The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) will host its 28th Sir Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, November 11, focusing on how competition and government regulation can help address the rising cost of living across the Caribbean.
The lecture, themed “Competition, Regulation and the Cost-of-Living Problem,” will take place at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium at ECCB headquarters in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The event comes as households and businesses across the region continue to face concerns about the affordability of goods and services.
Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Andrew S. Downes, will deliver the featured lecture.
Downes, a distinguished economist and public policy adviser, has written more than 100 scholarly articles and held several senior positions at UWI, including pro vice-chancellor for planning and development.
His expertise covers economic development, labour and organisational economics.
He also served as chairman of the CARICOM Competition Commission, bringing extensive experience in competition policy and regulation to the discussion.
The lecture honours Sir Arthur Lewis, the Saint Lucian economist who became the first Black person to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1979.
Lewis was also the first vice-chancellor of UWI and Britain’s first Black professor, having held a position at the University of Manchester.
Downes studied development planning under Lewis at UWI’s Cave Hill Campus and later earned his doctorate in economics at the University of Manchester.
His doctoral research focused on Lewis’ work on industrial development in the Caribbean. He has also written biographies examining Lewis’ life and contributions to economics.
The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Downes and Carissa Rodulfo, an attorney and final-year doctoral candidate in competition law at the University of Cambridge.
Rodulfo’s research examines how competition laws can be adapted to the needs of small island developing states, particularly those in the Caribbean.
The annual lecture provides an opportunity to examine economic challenges facing the region while recognising the legacy of one of the Caribbean’s most influential economists.
The event begins at 6 p.m. and will be livestreamed on the ECCB Connects YouTube channel and Facebook page. Selected radio and television stations across ECCB member countries will also broadcast the lecture.
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: ECCB to Host Lecture on Rising Cost of Living and Competition in the Caribbean.