to the IMF’ — But who got left behind?

P.J. Patterson is one of the towering figures of Caribbean statesmanship. Architect of regional integration, steward of democratic continuity, and masterful political strategist, Patterson’s legacy is woven into post-independence Jamaica’s fabric.

His voice still carries history’s weight – as it did during the March symposium, “Let’s get the record straight”. There, he reflected on Jamaica’s exit from IMF borrowing arrangements with characteristic pride and precision.

Patterson declared that his administration had “protected savings accounts and insurance policies” while navigating economic liberalisation required to disengage from the IMF. It was a statement of triumph – an assertion that ordinary Jamaicans’ financial dignity had been preserved amid structural reform.

But was that truly the case?

PRIDE AND COMPLIANCE

Between 1992 and 1995, under Patterson and Finance Minister Omar Davies, Jamaica entered IMF agreements aimed at stabilising the economy. Each came with conditions – tight fiscal discipline, reduced public spending, and structural reforms that disproportionately affected the poor.

While Patterson’s administration succeeded in ending formal borrowing in 1995, the economic scars remained. Debt ballooned, inequality widened, and what Rev. Ronald Thwaites described as the greatest shift in wealth from poor to rich in Jamaica’s history unfolded beneath the surface.

Patterson’s pride in protecting savings and insurance instruments isn’t unfounded. But it must be weighed against broader reality: the poor were not protected. Public services were cut, unemployment rose, and social mobility stalled.

The IMF’s own retrospective assessments acknowledge that while fiscal targets were met, poverty remained stubbornly high and social spending was insufficiently shielded.

These policies didn’t only affect the poor – they devastated them disproportionately. But the middle class was hollowed out, and even the wealthy paid a price.

Patterson himself recounted how multilateral financial institutions first persuaded Jamaica to open its financial system to foster competition. But when the sector collapsed, their response was chilling: “Yes, we persuaded you to open the system ... But when they failed ... This is what a market economy means; they took the risk; let them pay the price; drive it to the wall.”

That wasn’t just economic theory – it was doctrine that sanctified collapse. A shrug at human cost, delivered to a nation whose citizens were losing savings, homes, and livelihoods.

DAVIES’ DEVASTATING LEGACY

Any assessment of Jamaica’s IMF exit must reckon with Davies’ policies. As I argued in my 2017 article “Omar Davies’ Lousy Legacy,” He presided over what Dr Paul Chen Young called “the collapse of the domestic financial sector.”

The period was marked by high inflation, mass redundancies, and entrepreneurship’s destruction. Between 1991 and 1997, inflation averaged 34 per cent, lending rates hovered around 40 per cent, and the Jamaican dollar devalued by 64 per cent.

These weren’t abstract figures – they were lived realities for poor families who couldn’t afford food, medicine, or school fees.

Davies insisted he had “correctly analysed” the crisis, but his policies – particularly high interest rates – devastated small businesses and inner-city communities. His refusal to accept responsibility and tendency to blame others revealed troubling lack of compassion.

Claude Clarke, former trade minister, suggested the PNP should “plead guilty” for the damage and reintroduce itself with a new message.

As a direct result of IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies, Jamaican university lecturers suffered a catastrophic decline in real wages – triggering brain drain, the systematic devaluation of academic infrastructure, and long-term damage to higher education.

For the wealthy, negative consequences weren’t primarily financial, but social and systemic. They exchanged social stability for economic advantage, becoming richer in a country growing poorer, more dangerous, and socially fractured.

Their gains were eroded by insecurity, unrest, anxiety, low productivity, a shrinking market, and resentment from inequality. They and their children had to navigate a society whose fabric had been weakened by policies that enriched them.

POLITICAL CLASS DISCONNECT

This economic legacy feeds directly into Jamaica’s deepening voter apathy. A recent study titled “Who is the Undecided” by Professor Lloyd Waller and Dr. Stephen Johnson reveals a troubling disconnect: significant portions of the electorate feel ignored by the political class.

The study uncovered widespread disillusionment, especially among undecided and uncommitted voters. Many believe that no matter who wins, their lives remain unchanged.

This sentiment isn’t irrational – it’s rooted in decades of unmet promises, economic exclusion, and political theatre that prioritises optics over outcomes.

As pollster Don Anderson observed, the electorate is increasingly disenchanted – not from apathy, but alienation. Many Jamaicans feel “it doesn’t matter how I vote; my life won’t change. That admission – echoed by Patterson himself in a separate interview – should shake every elected official’s conscience.

LEADERSHIP CRISIS

Jamaica today is rich in human capital, strategic location, and cultural influence, yet paralysed by unimaginative leadership. The June 2025 RJRGLEANER Don Anderson poll revealed 60 per cent of Jamaicans believe the government is failing to reduce poverty and unemployment, while nearly 40 per cent rate their economic situation as poor or very poor.

These aren’t just statistics – they’re indictments.

Vision 2030 becomes a hollow slogan when 82 per cent of students fail core subjects and healthcare systems collapse while medical tourism thrives. Politicians tolerating these conditions aren’t just failing – they’re betraying Jamaica’s legacy.

The silence surrounding this crisis isn’t benign; it’s complicit.

Jamaica feels like a runaway train – its course set by decades of economic orthodoxy, with office holders more concerned with optics than outcomes. The brakes are gone. Passengers are anxious. The conductor is still smiling.

DEMOCRACY WITHOUT PEOPLE

In the recently concluded 2025 general election, only 39.5 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots – the second lowest turnout in Jamaica’s history.

This isn’t democracy. It’s governance by default – a direct consequence of a political culture that has failed to centre the needs of the poor, young, and disillusioned.

When leaders celebrate fiscal milestones without addressing lived realities, they deepen divides. When they speak of protecting savings accounts but ignore eroding public trust, they miss the deeper crisis. When they say ‘ta-ta’ to the IMF but leave Jamaicans entangled in its legacy, they risk turning triumph into tragedy.

MORAL RECKONING

This isn’t dismissing Patterson’s legacy. It’s calling to interrogate pride, reclaim truth, and centre all Jamaicans’ aspirations in our national narrative.

Jamaica’s future won’t be secured by compliance with external mandates or rhetorical nostalgia. It will be secured when transformational leadership is measured by courageous service to all people.

The establishment exists in both parties. Where do we go from here?

Let us honour statesmen not by echoing applause, but by continuing unfinished work. Let us build a democracy where every Jamaican feels seen, heard, and empowered – not just at ballot boxes, but in daily struggles for dignity and justice.

Let the next ‘ta-ta’ be not to foreign creditors, but to the politics of neglect. Let it be a farewell to the silence surrounding suffering and greet a new covenant rooted in truth, equity, and leadership with a clear moral compass.

You might wonder what you and I can do. Honestly, it’s tough with limited options for ordinary citizens. That’s exactly why we must put the onus on elected officials to step up and make the right decisions for the country’s benefit.

These people who run the political parties should vacate their positions to allow those who can lead Jamaica to a better future to do so.

Wesley Morris, is a transformation coach and a member of the People’s National Party. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com