19922: Dreyfuss: RE: 19707: Harvey: What's the opposition platform on the economy? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Joel Dreyfuss <jdreyfuss@att.biz>

I'd like to suggest we try to move this discussion a step further; more than
asking what the opposition has planned - could the people on this list --
surely some of the finest thinkers and most committed people when it comes
to Haiti -- come up with a list of policy proposals for Haiti. We can
autopsy the departure of Aristide forever and clutter Bob's list with
hundreds more messages, but even if Aristide were miraculously reinstated,
he would face the same problems any future government of Haiti will
confront. It's like that old economists' joke: the questions don't change,
it's the answers that do. Now that Haiti is occupied once again, maybe we
can find a new sense of urgency and get past some of our usual name-calling
and political posturing and consider creating something constructive..

I would propose that some people on this list begin to hash out, in our
usual combative way, a set of guidelines for development and progress that
would be useful to any future government of Haiti. If we don't, the
occupation -- or whatever they rename it to --even if they put Brazil at the
head, as I saw in some of the discusions today -- will turn to the usual
suspects, the IMF and the World Bank -- to formulate a "solution" that
Haitians will feel is being imposed by foreigners and will not last.

I raise this because some months ago I heard a promising scenario for change
at a panel discussion on Haiti at Columbia University. One of the
participants was a representative of the Group of 184; The gentleman (whose
name I don't recall) spoke in great detail about a project they had taken
on, to write a set of laws and legal procedures for both the civil and
commercial sectors in Haiti; what was impressive was the speaker's
description of the project evolving in the cities as well as the
countryside, involving people across classes: professions, peasants,
students, business people, etc. in formulating and writing these laws. The
goal was to create a set of transparent, fair procedures for everything from
criminal processes to civil law to commercial codes that would be presented
to the Parliament as a complete package to be voted on.

This is not something I've heard even the opposition leaders talk about --
and it has surely not been reported in all the recent coverage of Haiti, but
I'm assuming the speaker was telling the truth about the level and depth of
involvement of ordinary Haitians in the process; I'm also not naïve to think
that the legislative body as it existed would have easily passed anything
that smacked of the opposition. But I do think that in trying to instill the
concept of rule of law--r addressing any of the issues Sean raises -- we
have to go beyond having answers -- we have to involve Haitians in and out
of Haiti and friends of Haiti in and out of Haiti in rethinking the
fundamental structures of the country and in feeling that the solutions are
their own.

We need a serious discussion on the same level of detail about economics;
what is viable for a country like Haiti? I've seen a lot of attacks on
"sweatshops'' here, and some of it may be deserved,  but very little serious
discussion of where Haiti fits in the global economy; what kind of
infrastructure Haiti needs; how we compete in the current jobs and
outsourcing market; and whether is tourism still a  viable --or desirable --
option. What are reasonable wages for various levels of skill in Haiti and
attract capital investment and where would the capital come from? Does Haiti
have any geographic advantages? Can the agricultural sector be revived, even
with some modest protections, and what crops or food or flowers can compete
in the domestic and or export markets?


Joel Dreyfuss
jdreyfuss@att.biz