...the present-day concentration of urban poverty in Haiti, which led to millions of people living in the ramshackle slums that literally disintegrated during the earthquake, owe their origins to policies of economic liberalisation and privatisation begun in the mid-1980s.....Ultimately, the policies of the last four US administrations have been successful in crushing most opposition to the reforms that laid the foundation for the disastrous consequences of the earthquake.Just a lefty professor's views? Perhaps ...perhaps not. Mark Levine seems to be supported by an article in the Globe and Mail: a prominetnt Canadian business paper.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti/a-tale-of-two-nations/article1437201/
His native country (the Dominican Republic,) by contrast, declared its independence from Haiti and was left with much more agriculturally viable land and a less densely populated nation. Infrastructure, political institutions and trade relations were able to develop without as much interference from foreign interests.Haiti needs foreign aid desperately. (Please donate to a NGO provideing disaster relief in Haiti.) It also needs, as does the rest of the world, liberation from neo -conservative ideology. Surely, after the Great Recession of 2008, the idea that a free market completely unfettered by ethics can solve our problems has been discredited?
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