Good night to you Sir
name calling….my friend we left that when your family and mine left the old lands…with the expectations never to be ruled by them again..very simple comment to a very long walk. You Sir, must never lose the history of real history.
In regards to my comments….it would require a simple insight to trust and something else. The central bank system was …..
to you i apologise….
This particular short Video really pissed me off at the US Electeds.
———— Murtha is the bastard here.
Shows how much disrespect he has for anything.
Oh yeah, and I hope Brown wins on Tuesday.
I don’t know what your beef is…..but I think we need to move beyond calling another person’s work bullsh*t. That don’t make you look too bright chief.
Hopefully Texas and Oklahoma don’t have to stoop to the bailout trough. I have some differences with Rick Perry…..but one thing I agreed with him on was a refusal to accept any of the damned bailout money…..I think you guys in OK had the same stance. I hope you and Irish have a grand time while you are visiting! Keep him outa the wire.
All the best.——-aggie
Friday Road Trip 1/15/2010
By Bix Weir
The information that follows is usually part of our paid subscription service at RoadtoRoota.com but due to the urgent nature of its content it is being released for public consumption…use it wisely! Bix
CFTC Jocking for Position
The most historic meeting in CFTC history took place yesterday and the implications are mind boggling. The meeting was about placing position limits on oil and gas contracts so that no trader or small group of traders can manipulate the commodity markets. BUT THAT WAS NOT THE IMPORTANT PART!
An amazing amount of attention was given to the metals markets…especially gold and silver! I say an amazing amount not because of the time spent on the subject but THE FACT THAT THEY WERE MENTIONED AT ALL!
My battles with the CFTC have spanned a decade and I have published many articles on their competence… or lack there of. Here are just a couple of them:
Who’s the Little Man Behind the Curtain
www.roadtoroota.com/public/133.cfm
CFTC: 6 Strikes and Yer Out!
www.roadtoroota.com/public/138.cfm
So I was blown away at both the openness and deliberateness of discussing the gold and silver concentrations right off the bat and scheduling a hearing on the subject in March.
CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler in his opening statement:
“Separately, the Commission is interested in hearing from the public as to issues related to the trading of futures and options in the precious metals markets, such as silver and gold, and to consider the appropriateness of position limits in those markets. I hope to have a public meeting on this separate topic in the beginning of March.”
Not only did Chairman Gensler bring up the topic in his opening statement but so did our inside “good guy” Commissioner Bart Chilton:
CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton in his opening statement:
“Finally, the proposal seeks comment from the public on the question of expanding position limits to the metals complex and to soft agricultural commodities. While I am pleased that this question is at least posited through the proposed rule, I am extremely disappointed that metals are not a part of this proposal as I have sought. In essence, failure to include a proposed rule relative to metals such as gold and silver prevents the inclusion of metals in the final rule covering position limits in energy. As a result of the omission, CFTC attorneys have opined that should the Commission wish to establish
position limits in metals as a result of public comment, the agency would have to undertake an entirely separate rulemaking. I strongly support thoughtful position limits in the metals complex. I have advocated for their inclusion in this proposal with each of my
colleagues and staff, and regret the lack of consensus that remains. It is my sincere hope and expectation that the upcoming hearing on position limits with regard to metals will enable us to move more expeditiously on a parallel regulatory process for metals.”
Make no mistake…if the metal position limits are discussed in the meeting set for March the cat will be out of the bag and the END OF GOLD AND SILVER MANIPULATION WILL ARRIVE!
Now here’s my take: GOLD AND SILVER MANIPULATION WILL NOT WAIT UNTIL MARCH BUT WILL END ANY DAY NOW!!!
The CFTC is setting up the metalS meeting in March because they KNOW that the entire banking manipulation complex is about to come crashing down and they don’t want to take the blame. As a matter of fact, Bart Chilton’s angry out burst in the meeting aimed at CFTC staff has positioned him to take over the entire CFTC after the crash. He is the only one who adamantly wanted to address the metals during this meeting and not put it off for a month and a half. Watch his comments beginning 49:30 into the hearing:
www.cftc.gov/newsroom/cftcevents/2010/oeaevent011410.html
Some of the highlights:
Chilton: “I support position limits for metals…I’m disappointed we’re not able to do it now.”
