Having lived in two countries – the Cayman Islands and now Guyana – where significant economic development was taking place, one is struck by the similarity of the two experiences, some 1,500 miles apart in separate times. Cayman, in the 1980s when I moved there, was a booming tourism economy, hosting visitors who came by air and cruise ship. A relatively small country, of some 102 square miles, one hour by air from Miami, Cayman had embarked on a concerted tourism drive in the 1960s, leading to one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean. An area of only 102 square miles, with a population of some 65,000, made up of over 100 nationalities, it had become, along with Bermuda, one of Britain’s overseas crown jewels. Hotels and condominiums had sprung up – particularly on Grand Cayman, the largest island, with its spectacular Seven Mile Beach – and things were in high gear. Tradewinds came to play there in Cayman’s annual Pirates Week Festival (the islands had previously been a hideout for pirates) and the economy was strong. The Cayman dollar was higher than the US, and most of the Cayman tourists were from the US. Life, generally, was serene
