It is easy to agree with Dr. Wesley Hughes, the executive director for the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), concerning the need to view the poor as consumers or as merely markets.

For, as Dr. Hughes and others were articulating in Montego Bay last week, the poor, who make up a significant segment of Jamaica's and the global population, are also potential creators of wealth. They represent a reservoir of entrepreneurial capacity just waiting to be unleashed.

The issue, however, is just how to do that. It requires, among other things, Dr. Hughes argued, for the society to encourage facilitators "or social entrepreneurs" to help in the process.

But while we support Dr. Hughes, we will insist that poverty eradication in Jamaica will benefit faster, and be more enduring, with the application of some good, old-fashioned orthodox remedies. Not least of these is sustained economic growth, which, of itself, drives wealth creation.

Dr. Hughes, in his speech last week, highlighted the fact that the level of poverty in Jamaica had by last year dipped to 14.3 per cent of the population, as against nearly 30 per cent in the mid-1990s. That is not an achievement to be sniffed at. We contend, however, that Jamaica can do much better, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

This performance, it should be noted, has been achieved on the back of rather anaemic real growth over the period, averaging under two per cent a year. Moreover, many of those who have been elevated from poverty are on the margins; there is a fluidity to the existence. It takes only the mildest of shocks to push them again below the poverty line, as recent numbers in Jamaican communities dependent on tourism demonstrated. And government safety nets to support the poor are rather thin and of questionable sustainability. Our Government has difficulty sustaining them.

So, as Dr. Hughes pointed out, bringing the poverty rate down further will become increasingly difficult unless structural issues are addressed; but which we believe to mean improved education, health, public and social infrastructure. Which is where it comes to our position.

Of course, working to assist poor people to unleash their creative energies, including recognising the wealth they already possess and opening access to capital, is of significant value. But that will hardly be the route to jump-start the level of economic activity required for the level of growth to overwhelm poverty.

This, in our view, requires a far more robust approach to macroeconomic policy and fiscal management so as to unleash private investment. Our Government, for instance, has to be aggressive about untangling the red tape that hinders business; it needs to cut taxes; it needs to borrow less; it must run surpluses rather than mounting deficits. In other words, it must stop crowding out the private sector and being a hindrance to investment.

If we are able to do these things, Jamaica would be in a better position to achieve growth at a faster pace, closer to what is necessary - nearly double digit - to beat back poverty in sustainable fashion.

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