Chilton: “One of the criticisms of this Board is….Commissioners don’t have the guts to stand up to staff.”
Chilton to Sherrod: “Do you see any difference between the energy commodities and the metals?”
Sherrod: “Some of the metals that are industrial have very much different characteristic than others such as gold which is a store of value.”
Chilton: “There’s all sorts of wild accusations and conspiracy theories out there and the one we’ve got hundreds of comments in the last several days is that a particular trader (ie JP Morgan but he can’t say it)…has 40% of the silver market. One: that’s incorrect…it’s 23% and I think that’s too high…”
First of all, I’m sure that Ted Butler is addressing this challenge by Chilton that the actual JPM concentration of 40% is wrong. It will be an interesting discussion because Butler works off CFTC data BUT Chilton has access to the actual names and accounts of each trader. Actually, we all wait for Ted Butler’s comments because HE IS THE MASTER OF CFTC DATA AND SILVER MANIPULATION. I see no reason why Ted should not testify in front of the CFTC metals meeting set for March. If he is not asked by the CFTC then they ARE hiding the truth again.
Chilton has set himself up to take the reigns of the CFTC after the coming silver explosion.
The Stage is being Set for a Banker Fish Fry
Like I have reported for the last few weeks, the heat is being turned up on the Banking Cabal at the very moment of another massive credit crisis. Every newspaper is splashed with the credit crisis and the banker bonus payouts. Congress is actively holding hearings on the mortgage crisis and laying blame directly on the banking establishment.
www.guardian.co.uk/business/dan-roberts-
on-business-blog/2010/jan/13/congress-bank-hearings
The world wide collapse of the fiat money system is at hand and the blame will be squarely on the shoulders of the banking cabal.
The END of Globalization: China is the Key
As I discussed in my Greenspan article the end of Globalization is upon us:
Greenspan’s Golden Secret
www.roadtoroota.com/public/101.cfm
The latest sign is the trade fights and internet control issues with China. The Google problem is just the tip of the iceberg because the way China is going to deal with the US on all topics will be the same…GO POUND SAND!
finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/cyberwars-china-fires-
back-at-google-other-tech-firms-attacked-404307.
html?tickers=goog,yhoo,adbe,%5Eixic,bidu,qqqq
China will NOT need the US after the next banking crisis. We have spent the last 30 years building the infrastructure of China to supply us with goods while trading them pieces of paper for their efforts. CHINA IS DONE WITH US! They don’t need the US at all anymore. They have over 1.3B customers of their own!
The Master Plan includes China shutting their doors to the West…be prepared.
Volcker Strikes Again…and Again…And Again
Paul Volcker is coming out swinging at every pitch and hitting homerun after homerun. This is a follow up to the Friday Road Trip 12/18/09 (Subscribers)
Here is his latest:
www.denverpost.com/economy/ci_8855942
Volcker is positioned perfectly to step into Tim Geithner’s role as US Treasury Secretary when Geithner is forced out of his post…which the calls for his resignation are getting louder and louder. Watch for the end of January to spell the End of Geithner and the End of Bernanke when he doesn’t get confirmed by January 31st.
Stock up on FOOD NOW!
And finally on this Friday Road Trip I want to send a warning out to all the gold bugs out there. We’ve all heard the comments from the non-believers that gold is money “YOU CAN’T EAT GOLD” and I would like to SECOND that comment but for a different reason. Hopefully, you have purchased enough physical gold and silver to survive the coming monetary crisis but I would like you now to focus on another crisis that will be MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than the monetary one.
We facing a food crisis of unimaginable proportions and it is coming just as fast as the monetary crisis! The US Government has been LYING about the amount of food available to try and hide the inflation rate due to their flooding the world with US dollars! As a matter of fact, the food crisis may even be the spark that triggers the fiat money crash. Read the following report VERY carefully and follow the links and you will see what I’m talking about.
www.marketskeptics.com/2009/12/2010-food-crisis-for-dummies.html
If you don’t believe me you may remember that Goldman Sachs went long over 12% of the corn futures in the last couple weeks and is trying to corner the corn market. I sent this alert out to subscribers a few days back:
(Subscribers only): www.roadtoroota.com/members/162.cfm
Here is a video clip on BNN of a commodity trader claiming that Goldman Sachs is ‘creating a market by themselves’ in Corn and have bought 12% of the entire market in the past few days.
watch.bnn.ca/clip254508#clip254508
WHERE IS THE CFTC TO STOP THESE CROOKS????!!!!
