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US troops are still (illegally) occupying territory in Syria to "protect oil fields" or something - odd how we never hear about that in the context of our newfo
by themgt 4y ago
US troops are still (illegally) occupying territory in Syria to "protect oil fields" or something - odd how we never hear about that in the context of our newfound deeply held belief in inviolability of national sovereignty and borders.
Anyhow, Haiti is a truly tragic story. Just in terms of the real estate it's sitting on there's a massive opportunity for anyone who could get the country semi-functional to build a thriving tourism industry.
Haiti's GDP per capita in 1990 was higher than China's[1]. I'm skeptical of the ability of history from 100-200 years ago to explain why there's been such a massive divergence since. Put another way, if you looked at the picture in 1990 where China and Haiti GDP per capita have been similar for decades with Haiti often in the lead, what facts would have led you to correctly predict the massive divergence over the next 30 years? The events of 1914 or 1803 in Haiti? But the opium wars, China being subjugated by Japan, Mao killing ~45 million of his own people would not similarly handicap China? See also Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, etc.
[1] https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=gdp+per+capita+haiti%2C+china https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=gdp+per+capita+haiti%2C...
- raegis 4y ago> ... what facts would have led you to correctly predict the massive divergence over the next 30 years? The events of 1914 or 1803 in Haiti? The U.S. has been meddling in Haiti's affairs ever since, threatening leaders who dare to raise the minimum wage, among other things. Your skepticism of "history from 100-200 years ago to explain" seems more like a straw man argument. The comparison between Haiti (10 million residents) and China (1 billion residents) is kind of strange, for GDP per capita is not dependent on the work of independent individuals. You take the total for the country and divide by the number of individuals, so any country with a billion residents and the ability to produce and set wages without restrictions has a massive advantage over any country with 1 percent of their population. Lastly, your comparison with China could be done with a hundred other countries, so you could easily dismiss their history just the same. There's a lot going on you might not be aware of.