The Caribbean countries—endowed with some of the greatest beauty on this planet—sustained several decades of strong growth following their independence in the 1960s and 1970s. Their success was underpinned by the development of strong democratic traditions, sound institutions, and an active debate of public policies reflecting the aspirations of the Caribbean people. More recently, however, many of the countries in the region have fallen into a trap of low growth and high debt. In addition to the costs posed by frequent natural disasters, which have contributed to low growth, the region has also endured deep macroeconomic, financial, and structural challenges. A large public debt overhang, combined with high energy costs, violent crime, constrained access to credit, a high cost of doing business, and brain drain—to name just a few—have undermined regional growth prospects.[…]