#2063: Re: #2032: Free trade and Haiti: Munger comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: AMBER L MUNGER <AMBERLY@prodigy.net>

I find myself in the rare circumstance that i agree with Dr. Gill.  The
implications of free trade in Haiti create a further dependancy on
manufactured goods produced outside of Haiti.  To fulfill subsistence needs
Haiti has, instead of funding Haitian people to produce Haitian crops,
invested its dollars in cheap products from the US. A perfect example of
this is "Miami Rice" which has outcompeted many farmers in the Artibonite.
In Haiti,  labor is abundant and resources are scarce, thus, the economic
system of free trade which places human labor as the highest value is out of
context.  Haiti needs to employ its own people to provide it with its
subsistence needs.  Increased participation in the world market increases
haiti's dependancy on foriegn products, displaces local workers, and is NOT
SUSTAINABLE.

amber from asheville