http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/haiti-can-be-rich-again.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=Economic%20Systems%20Today&st=cse
Haiti used to be a country full of agricultural innovation, success, and productivity, but ever since the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, the country has experienced many conflicts, pressures, and problems dealing with the success of their economy.
Haiti used to be a country full of agricultural innovation, success, and productivity, but ever since the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, the country has experienced many conflicts, pressures, and problems dealing with the success of their economy.
There have been many discussions about Haiti’s past system and the success that it provided for the country. This system included small farms and a decentralized economy, which provided Haitians with a better quality of life and additional trade, as well as pride and independence. Even though Haiti’s economy had some conflicts with control and power, the regional economies succeeded with their decentralized political and military system.
As discussed in the book, Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century, the fundamental goal of comparative economic systems is to learn what economic systems work best and in what settings. This fundamental goal is currently what Haiti is realizing and how their past economic system could potentially be the reformed system they are looking for. With the help of non-governmental organizations providing for Haitian farmers, using a decentralized economy, and many more plans for the country, Haiti may already be heading in that direction.
4 comments:
It's interesting how Haiti achieved it's previous success, before centralization. The article doesn't seem to address what Haiti is actually doing right now (in terms of an economic system), just what it should do. It seems as though Haiti is still largely reliant on foreign aid and investment to revitalize their economy, and the previous system that Dubois alludes to is openly hostile to foreigners (even denying them the right to own property). It will be interesting to see if Haiti tries to decentralize in the way that worked in the mid-1800s, while being more open to outsiders due to the lack of the imminent threat of re-enslavement.
Perhaps Haiti's biggest problem is their corruption. Data from the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International gave Haiti a score of 1.8 out of 10. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country/territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means that a country is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index.
I think that in a decentralized system there is less room for corruption because there are more checks and balances as economic policies are created to benefit people at a more localized level
I agree with Aiden about a decentralized system creating less room for corruption. In addition, I think it will allow the economy to be flexible, for lack of a better word, and may create more growth in the future. However, with less governmental influence, Haitians may feel less secure and more at risk. Since they continue to be the poorest nation in the world, they are already experiencing destabilization and vulnerability. With a lessening in governmental involvement, Haitians may feel like there is more risk and less security in their economy even with it so destabilized. Nonetheless, decentralization seems to be the only solution for Haiti with their reliance on foreign investment to boost them out of their current situation.
I don't agree with the point that all these international organizations and volunteers will help Haiti get out of the hardship.
I got a chance to visit Haiti Embassy in US and talk with their ambassador last year. What he said surprised me a lot. Different than people thought, all these volunteering workers have actually brought more challenging to the economic recovery for Haiti. Because of all these supporting goods, the local firms which had already sufffed enough from the natural disastor, now are totally out of work. Since people cannot get free stuff, why would they but local produced goods anymore. Also, because of all these volunteers come form all over the world to Haiti, the local rent price had risen dramatically. A lot of urban people were forced to move out of the city because of the high price.
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