It is common knowledge that slavery and indenture were characterized by long hours of physical labor, restriction of movement and other basic human freedoms, and severe punishment for violations of draconian labor laws. Less well known is the fact that nutrition was very deficient and a range of infectious diseases maimed, debilitated and killed on a large scale. In trying to narrow the knowledge gap with respect to Guyana, Ramesh Gampat shows that extremely poor sanitary conditions, awful hygiene and malnutrition hastened widespread infections and created a vicious cycle. The British protected its own soldiers, officials and colonists by establishing a medical enclave that lasted until Emancipation in 1838. Former slaves were then quarantined to neglected and decaying villages and Indians to plantations. Concern with health conditions appeared only during periods of epidemics and even then it was essentially for the protection of Europeans. Colonial medicine opened the way for stereotyping, labeling, racialization of disease, neutralization of potential leaders in the struggle for justice, and crystallization of the view that Europeans were superior to Blacks and Indians. Shorter stature and shorter life expectancy are good indications that slaves and indentured immigrants fared considerably less well than Europeans. Several infectious diseases sickened and fell Blacks and Indians, including malaria and undefined fevers, pneumonia and bronchitis, diarrhea and enteritis, tuberculosis, pneumonia and hookworm. The conquest of malaria in the early 1950s accelerated the epidemiological transition from communicable to chronic noncommunicable diseases, and today NCDs account for some three-quarters of all deaths in Guyana. Malaria has reemerged, fueled by a gold boom that consumes huge amounts of mercury. The potentially adverse public health consequences of this relatively new dynamic, the combined trio, have been neglected.

The purpose of this book is to examine the performance of Guyana's economy during the era of dirigisme and the period of economic liberalisation with emphasis on a market economy, using all available micro-and macro-data. In a much broader and meaningful sense, this book deals with the socio-economic progress of Guyana from the 1960s, with heavy emphasis on the market reforms, because this is the dominant and interesting story for policy lessons in the Third World. This book also focuses on what has happened to poverty, inequality, and other social indicators during the reform period. Until now, there has not been any systematic examination of the effects of the economic reforms in Guyana on unemployment, wages and industrial activity; poverty and inequality; farmers' response to price liberalisation; education and health indicators; ethnicity and growth; and governance, crime and corruption. These issues and more are the subject matter of this book. The book refers to those aspects of Guyana's history and recent political events that bear directly on economic policy and the performance of the economic system.

"Very informative. Provides a clear picture of Guyana's growth and development, post-independence era." - Sydney Armstrong, Head, Department of Economics, University of Guyana. In his first publication, Craig Sylvester asserts that it is impossible for Guyanese to escape their responsibility for the development of their country. Using easy-to-understand language, he places Guyana's economic and political problems in context, and provides a scenario for moving Guyana forward. Through a series of letters to the press, the author makes the case for the change of government in 2015. The book also contains previously unpublished letters to President Barack Obama of the United States of America and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, soliciting their assistance during the turmoil leading up to the 2015 election, along with an email sent to the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Bank for International Settlements requesting that they cease financial relations with the PPP administration in the final months leading up to the 2015 elections. Essential reading for every Guyanese.