ABSTRACT

The former British colony of Belize faces serious economic problems today, reflecting a collapse in tourism following COVID-19. To account for this fragility, a return to economic history is needed. We focus on two critical periods. First, we examine why the Belizean state was unable to form a developmental state in the period of the anticolonial movement and self-government (the 1950s–1960s). Particular attention is given to George Price, leader of the anti-colonial People’s United Party (PUP) and ‘father of the country’. Second, turning to the post-colonial period, we examine one experimental chapter that lasted roughly a decade (1998–2007) when a coherent state-led economic strategy was pursued. During both periods the PUP-led state sought to reorganize development strategy along progressive lines, but failed to deliver. Because capital was almost completely foreign dominated, the fledgling Belizean developmental state could not discipline capital toward developmental alignment.

摘要

前英国殖民地伯利兹如今面临着严重的经济问题，这反映出 COVID-19 之后旅游业的崩溃。为了解释这种脆弱性，需要回归经济史。我们关注两个关键时期。首先，我们考察为什么伯利兹国家在反殖民运动和自治时期（1950 年代至 60 年代）无法形成发展型国家。特别关注反殖民人民联合党 (PUP) 领导人和“国父”乔治·普莱斯 (George Price)。其次，转向后殖民时期，我们研究了一个持续大约十年（1998-2007 年）的实验性章节，当时奉行连贯的国家主导经济战略。在这两个时期，由 PUP 领导的国家都试图沿着渐进的路线重组发展战略，但未能实现。