Belize at 25 - a great deal of celebration was built around that theme, but there was not that much reflection. Now historian Joseph Iyo is filling in that gap; he's going back 25 years to trace the growth and expansion, pitfalls and perils of Belize's economy. His new book is named "A Concise History of Economic Development in Belize" and it finds the much published researcher and author boldly making judgments on whether growth economics succeeded or failed. More than that, the statistical tables are grouped by terms of office for the Price, Esquivel and Musa administrations, lending itself to direct comparisons between UDP and PUP governments. There's enough in there to start more than a few arguments and at the launching today, Iyo told us the book should provoke readers.
Joseph Iyo, Author
"In the pages of this book, what I have done is to provoke thoughts, to provoke debate. It is ask ourselves where did we start from, 1981 at the independence period. This book comes without a political agenda. This book is analytical, its provocative, it indicts, it lauds where the efforts have been commendable."
Jules Vasquez,
Recently we've made some deal about the fact the Central Bank now has out these revised key indicators which differ so greatly from the statistics presented by the Prime Minister or his predecessor, Minister of Finance Ralph Fonseca. What would you say about that?
Joseph Iyo,
"I would say that the ones that I have used came from the same source you are talking about and so I should think that they reflect the reality."
Jules Vasquez,
Looking at the broad sweep of history that you've covered in here, 24 years, where did things go wrong?
Joseph Iyo,
"I wouldn't say where things went wrong. I would rather say how we can fix it. How we can fix it is to concentrate, and I've said very clearly in the book, to go back to the productive sector. The productive sector is what brings in hard currency. Citrus for example is having a strong showing internationally so you invest heavily in there and the projection is that until 2015, the prices of citrus will be good. So that is what our economy should be doing."
The book is published by Image Factory Books and is now available widely. Prior to this publication, Iyo has written extensively on historical subjects, and co-authored the textbooks for Mayan and African studies.
