Author	Lundahl, Mats, 1946-
Title	The political economy of disaster : destitution, plunder and earthquake in Haiti / Mats Lundahl
Imprint	New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis group, 2013
Descript	xxiv, 440 pages ; 24 cm

Haiti, one of the least developed and most vulnerable nations in the Western Hemisphere, made the international headlines in January 2010 when an earthquake destroyed the capital, Port-au-Prince. More than a year later, little reconstruction has taken place, in spite of a strong international funding commitment. Mats Lundahl has written several seminal works on Haiti, and this volume brings together the best of his past work on Haiti’s economic and political history, along with a comprehensive introduction and two new chapters which bring the story right up to the present day. Together, the volume provides both historical background and explanation as to why Haiti was so badly affected by the earthquake, and to why reconstruction efforts have been ineffective this far. Lundahl argues that the two main causes can found in the interaction between the growth of the population and the destruction of the arable soil on the one hand, and in the creation of a predatory state during the nineteenth century, which still exists to this day. This book provides a comprehensive analysis, which charts these themes from the time of the arrival of Columbus in the island in 1492, to the present day. The book also deals with contemporary market and policy failures, as well as the crucial recent elections, and considers the path ahead for this impoverished nation. This book will be of huge relevance and interest not only to students and researchers in economic history, but also for all those working on development economics, development studies and American and Caribbean Studies more generally.

Prologue: The Dismal Past -- Part I: Before the Quake -- 1. The Economic Consequences of 1809, or 'Was Haiti Doomed to Fail?' A Story of Factor Proportions, Labor Market Institutions and Politics -- Appendix: A Capsule History of Haitian Exports -- 2. Towards the Abyss? The Political Economy of Emergency in Haiti -- 3. Economic Reform in Haiti: Past Failures and Future Successes? / with Rubén Silié -- 4. Descent into Crisis: Politics and Economics from Aristide to the Earthquake -- 5. The Failure of Community-Based Entrepreneurship in Haiti -- 6. Reaching the Poor: Some Observations on Formal and Informal Credit in Haiti / with Johan Dahlstrand -- 7. Book Reviews: Some Recent Historical Works on Haiti -- Haitian Migration -- Jacques Roumain and Gouverneurs de la rosée -- 8. Economic Growth in Haiti: A Mere Illusion? -- Part II: The Earthquake and After -- 9. 7.0 on the Richter Scale -- 10. The Controversial Death Toll -- 11. The Election Farce -- 12. Camps, Security and Rebuilding -- 13. The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission -- 14. Industrialization by Necessity -- 15. Micky at the Helm -- Epilogue: Institutional Failure

1. Haiti -- Economic conditions -- 1971-
2. Haiti -- Economic policy
3. Haiti Earthquake
4. Haiti
5. 2010 -- Economic aspects
6. Economic assistance -- Haiti

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