Paul Romer: “In each cohort of young Jamaicans, a majority of those who receive any education beyond secondary school leave to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Some estimates put the figure as high as 80 percent.”
Romer suggests that Jamaica should allow emigrants to vote (as Mexico and some other countries do), which would greatly increase the educational attainment level of the Jamaican electorate and reduce the extent to which the electorate is subject to intimidation by violent criminal organizations. Both measures would, he posits, tend to improve Jamaican public policy perhaps contributing to an environment (less murder, for example) where educated Jamaicans are less interested in emigrating.
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