Chapter 4 Guam's Political Economy

Guam's economy is mostly a tertiary sector. When I say tertiary sector I mean that Guam gains its income mostly through tourism. It may be a small island but it gains attraction through its beauty and adventures. For instance, the beaches, tours, folk tells, history and much more. Most of the tourist attractions are located in one area of Guam. It contains several shopping stores, food restaurants, a beach and hotels to accommodate them. Although Guam experiences warmth and humidity it does not stop the tourists from coming in and out of Guam. Approximately 1 million tourists visit Guam each year.

This island also depends on the U.S. military and the export of fist and hand crafts created by the locals. The political economy of Guam has grown 1.2 percent in 2010 based on the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This percentage growth was caused by the federal government and the growing U.S. military presence on the island. On the other hand the exporting of fish and hand crafts act as a little boost in helping with the economy. Compared to tourism and the U.S. military, exporting fish and hand crafts do not usually provide a major effect on the economy like the others. The hand crafts act as souvenirs for the tourists but like most people they choose carefully on what they buy based on their own personal preferences. Lastly exporting fish does create an impact but not as much as tourism and military which I will go more in depth later. Although the act of fishing is entirely different, it acts as a tourist attraction on Guam because of its exciting deep sea fishing.

The downside to having their economy partly based on the U.S. military is that it depends heavily on U.S. grants and wage payments. The tourism industry was able to lessen their dependency but it will take awhile before it becomes the most important contributor in Guam's political economy.

Based on my findings and knowledge, I have come to the conclusion that Guam mostly relays on tourism and the U.S. military for their political economy.