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"One popular theory is that Haiti’s poverty is a result of its indemnity to France. Although Haiti declared independence in 1804, France refused to formally rec
by throwawaylinux 4y ago
"One popular theory is that Haiti’s poverty is a result of its indemnity to France. Although Haiti declared independence in 1804, France refused to formally recognise it. In 1825, Haiti and France struck a deal: France would recognise Haiti’s independence in exchange for an indemnity for the lost plantations and slaves. Haiti paid millions of dollars every year to France until the debt was finally paid off in 1947. Interest in this explanation has been reignited with recent attention from the New York Times. But the debt payments were a fraction of customs revenues, which were themselves a small fraction of the Haitian economy. Furthermore, the most significant divergence came long after the debt was paid off.
Indeed, Mats Lundahl, the leading economic historian of Haiti, does not even include the indemnity in his list of decisive events in Haiti’s economic history."
Can you explain how this is not addressing it, or "hand waving it away"? It addresses it explicitly and criticizes it. Seems like a reasonable criticism if in fact that NYT article ignored those two big problems with its thesis. Also, how did the NYT article address Lundahl's work which it disputes?
- public_defender 4y agoThe same NYT reporting was also given a treatment in The Daily[0]. I did explain in numbered items above how I think the history is not adequately accounted for. My comment wasn't that they didn't address it, but that they didn't give it due weight. It's also worth mentioning that the absence of an event from a putatively authoritative history can say more about the historian than the event. For example, the bombing of Black Wall Street has not been taught in US history classes, but it is still quite important in explaining the modern order of American society. We don't teach it because we don't like what it says about us. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/podcasts/the-daily/haiti-revolt-france-payments.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/podcasts/the-daily/haiti-...
- throwawaylinux 4y agoI don't think your (1) and (2) adequately dismiss these two major problems that the article apparently does not deal with. Nor did they address the literature or opinions of recognized expert in the field, apparently. In any case, you might disagree but you're wrong that this article does not address it or fails to give it due attention.