A Close Look at Haitian Poverty
This piece by Jared Diamond provides a fantastic amount of insight into why Haiti is so much poorer than even other poor Caribbean nations, including its neighbor the Dominican Republic. I think it pretty much destroys any notion that Haiti’s problems are solely or even primarily due to cultural factors or to its early liberation from colonialism or, for that matter, even due to dependency theory. Short answer: it’s a combination of geographical factors that make it significantly less arable than its neighbor, the D.R., and the pattern of French colonization. Even if you don’t find it persuasive, it’s still an informative piece. Via Eric Martin at ObWi.
For the record, most aid skeptics don’t locate foreign aid as *the* root cause of the developing world’s problems. Colonialism, conflict-ridden histories, cultural and geographic factors, and a host of other issues have obviously done more to create human misery than, say, food shipments. The central criticism of foreign aid is simply that it’s an ineffective way to help countries overcome pre-existing problems.Report
Good point, Will, and a point that I’m fairly sympathetic to, at least in many situations. It’s probably worth my remembering that dependency theory in the foreign aid arena is a different animal than it is in the domestic policy arena, with a close relationship to critiques of colonialism.Report
So then what is the solution? Haiti sounds like a lot of other third-world countries in that it is a political construct with no consideration given to geography. So what do we do? Forcibly exhile the inhabitants?Report
I don’t know – but it seems important to get the causes right if we’re going to get the answers right.Report
Except for giving them aid to get themselves back on their feet after this disaster, how about we leave them alone? It is not our job to fix the world.Report
My own suggestions:
-Sign immediate free trade agreement with them, unilateral if necessary though I doubt they have enough government left to actually levy tarrifs against us.
-Monitor aid carefully and try to keep it from transforming from a lifeline to an umbilical cord.Report
That brief column is your idea of a definitive statement on the deteriminants of a country’s economic and social history, one that “pretty much destroys any notion that” blah blah blah? What would you consider a non-persuasive statement?Report