EDITORIAL - Damp squib from Cabinet retreat

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The People's National Party (PNP) socialists of the 1970s may have been dismal at managing the economy, but they knew how to rally people to their cause. The PNP of the current era, in so far as we can tell, has lost the art of mobilisation. So, the Cabinet has just emerged from a three-day special session to discuss the economy and to advance the Government's so-called growth agenda. Very few would argue if we conclude that it was a damp squib. This issue has added significance because of the need of the Government to build consensus around its economic programme, if Jamaica is to have a chance of dragging itself out of its persisting crisis.