SO, THE long-serving director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Dr Wesley Hughes, is heading to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service as financial secretary. Most Jamaicans will not know what either the PIOJ or the financial secretary does.

The PIOJ's website says it is the foremost planning agency of the Government and its functions include:

Initiating and coordinating the development of policies, plan and programmes for the economic, financial, social, cultural and physical development of Jamaica.

Undertaking research on national development issues.

Providing technical and research support to the Cabinet.

Undertaking consultant activities for local and foreign Government entities.

Managing external cooperation agreements and programmes.

Collaborating with external funding agencies in the identification and implementation of development projects.

Maintaining a national socio-economic library.

additional responsibilities

Hughes

The institute, we are told, also has a responsibility to:

✓ Advise the Government on major issues relating to economic and social policy.

✓ Interpret decisions on economic and social policy and integrate them into the national development programme.

✓ Prepare economic models for the guidance of policymakers, investors and other planners.

✓ Assess existing and projected social, economic and manpower resources and formulate plans for the most effective use of such resources.

✓ Coordinate national, regional and sectoral development planning to facilitate the consistent and efficient implementation of projects and programmes.

✓ Determine the economic, financial and technical feasibility of new development projects, and coordinate the implementation of ongoing projects.

✓ Be instrumental in conceptualising investment projects for national development.

✓ Collect, compile, analyse and monitor social status and economic performance data.

✓ Prepare population projections.

Quite a bit there. Some would argue too much, too wide-ranging and diffuse, and too overlapping with other agencies for effective operation. I have personally always felt that a primary responsibility of the PIOJ is to make the Govern-ment look as good as possible in a sea of negative data. The agency's flagship publication, the annual Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica, certainly reads that way.

It is from these kinds of diverse labours over the last dozen years or so as director general that Wesley Hughes has been called up to finance and planning as financial secretary. What is now the PIOJ, and which dates back to the 1950s as the Central Planning Unit created by Premier Norman Manley, reached the pinnacle of its power and prestige as the National Planning Agency in the 1970s, the era of the planned economy. 'Planning' isn't even now attached to the official title of the Ministry of Finance, although the function still resides there.

duties

But what does the financial secretary do? When the booted Sharon Crooks was fresh in the office last October she told JIS: "The financial secretary is the only permanent secretary named in the Constitution of Jamaica, and by its function, the Ministry of Finance ought to be the premier ministry within the Civil Service of Jamaica." Section 93 (3) of the Constitution does say, "The office of financial secretary is hereby constituted and, for the purposes of this section, he shall be deemed to be a permanent secretary."

Permanent secretaries are essentially the chief executive officers of the ministries with overall management responsibilities, and would be better off not being highly specialised technocrats but good administrators. But the Office of Financial Secretary/PS, Finance has evolved along different lines to become a grand hybrid of chief financial officer, chief planner, central banker - and magician. Two critical factors have driven this transformation: The growth of the debt (which the Constitution says has the first call on the Consolidated Fund), and the growth of central planning.

But, shouldn't planning reside in the Office of the Prime Minister?

I raise the question of political economy, because the new financial secretary, as chief civil servant planner, must necessarily work in support of the Government's philosophy of political economy.

Long before 'Economics', political economy was the term used for the study of production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Political economy has its origins in moral philosophy.

no single equation

In late nineteenth century, the term 'political economy' was generally replaced by the term 'economics', used by those seeking to place the study of economy upon mathematical foundations. But as one of my well-used old sources, Warren T. Brookes, pointed out in an article 'Goodness and the GNP', "At its roots, economics is a metaphysical rather than a mathematical science in which intangible spiritual values and attitudes are at least as important as physical assets and morale more fundamental than the money supply." There isn't a single equation in the greatest treatise on political economy, Adam Smith's 1776 'Wealth of Nations'; and Smith also wrote 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments.'

The view that a deputy governor of the Bank of Jamaica would be an ideal replacement for Hughes at the Planning Institute speaks volumes. Thankfully, the offer was rejected, we are advised by The Gleaner which did some brilliant investigative scooping on the subject.

Perhaps we are overemphasising 'The Economy'. Perhaps we are overemphasising the central planning and directing role of Government. P.J. Patterson, as prime minister, certainly did not believe that we have an attitudes and values base for social and economic development, hence his values and attitudes campaign which was soon neglected to go back to wrestle with 'The Economy'.

Wesley Hughes takes with him to Heroes Circle the Vision 2030 Jamaica: National Development Plan, which he led in crafting at the PIOJ, in much the same way that Col Trevor MacMillan took his anti-crime Road Map to the Ministry of National Security, but hopefully, not with the same results.

development plan

Vision 2030, the PIOJ website says, is, "aimed at putting Jamaica in a position to achieve developed country status by 2030. The long-term development plan is based on a comprehensive vision 'Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business,' and on guiding principles which put 'people' at the centre of Jamaica's transformation. Several strategic priorities have been identified, as critical elements in fulfilling the objectives of the Plan, including the development of human resources, international competitiveness, environmental sustainability, health, social protection, science, technology and innovation, effective governance, and law and order."

What vision of political economy will economist and planner Hughes take to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and how will this integrate - or collide - with that of his political masters? The global recession, tacked on to our own chronic low performance, has created a genuine crisis requiring urgent clarification of our thinking on political economy: The role of government, the role of the citizen and of private enterprise, the rule of law, the place of the market and how best to regulate it, the intersection of culture and economy, the goals of education, social welfare, etc, etc.

To the extent that the financial secretary is a combination of the most powerful permanent secretary, chief financial officer in government, chief planner, central banker — and magician - this is a matter of critical importance requiring Hughes' closest and wisest attention.

Martin Henry is a communications consultant. Feedback may be sent to medhen@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com