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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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March 19, 2010Birdsall tells Congress Haiti Needs More than Aid—and More Flexibility from Congress ItselfPosted by Sarah Jane Staats in Global Development Tags: Foreign Aid Reform, Haiti, On the Hill
In her testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade, Birdsall outlined three principles and three priority actions for U.S. efforts in support of Haiti: Read More… Comment »March 15, 2010Truthiness and Justiness at the Haiti Debt HearingPosted by David Roodman in Debt Relief Tags: Haiti
Memories of those days flooded back two weeks ago when I attended a hearing at the U.S. House of Representatives on canceling Haiti’s debt. Before I show you video highlights, let me sketch my thinking on canceling the debt of poor countries generally and Haiti in particular. Comment »March 10, 2010The UN Goes to Hollywood—But Is It Ready for a Close-Up?Posted by Vijaya Ramachandran in News Tags: Haiti, UNThis is a joint post with Lauren Young. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been getting negative press about the relief efforts after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. Perhaps worst is a scathing report from Refugees International accusing the UN of ineffectual leadership, missing coordination, and weak communication while an estimated 1.2 million Haitians remain displaced. Though much of the report consists of standard blandishments (the authors spent just 10 days in-country), there is indeed evidence of serious negligence. To give just one example: the organization initially planned on allowing itself two and a half months—well into the rainy season—to distribute plastic sheeting to protect the displaced. It took a personal intervention from a senior official to get this activity moved up. Read More… 2 Comments »January 29, 2010For Haitians’ Sake, Drop the “Drop the Debt”Posted by David Roodman in Aid Effectiveness, Debt Relief Tags: Foreign Aid Reform, Haiti, IMF, World BankAs I blogged Monday, the Haiti government owes the rest of the world about $1.25 billion. Seems like a lot of money. Inevitably, groups such as the One Campaign, Oxfam International, and the Jubilee Debt Campaign have seized the moment to call on Haiti’s creditors to cancel the debt. And they have a point: can you imagine a metaphorical debt collector from the IMF knocking on the door of the Haitian finance ministry (if it still has one) asking for a few million dollars please? That’s why I called debt relief, meaning at least a suspension of debt collection, a no-brainer. The question is whether to go further than debt service suspension, to drop Haiti’s debt outright, as non-governmental organizations, members of Congress, and others have demanded. Actually, the practical question for citizens, officials, politicians, campaigners, and other players is whether to push for that. On a few days’ reflection, I say no. I would go so far as to describe such pressure as harmful. 8 Comments »January 28, 2010One More (Insurmountable?) Challenge for Haitian ReconstructionPosted by Todd Moss in Fragile States, Human Rights, Latin America, News, Poverty Tags: Disaster, Haiti, ImmigrationAs the international response to Haiti’s earthquake shifts from emergency rescue to longer term reconstruction, things are inevitably going to get harder. There are some very good ideas floating out there, not least Michael Clemens’ golden door visa proposal and Jeff Sachs’ urging for a recovery trust fund (It’s too bad he couldn’t resist swathing the idea in jabs at the donors and the United States). But as the donor community starts making that shift and planning projects, Joshua Nadel, a professor of Caribbean history, has this very good reminder: Read More… 3 Comments »January 26, 2010Migration and Haiti Updates: Senegal Opens Doors as Washington Commuters VotePosted by Lawrence MacDonald in Global Development, Immigration, Inequality, Migration, U.S. Foreign Aid Reform Tags: Haiti, Immigration, MigrationSenegal, the ancestral home of many Haitians, has offered to accept for resettlement as many Haitians as want to come.
