THE IMPACT of FINANCIAL SERVICES GLOBALIZATION UPON the CARIBBEAN COMMON MARKET

This article tests three hypotheses concerning the policy effects of foreign exchange market liberalization and exchange controls in the three Caribbean Common Market countries of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados during the 1990s. It concludes that these cases do not show either monetary or fiscal policy to be particularly effective, when foreign exchange markets are liberalized before a functional bank regulatory system is put in place. These cases also imply that given the challenges posed by financial services globalization, the need for informed judgment by governments regarding the pace and scope of financial sector liberalization will remain critical, particularly within small developing countries.     

NEW ISSUES IN THE LOGIC OF POLICY ANALYSIS

Case studies of social interventions need not exchange relevance for rigor, provided analysts keep three methodological issues in mind. First, certain critical tests can and should be performed to help establish causal relations even when empirical data are limited. Second, "causell is an explanatory category representing a moral judgment. Third, case studies should provide some systematic attempt to evaluate the program under scrutiny. The article entitled "Social-Problem Solving in a Revolutionary Setting: Nicaragua's Pesticide Policy Reforms" by Douglas L. Murray (Policy Studies Review, November 1984) is used to illustrate these issues.     

A NEW DEFENSE POLICY FOR COSTA RICA: CONSTRUCTING REALITY AND THE POLICY AGENDA

This paper examine5 the policymaking progress in Costa Rica, specifically the creation of a new item for the governmental agenda. This new agenda challenges the traditional Itno army" policy of Costa Kica. Following a brief historical overview of the traditional policy, the paper considers the role of specific factors that promote structural conduciveness for the new "defense" policy and the attendant transformation of political symbols and definitions. The impact of the definitional and organizational changes on the implementation stage of policy is explored. This article suggests the importance of studying the role of hegemony in the construction and transformation of political and cultural definitions, an explication of deci- sionmaking as well as nondecisionmaking processes, and the influence of external and internal threats on nation-state dependency.