[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
#4370: Blanchet and Hoover Both Right on Economic Development; Simidor comments (fwd)
From:Karioka9@cs.com
Max Blanchet's argument, as I understand it, is that Haiti needs major
infrastructure readjustments and a culture of democracy, in order to compete
even on the lowest rungs of the global economy. This is true enough. Haiti,
in its current dilapidated state, cannot use the comparative advantage of its
proximity to the US market to get its economy going. The Preval government
doesn't even have the pretense of a development agenda. Band-Aid solutions
that reward one's allies (les petits projets de la présidence) are the only
game in town. Macroeconomic investments and long-term development planning
have not been much of a priority with the crisis governments that have been
in power for the last 15 years.
Julie Hoover looks at microeconomic initiatives, using her insider's grasp of
the US economy to identify specific nods where Haiti might stake a claim in
the world of electronic sous-traitance. Why not? There may be all kinds of
electricity shortages in the Port-au-Prince suburbs, but there is a narrow
band of neighborhoods around the National Palace where the electricity stays
on 24 hours a day for security reasons. There is ample space in that narrow
cordon for Haiti's electronic miracle to unfold.
The problem with microeconomic projects is that they are only drops in the
bucket, and right now the bucket is almost empty. It would take many small
miracles to create the critical mass necessary in order to influence policy
on the macroeconomic level. But there are all kinds of small miracles
waiting to happen in every sector of the Haitian economy: tourism, domestic
energy, agriculture, manufacture, etc. Added momentum will occur when the
diaspora, besides collecting nickels and dimes to build churches and other
beautification projects, pools its savings together and invests in local
development projects throughout the country.
People on the left who dreamed of a jump from feudalism to socialism are now
pondering the last 15 years in terms of opportunities wasted and the triumph
of a new paradigm of populism and increased dependency. In hindsight, the
bloodiest of revolutions would have been less costly. Conditions were indeed
ripe, between 1986 and 1989, for a democratic revolution. But without a
revolutionary party to lead the people, that opportunity too was wasted.
Today, the struggle is to build democratic institutions, as a prerequisite
for a stable government and the rule of law. Haiti can ill afford another
dictatorship, no matter how well intentioned in its beginnings. Populism and
a festering economy are after all the ideal breeding ground for fascism.
With a functioning democracy and social peace once again possible, the
diaspora and the private sector would have the confidence needed to invest in
the country's future. A reinvigorated popular sector (not the parodies of
popular organizations that have emerged recently) would be more apt to
pressure the government for a real development agenda. But I'm afraid all
this will sound too simplistic for those who believe Haiti's problems to be
intractable. Indeed, the rosy picture I've just brushed doesn't factor in
what the US and the international financial institutions have in mind for
Haiti.
Daniel Simidor