Haiti and Domino's

On Monday January 25, 2010, Domino's Sherbrooke raised around 10 000$ to donate to the red cross for Haiti. I will be interviewing the owner of Domino's for Friday's show. I would like to congratulate him on the wonderful endeavour he accomplished and encourage more to follow in his footsteps.

Earthquakes are natural catastrophe that cannot be controlled and can affect anyone. Understanding the reason behind the massive devastation is primordial in preventing such a lost of life in the future.

Unfortunately, in the past weeks has many have had misguided conclusions about the causes of the massive devastation in Haiti. Northern California's 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was more violent, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, resulting in 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, about eight times more violent than Haiti's, and cost 3,000 lives. The difference that many have pointed out in the MSM (main stream media) is that more stringent building codes would have saved many lives.

That in itself is missing the greater picture. I am not very aware of the building codes in San Francisco in 1906 but I would believe that they would be still quite rudimentary. The excessive poverty in Haiti has more to do with the devastation than the building code.

Haiti people do not have the economic liberty that is needed to build a prosperous society. For example, Haiti takes an average of 195 days to get a business licence, compared with the world average of 38 days. Haiti ranks 177th out of 179 countries in the 2007 Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Its reputation as one of the world's most corrupt countries is a major impediment to doing business.

So if stringent building codes are applied, most will not be able to afford the extra cost that the codes will impose, pushing more people to shacks and less than par living standards. The true solution for Haiti is economic freedom for their citizens, so they can afford the better and safer buildings and houses.

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/articles/10/Haiti%27sAvoidableDeathToll.htm