Great blog post about the World Bank and governance in Haiti on Haiti Innovation. Commenting about Haiti's poor showing in a World Bank study, Bryan says:
Third, this study is more than a little ironic considering that the World Bank has caused a good deal of suffering in Haiti and some of its past policies encouraged corruption. Haiti and the DR were on the same level 25 years ago. Dominican leaders got rich by encouraging the private sector and skimming off the top. Haitian political leaders became rich by keeping the country poor and skimming money from the international community. The World Bank gave a poorly monitored grant to Haiti to pave all three national highways. Needless to say the money was stolen. But whose fault is that? Should an international organization assume all its clients are going to be honest or does it set systems in place that let them know the difference? Haiti became a kleptocracy because organizations like the World Bank kept giving.
All good and very interesting. I'm left wondering why Dominican leaders 'skimmed off the top' while Haitian ones ate the whole cake ... But do read the whole thing, it is quite interesting and offers a fresh perspective on old issues.
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