TAMPA, Florida--St. Maarten can claim another young economist amongst her sons with the recent graduation of Kashif Omari Sams from University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics specialising in the areas of Public Policy and Monetary Analysis. After receiving graduate school acceptances from England, Austria, the Netherlands and Norway, Sams has now decided to accept his offer at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to read for the Masters of Science in Economics with a specialisation in Public Policy. With the knowledge to be obtained at the Vrije Universiteit, Sams’ long-term hope is to contribute to future economic development and sustainability decisions for St. Maarten if the opportunity is available.
Over this summer, Sams plans to undertake an independent study working with Jamaica-born Assistant Professor Dr. Garfield Blake. The research comprises an analysis on economic development and social welfare within developing Caribbean nations by means of a cross-country fixed effects regression framework.
Sams’ interest in economic development peaked as a third former at St. Dominic High School, where he encountered the everyday struggles of a young autonomous country and its people. He said he found himself baffled as to why one of the highest gross domestic product (GDP)-Per-Capita (purchasing power parity (PPP)) countries within the western hemisphere exhibits such levels of poverty and inequality. He often wondered how he could make a significant impact to help alleviate these issues on his native island.
He began his application in economics within two departments at the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunication. He was an Economic Policy intern in 2013 and a Data Analyst intern at the Department of Statistics in the summer of 2016.
The Skyes College of Business faculty invited him to the Adam Smith Economic Honors Society to join them on a trip to Washington D.C.
On that trip, Sams visited the United States Federal Reserve, the Cato Institute and United States (US) International Trade Commission. He gained exposure to the inner workings of real world economists. The trip taught him the valuable lesson that no education is complete without applicable experience, according to Sams.
The Cole Bay “boy” is the son of Marcia and former Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Ernest Sams.
