Haiti Update

A few weeks back, I posted on the unintended consequences of foreign aid. Specifically I highlighted a story on National Public Radio about how food aid to people in Haiti who had been impacted by the earthquakes earlier this year was affecting local rice farmers.

NPR did an earlier story (which I did not see or cover) about a Haitian woman who was in danger of losing her small business, which had been devasted by the earthquake, because she did not have the funds to make a loan payment.

But her life has changed. Many NPR listeners sent her money - more than enough to make the payment. She has taken the bulk of the extra funds and reinvested in her business. It's a great story, and speaks to the positive side of aid to developing countries - and especially to the power of small amounts of capital to change a life.

Now in NPR's Friday podcast, there is a follow-up on that story. You can listen beginning at about the 3-minute mark. I see it as an interesting variation of an unfettered market. Funds did not have to go through a government bureaucracy, and they provided a benefit to both parties - the donor and the recipient. The recipient’s business is clearly better off, and the donor "profits" although not in a monetary sense. Rather the donor feels better knowing they have done some good. This is similar to what I try to teach about Adam Smith. It is not just about The Wealth of Nations, but it is also about The Theory of Moral Sentiments. (However, suffice it to say, there is a trade-off to success. But I don’t want to give it away.)

In that same podcast, there is another story about economic success in Haiti, beginning at about the 14:45 mark. In this case, it involves an economic development project to help Haitian mango farmers. The previous attempts by various governmental and non-governmental entities failed. But through the combined efforts of the villagers who benefitted, the work gets done - apparently including digging up and replacing 27 miles of pipe to bring water to a newly-built processing center.

I recommend this. If you can’t sit and listen, download and put it in your personal device and listen while you jog, while you work in the yard, or around the house. It will be time well-spent.