George E. Eaton

George E. Eaton (1936-)

George E. Eaton is Professor of Economics and Political Science and Senior Scholar, York University, Toronto, Canada.

George was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He entered McGill University, Montréal, Canada in 1954 where he obtained a double first-class honours in economics and political science, became the first Jamaican to be awarded the Guy Drummond Fellowship for postgraduate study at the Sorbonne University in France, and then returned to McGill to complete a doctorate, his thesis was published as "The development of trade unionism in Jamaica, W. I.".

In 1961, Eaton was appointed research fellow and lecturer in the newly established Faculty of Economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI). After working as senior public administration adviser with the United Nations, he resumed at York University, filling the position of founding chair of the departments of Economics and Political Science.

After being Associate Professor of Economics and Political Science at 'Joseph E. Atkinson' College (1965) he published "Collective bargaining in the Canadian chemical industry" with the Canada Task Force on Labour Relations (1968).

In Jamaica during the 1970's George started an consultancy firm whilst serving in the Ministry of Labour and Employment (1972-1975) as adviser. He was then Permanent Secretary as an expert on modernisation of government (1975-1978).

"Eaton, a student of these times who is now attempting to be a practitioner of administrative reform for the Jamaican Government". (J. Carnegie, 'Noel Newton Nethersole: A Short Study', 1975)

His contribution to "Economic Integration In The Americas" with Christos C. Paraskevopoulos and Ricardo Grinspun (1996) is a collection exploring problems and consequences of closer economic integration in North America. A pioneering study showing that economic integration in the Americas is not simply a matter of removing trade barriers. Economic Integration in the Americas addresses the pervasive effects of economic integration on the economy as a whole.

Selected Books and Articles

• ed. "Seminar on Productivity: Five Lectures", (Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI Jamaica, Jun 1962)

• ed. "Proceedings of Industrial Relations Conference on the Theory and Practice of Arbitration", (Mona: UWI, ISER, Nov 1962)

• "Review of the public services of Grenada: report of the Commonwealth Secretariat Mission" (1979)

• Economic Integration in the Americas (1996)

• Business and government: Canadian materials (2000)

• Between public and private: readings and cases on Canada's mixed economy (2003)