According to the World Bank, Senegal has an annual per capita income of $1,772, about $600 more than Haiti. Per capita income in the U.S., according to the same 2008 World Bank table, is $46,716. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Express, a commuter tabloid owned by the Washington Post and distributed for free at Metro stations, is asking readers to vote today on this question:
Keeping in mind that such polls have no statistical validity, because of the sample selection bias, it’s nonetheless diverting to see how the answers stack up (“No” is currently at about 70%, with “Yes” at 30%). Washington Metro riders may enjoy seeing how people at their stop voted. Unsure of your answer? Read Michael Clemens’ “Reactions to my proposal for a new visa to the United States” and his Op-Ed in Sunday’s Washington Post and then vote! 1 Comment »January 25, 2010Suspend Haiti’s Debt—And Take Official Lenders beyond LendingPosted by David Roodman in Debt Relief, Global Development Tags: Haiti, IMF, World BankMore Fresh Ideas for Haiti
See also[Update: For a more opinionated take on debt cancellation, see For Haitians' Sake, Drop the "Drop the Debt".] Haiti and international debt go way back, and it is a sad history. The circumstances of Haiti’s birth seem auspicious in retrospect: it was the second republic in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1804 by slaves of African descent who had wrested freedom from their masters, then defeated Napoleon’s navy. But after France gave up on enslaving Haiti’s people, it enslaved the whole nation. In 1825, it exploited its superiority on the high seas to ransom the country’s ability to export sugar and coffee. The price: 150 million francs in gold, some $22 billion in today’s dollars. Not until 1947 did Paris declare Haiti’s debt cleared. A century of intense pressure to export commodities and extract profit by pressing plantation workers into conditions tantamount to slavery goes far to explain Haiti’s human and ecological poverty today. The latter is symbolized by satellite photos of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, its twin-separated-at-birth on the Hispaniola island. The DR has trees. Haiti has none. Today, Haiti owes foreigners $1.25 billion. Inevitably, many are calling for the cancellation of that debt. The question of whether to give Haiti debt relief is at once easily distorted and misunderstood—and a no-brainer. When the world is struggling to channel resources through damaged air and water ports to a nation that has suffered such a blow, sending bills for debt service due would be practically and morally absurd. Since rebuilding Haiti will take time, a sensible formulation is that at a minimum, Haiti’s creditors should cancel all principal and interest payments for the next five years. This debt relief could be accomplished by, but would not require, debt cancellation. Why not go for complete cancellation? For some creditors, the political and financial costs would be high. And the benefits for Haiti would be lower than you might guess. Notably, persuading the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to swallow a $411 million loss in Haiti would be hard. Persuading it to forbear for a time on Haiti’s $8.6 million/year in debt service, or even arranging for the U.S. and other donors to reimburse that loss, would be a more realistic and expedient response to the emergency. 2 Comments »January 17, 2010Six Important Lessons for Disaster ReliefPosted by John Simon in Latin America Tags: Haiti, humantirian reliefThe massive earthquake that struck Haiti last week has wreaked havoc on a scale that appears unprecedented. Unfortunately, there are many precedents, including several in the last five years, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which killed an estimated 220,000 people, the South Asia earthquake of 2005, which killed 86,000 people, and the Chengdu earthquake of 2008, which killed a similar number. Learning from these is critical to succeeding in minimizing the suffering in Haiti in the next few days and weeks and maximizing the opportunities for recovery over the next several years. While different people involved in the response to these disasters will draw different lessons, from my perspective at the White House during the tsunami and the South Asia earthquake, the following come most quickly to mind: Read More… 1 Comment »January 15, 2010Haiti Aid FactsPosted by David Roodman in Global Development Tags: HaitiMore Fresh Ideas for Haiti
See alsoNote: David Roodman usually blogs at his Open Book Microfinance Blog. CGD does not have data on how much public and private aid is responding to the Haiti earthquake. (But see this.) As background, here are a charts on recent patterns in Haiti’s aid, debt, and remittance receipts. Post comments to request others. The graphs and data shown here are in this spreadsheet (2006–08 version). Aid figures come from the Paris-based Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which collects its data from donor governments. The latest aid figures—just released—are for 2008. 5 Comments » |
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The U.S. response in Haiti must be about more than aid, CGD president Nancy Birdsall told Congress this week. She urged members of Congress to push for better trade and migration policies—in addition to more flexibility with our assistance efforts—to help Haiti rebuild after the earthquake.
When I was 
