Weekly column
The Bridgetown Brief.
A short weekly dispatch on what is moving in Caribbean economies, fiscal policy, and the long view. Plain enough for the general reader, substantive enough for the practitioner. Every issue, in order.
3 issues to date
Issue№ 03
The Price of Discipline
Within six days, the Central Bank of Barbados made two announcements that say more about the economy than either one does on its own. Fiscal discipline without credit access is austerity by another name; with it, it is a strategy that can hold.
Issue№ 02
When Tourism Is the Weather
Fitch says Barbados’ fiscal trajectory is improving. It also says the tourism base underneath is not. Cruise arrivals are up 9.6 per cent; stay-overs only 3.3. Volume has outpaced value. When Fitch flags tourism, it is flagging the ground everything else is standing on.
Issue№ 01
The Gap Between January and April
On 16 April 2026, ahead of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters that “even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade.” The next day, the Fund’s World Economic Outlook confirmed the shape.