Globalization in Barbados

“Integration and democratization of the world’s culture, economy, and infrastructure through transnational investment, rapid proliferation of communication and information technologies, and the impacts of free-market on local, regional and national economies”(Zaheer); Globalization in other words, has consequences. Some of which are great for a small country like Barbados and other impacts that are detrimental to the future of the island of only 274,000 people (Barbados: Basic Data). In order to be a successfully globalized nation, a stable and open economy is crucial. In the case of Barbados, that much is true, but there are also factors that deter its growth and expansion.

As the most easterly Caribbean Island, its geographic location hinders the opportunity to be a self-sufficient country. The island lacks fundamental resources for an economy to survive without international trade and it can be very difficult for a country to ensure success without those. “Barbados imports everything, from basic necessities to luxury items” (Akhter, 4). The unbalance where imported goods exceed the exported goods produces a trade deficit. This outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets can prove harmful to an economy dependent on everyone but themselves. Barbados is heavily dependent on external economic conditions and that impacts the demand of tourism and the supply of goods and services domestically.

Barbados needs tourists from abroad to exploit the island’s natural ability as a tourist destination. This semi-isolated, subtropical island economy relies mainly on tourism. Tourism is the country’s “single most externally dependent economic sector” (Barbados: Country Outlook.). In order to sustain the island they need to import energy and also import luxury items to make tourists comfortable. Being economically dependent on external demand puts the country in a position that is susceptible to changes in consumer’s fiscal behavior (Barbados: Country...