I've been pondering a related question - which local institutions should we
be supporting?
Haiti has incredible inequality, and I suspect the local elites like that
situation just fine. What are the barriers that ordinary Haitians deal with
in, for instance, buying and holding land?
I read an interesting book a few years ago, THe Birth of Plenty, by William
Bernstein, who makes a very good living advising big money investors on what
to look for when investing in a foreign country. His contention is that in
order for economic growth to occur, four institutions must exist. The first
one is
- secure property rights, not just for physical property, but intellectual
property and personal liberty - the legal system must protect whatever gains
people make in the marketplace, and this protection must be provided to the
poor as well as the rich
Haiti is a kleptocracy, and I wonder whether poor people who are helped to
build a decent hovel (as opposed to the indecent ones many now live in) or to
develop a small farm garden, would be able to hold onto what they have built.
They're not poor because they are all lazy and/or stupid. They're poor
because Haitian social institutions are stacked against them.
I'd love to hear from aid-oriented people who have coped with these
situations. How do you protect the gains you make from the local social
predators?