Caribbean Issues authority topic
Analysis of Caribbean tourism, aviation, labour, ownership, infrastructure, community benefit and development choices.
Editorially reviewed · Updated August 29, 2026
Tourism supports Caribbean livelihoods, but durable development depends on local ownership, stronger linkages, fair work, reliable transport and keeping more visitor spending within Caribbean economies.
Curated authority pathway
Begin with the central investigation, then continue into its companion reporting and audio.
Essential analysis
An investigation into tourism leakage, wage data, and the collapse of Caribbean agriculture - and why the real divide isn't servant vs. farmer, but who owns what gets built.
Start with thisCompanion podcast
Caribbean tourism can support prosperity only if the region reduces leakage, strengthens local ownership and reconnects visitor demand with domestic production.
Start with thisCompanion podcast
Tourism becomes structurally unequal when Caribbean workers provide the service but foreign firms retain ownership, bargaining power and much of the value created.
Start with thisVisitors create demand across accommodation, food, transport, entertainment and public infrastructure, but the retained value depends on ownership, imports, wages, taxation and procurement. The correct measure is therefore not arrivals alone, but how much spending circulates through Caribbean workers, farms, firms and communities.
Evidence: International Monetary Fund · OECD and IDB
No. Leakage differs by economy, ownership structure, import dependence and research method. Broad regional estimates should not be presented as a uniform current rate for every Caribbean territory; country-level evidence and clearly defined measures are required.
Evidence: FAO · World Bank
It requires stronger local supply chains, pathways into ownership and management, reliable transport, enforceable labour standards, transparent concessions and infrastructure choices that also improve life for residents. Agriculture-tourism linkages can retain more value, but evidence shows that realistic capacity, seasonality, quality and price constraints must be addressed.
Evidence: FAO · World Bank
Economics/Business
An investigation into tourism leakage, wage data, and the collapse of Caribbean agriculture - and why the real divide isn't servant vs. farmer, but who owns what gets built.
Read or listenTourism, Housing and Economic Development
Who can afford to live where the Caribbean works? Explore wages, housing costs and tourism commitments in Cayman, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
Read or listenClimate, Infrastructure and Economic Power
How El Niño, tourism and unreliable supply shape Caribbean water access—and the hidden household costs in Puerto Rico and Saint Lucia.
Read or listenDigital Infrastructure & Telecommunications
A Caribbean Issues investigation tests 0Wire Communications’ Eastern Caribbean telecom promise against licensing records, company filings, financing disclosures and verifiable network milestones.
Read or listenEconomy
How Grenada's Design-Build-Finance-Maintain model sidelined local contractors - and handed the nation's roads to three foreign firms with troubled track records.
Read or listenEconomics/Business
Why JetBlue's Exit From Antigua Could Be a Warning for the Entire Caribbean
Read or listenHealth
Food security through technology
Read or listenPodcast
Caribbean tourism can support prosperity only if the region reduces leakage, strengthens local ownership and reconnects visitor demand with domestic production.
Read or listenPodcast
Tourism becomes structurally unequal when Caribbean workers provide the service but foreign firms retain ownership, bargaining power and much of the value created.
Read or listenThe Lobbyist's Paradise
The Bahamas is paying Roger Stone for proximity, pressure and access rather than Caribbean policy expertise, accepting a substantial financial and reputational cost.
Read or listenThe Lobbyist's Paradise
The Bahamas’ China-financed hospital reveals how urgent infrastructure needs can force small states to balance development finance against geopolitical pressure.
Read or listenPodcast
Dependence on foreign airlines leaves Caribbean economies exposed to route decisions made elsewhere; collective regional bargaining and stronger intra-Caribbean links would reduce that risk.
Read or listenThese sources support the hub's direct answers. Individual investigations maintain their own fuller evidence ledgers.