Of course by now you’ve heard about the disaster in Haiti. It’s an awful situation to say the least. Just for the record I want it to be known I fully support any aid that the United States provides, so long as FEMA isn’t involved. I couldn’t help the cheap shot.

There’s a pretty good chance that before this disaster, if I asked you where Haiti was you probably couldn’t tell me. Now that you know it’s in the Caribbean you’ve probably been wondering why they’re a 3rd world country, seriously lacking in vacation destinations. After all, with the exception of Cuba all the island of the Caribbean have figured out by now that fat rich Americans want to blow their money on trips to their beautiful waters.

So why then is Haiti such a mess?

Well Haiti started out fairly strong. Columbus was first to visit the island in the 1490s and a native people were mostly wiped out over the next few hundred years by disease and slavery. It was basically the same way we wiped out Native Americans in the colonies. Haiti was exploited for its gold, which is mostly gone now. Once all the natives were dead, Europeans started bringing in slaves from Africa, descendants of these slaves make up most of the population of Haiti today.

France and Spain seemed to equally adore the island, called Hispaniola. In 1697 they agreed to split the island. France got what became Haiti (but first called Saint-Domingue), and Spain got what became the Dominican Republic. This explains the language barrier on such a small island. French Canadians settled Haiti and set up plantations to grow all the popular cash crops of the day. As a result, Haiti became the wealthiest of all the French colonies.

But the slaves there weren’t treated very well. 1/3 of all new slaves died within a few years of arrival. In the 1790s, inspired by the French Revolution, which was inspired by the American Revolution, the Haitians took cooking classes revolted.

After a long battle they won their independence, and ended slavery at the same time. The new country was to be called Haiti, and it remains the only nation born from a slave revolt. A military leader was declared emperor for life, and was assassinated shortly thereafter. In the early years of Haiti, almost all the whites, and some freed slaves (who had slaves of their own) were killed or kicked out. The fled to Florida and ended up in New Orleans. This is why New Orleans still has a french atmosphere.

Haiti seems to have been plagued ever since by groups of people that can just never get along. In its 200 year history, Haiti has suffered 32 military coups. The country’s people just can’t ever get along. Sadly, the United States, and other countries have interfered in the past by supporting on group over another. This is probably why everyone is helping out now, because our governments have all played a part in the instability of the country.

The US actually occupied the country between 1915 and 1934. This allowed some American businesses to move in and the country got some loans from the federal government. The result basically moved most business profits from Haiti back to the United States.

After the US left the country was ruled like any other 3rd world country. A few elite people ruled at the top and had anyone killed that they didn’t agree with. In 1987 they populous adopted a constitution and were about to have an election until a bunch of voters were shot.

The early 90s were filled with a guy winning and election and being voted out of office, a US military presence to “preserve democracy” for him who then quit after being put back in office. Jimmy Carter was somehow involved. The same guy was for some reason re-elected in 2000, but a coup changed that. The UN has had a presence since then trying to bring stability to the country.

So as you can see, Haiti is on a 200 year string of bad luck. It’s the exact opposite of what happened the US after winning independence.

They’re the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Most people survive on farming, but barely survive. Since they cut down all their forests, they’re prone to natural disasters caused by rain. A hurricane would be as devastating as the earthquake.

In summary, the reason they have no economy is because they just aren’t stable enough. When the government starts to stabilize, corruption takes over as a few people try to siphon off all the money they do have. The banks that do exist can’t be trusted, so investment is little or none. Crime is too high for tourism, though next to Cuba they have the most coastline of any country in the Caribbean. It’s pathetic that they can’t get themselves together long enough to start growing. The potential is there, but it’s just potential.

So Haiti is just a mess waiting for some kind of natural disaster to make it worse. It’s possible that this earthquake will draw enough attention to the country to make things better. It would be sad if that was what it took to save the country.

By The Weakonomist

The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice.

categories: business, economics, government