This thesis is not concerned with economic growth as the name might suggest. However, it does not discount the valuable tools of analysis which the theorists of economic growth provide. It uses these techniques freely without trying to develop them out of the material treated. This is a question which requires separate analysis and one which this thesis anticipates. It is the intention of the author to bring to light, with the help-of the tools of economic analysis, the problems of economic development in the British West Indies. The treatment of this subject is based on the tenet that the historical background, delineated in Chapter I, has a long-run influence on economic developments in the area. It is impossible to really apprehend the extent and pattern of growth taking place in the two principal areas, Jamaica and Trinidad without the historical background. Economic developments are discussed around the central theme of population pressure on scarce land resources. The author has been careful to keep the discussion, as far as possible, within this sphere of analysis in order to avoid incoherence. Moreover, he believes that any growth observed in the area has most significance when discussed in relation to the employment that it makes possible. For this reason therefore, Chapter 5, Part III, places most emphasis on fiscal policies which are calculated to encourage foreign capital with a high labour complement. It should not, however, be construed that the author is unappreciative of the value and importance of other policies. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate