Inspired by the island identity project we paired off in groups to create seven posters exploring the seven key aspects of the project. We were randomly assigned to topic economy which, as an island with a booming financial industry, was pretty easy to do.

Jersey is a wealthy island with a GDP of £4.89 billion. Traditionally our main industry has been farming with our exports of Jersey royal potatoes and creamy jersey milk being famed for their delicious taste and decadence. In the 20th century Jersey saw a boom in tourism, cashing in by building expansive holiday camps like Plemont resort, however the 1980s saw a decline in Jerseys’ popularity as a holiday destination due to the new availability of much more tropical holiday retreats further from home such as Benidorm. Since then, the finance industry has dominated Jersey’s industry as 21.7% of Jersey residence work in the sector. Many students are pushed into the industry straight after A-levels while others go to university to get an unrelated degree and the return to the island to pursue a career in finance.

Jersey is recognised as a large offshore finance centre and controls an estimated £1 trillion in assets. Due to the islands 0% corporation tax,, many wealthy individuals either settle in the island or shift their wealth here in order to avoid heavy taxation they would receive elsewhere, leading to jersey gaining the infamous reputation as a tax haven. Many well known celebrities including footballer Cristiano Ronaldo have taken advantage of this. In 2021 a new minimum tax rate if 15% was set to prevent this abuse of the economy.

During this project I became much more educated on the wealth gap in jersey and how despite it’s image of an affluent island perpetuated by reality television shows such as the real housewives of jersey there are increasing levels of poverty that are ignored by the media as one in ten households are in severe material deprivation.