Sunday, February 21, 2010
Can low-paying garment industry save Haiti?
This article proposes that exporting labor for the garment industry may assist in boosting the Haitian economy following the natural devastation they recently faced. The earthquake that wiped out Haiti's capital and substantial amount of the labor force means that the Haitian economy must rebuild from scratch and both the UN and US have agreed to support Haiti in its efforts. US Congress passed Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act, or "HOPE II" that allows Haiti to export textiles duty-free to the US for a decade. However picking up the Haitian economy still remains to be a difficult ordeal and this Act is merely a stepping stone to Haiti's development.
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Hmm, I'm not sure how if I agree with this article. Sure, low-paying manfacturing (especially in developing countries) can be very attractive to MNCs and therefore drive lots of business to the country, however, the compensation isn't really that great. Yes it's true that eventually most developing countries can bring themselves out of poverty by employing it's low-skilled cheap labor, but this is a very lengthy process and Haiti's need is more immediate.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with this article either. Low-paying manufacturing and the HOPEII looks like the developed countries are taking the advantage of the earthquake and move factories to places with low labor costs, gaining more profits.
ReplyDeleteThe dire nature of the rest of Haiti's economy, as outlined earlier in the article, seems to push home the point that it is going to take more substantive top down efforts in order to restore any sort of economic order in Haiti.
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