In all the words that have been spilled about how Haiti can 'fix' itself, the wisest are about economic self-sufficiency. This has been achieved at various points in the past, but rice subsidies, killing pigs suspected (wrongly) of swine flu, and many other well intentioned schemes have taken away the most basic component of a vibrant Haitian economy - making and selling stuff. Haitians are great entrepreneurs and should be allowed to sell to each other (and abroad with garment assembly) easily without distortions in the market that make it hard for a rice farmer to compete with cheap Arkansas rice (thanks Prez Clinton - who at least feels bad about it now - and Senator Blanch Lincoln - who must not feel bad because she continues to support this).
One interesting development is making it easy for Haitians to buy and sell things using cell phones (widely used). This makes it safer to not have to carry around cash (which was reported to day as one of the factors in our country of lower rates of crime.
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