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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 11-Mar-2010
11-Mar-10 News - Haiti's president asks for earthquake food aid to end

Web Log - March, 2010

11-Mar-10 News - Haiti's president asks for earthquake food aid to end

A Chinese professor says that China's economic data is inaccurate.

Food aid is destroying Haiti's economy, according to President Preval

Prior to a meeting with President Obama in Washington, Haitian President Rene Preval said that he would ask for an end to food aid for victims of the Haiti earthquake, according to Reuters.

"I will tell him that this first phase of assistance is finished," he said. "If they continue to send us aid from abroad -- water and food -- it will be in competition with the national Haitian production and Haitian commerce."

(North Korea made a similar demand in 2005. See: "North Korea demands an end to U.N. food aid." In a separate story today, a UN report says that half of all food aid sent to Somalia is stolen by corrupt contractors and militants. Telegraph)

Food aid is always a very tricky business, and Preval is right to express caution. What happens is that countries that provide food aid do so with surplus crops. The country receiving the aid has its agricultural industry decimated, because farmers can't compete with the free food coming in through food aid. In other words, you have to let a few people starve before a country can feed itself again.

Thus, Preval met with Obama on Wednesday, and the Washington Post reports that Preval asked for asked for money -- tens of billions of dollars -- to help pay for Haiti's budget deficit and earthquake cleanup. However, it's not known whether Obama will agree to support financial aid to Haiti.

Many legislators are adamantly opposed to giving financial aid to Haiti because corruption is so pervasive there. It's assumed that any financial aid will go into politicians' pockets, instead of to the poor.

Poor neighborhood in Haiti

Poor neighborhood in Haiti

In 2004, I wrote an article on Haiti with the dramatic title, "Haiti - Rebellion and anarchy?" The above picture shows a poor neighborhood of Haiti. And this is a country where the U.S. had been sending massive amounts of financial aid since 1994. But the money didn't go to the people who needed it.

Haiti's troubles are blamed on American aid in a NY Times analysis of the history of food aid to Haiti.

According to the article, Haiti used to be able to feed itself easily, but has been in a 20-year nose dive, dependent on imports and food aid for 75 percent of its needs. Fields that used to be brimming with crops are now covered with grass. The blame is placed on the U.S., which forced Haiti in 1995 to adopt low food import tariffs, to provide U.S. farmers with another market. The result was that subsidized American rice pushed Haitian farmers out of business, according to the NY Times.

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Professor Huang Yiping, of Beijing's Peking University, says that China is lying about its economic data, and it's a systemic problem. He writes for China Stakes. He says that important data is not collected, and data that is collected is inaccurate. The motive for lying about statistics is that it "bears on social stability and even the political future of local leaders, and is inevitably subject to political influence."

A new feminist alert: Bankers and financial execs who have lost their jobs and their million dollar bonuses are asking the courts to reduce their alimony payments to their ex-wives, according to FT Alphaville. Here we go again, making women suffer. See my report last year: "Feminist alert: Millionaires' mistresses and wives are biggest victims of financial crisis." How long will this misogynistic society of ours continue to victimize women?

Israel's announcement yesterday that it would build 1,600 new settlements in East Jerusalem is reverberating around the Mideast. American VP Joe Biden, who is visiting the region, condemned the announcement in very harsh language. And the Arab League, which had previously supported the "indirect" peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, may now withdraw its support. NY Times.

"DM is the new EM" is what Morgan Stanley analysts are telling clients, according to FT Alphaville. This means that "developed markets", like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Japan, the UK and the US, are now becoming unstable, because of exponentially growing deficits, while "emerging markets" are strong by comparison.

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 11-Mar-10 News - Haiti's president asks for earthquake food aid to end thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (11-Mar-2010) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 11-Mar-2010 11-Mar-10 News - Haiti's president asks for earthquake food aid to end

Food aid is destroying Haiti's economy, according to President Preval

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 11-Mar-2010
11-Mar-10 News - Haiti's president asks for earthquake food aid to end