We are not only talking about goosing profits for Goldman…we are talking about making Corn prices unaffordable for the world to EAT!
They are now literally KILLING OFF THE SURPLUS POPULATION! They should be tried for MURDER!
The anger is building by the second against these crooks.”
So do me and your family a GIGANTIC favor and stock up on as much dry food as you can NOW because in the next few months there will be MASSIVE food shortages and MASSIVE price inflation in the cost of that food.
The Stage is Set for Atlas to Shrug!
May the Road you choose be the Right Road.
Bix Weir (see RoadtoRoota.com for more info and free or paid subscriptions
to answer the very clear question….to you…no…I will not share what is lost or never understood to those whom never understood….rights….not imperial privileges…you do understand???
just a simple commented…response not needed
to suggest …..to you ,,do you understand.
parliament is not to meet in Canada until the later? do you understand the difference ?
the great mag i read the economist…even challenged the insight…so fully ..complex…matrix…young man and women walk to war to what guided war master???
what a walk….to define and defend…full circle…France is upset USA troops to …what is a nation’s long lost to history…but what do you know?
I doubt that Obama/Reed/Polosi are even dumb enough to ram the healthcare bill through under those circumstances. If Brown wins….a hurried up vote to get healthcare passed before his confirmation…..would be the equivalent to political suicide to a helluva lot of democrats. Hope things are going well for you! I’m always amazed at the energy you have for the Belize endeavor.
All the best.——-aggie.
i thought you above the name calling.
i’m sadened. 
wj
….why do you attack PM Fever for his charts….and call his opinion BS…
…there are many other chartists at the tent…..are they all full of it too ?
The guiding light of refusal to commit…
allow me to question….runner…. are the masters
? …..
the contemporary equivalent to the slave masters of the past?
I think we all fail to see reality….THEY are very busy…you are fogged ..we walked away, travelled from the past to here!!! they are about to put the masses back into their system…so very complex ..so very simple…In regards to today’s leadership…kiss modern leadership ..you serve us and your family will be rewarded
Greeny was knighted….runner ..please chart this …the best are corrupted…..this has to be walked to be understood.
regarding your endless BS…wait ….but i will give another manipulated chart…smile
did i spell it all well…..smile
no …did i wish ….well fully and spock and others are just stand up real people….
and ….and…guideed view…gold is Their greatest nemesis… to understand this simple comment is all you every need. Until and if they win….
That statement was actually made by KitcoB, but his statement was re-stated in my response to him.
In reality though, all of those things as essentials hold value in terms of the value metrics that I suggest. I do apologize for the more obscure terms that I have used. In the past I have laid it all out in more common terms along with charts that prove it up as visuals.
1) What is the biggest market in the world for a physical commodity?
2) Is the gold market one of the smallest markets in the world for a physical commodity?
I would guess that you answered:
1) Crude oil.
2) Yes. Gold is one of the smallest commodity markets in the world.
If those were your answers, you are wrong. What everybody believes to be the “tiny gold market” is in fact the world’s biggest physically traded commodity market.
Let’s have a look at some facts.
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) “over-the-counter” (OTC) gold market trades approximately 90 percent of the world’s physical gold trade. The amount of gold sold each day is given at the LBMA’s Internet site here:
http://www.lbma.org.uk/stats/clearing
The LBMA reports the net gold traded, which is termed “ounces transferred.” This is not the gross trading volume. For example, if an investor were to sell 1 million ounces in the day and then buy 1.1 million ounces, the trade would be counted as 0.1 million ounces, the net difference between the purchase and the sale and the amount of gold “transferred” to the investor’s account. Therefore the numbers are the amount of gold that changes ownership each day.
The value of the daily trading for November 2009 is given as $22 billion.
From looking at the data you might think that the trade amounts are for the entire month. But they are actually average daily figures for the month. This is clear from another page of the LBMA Internet site, which states:
“Gold ounces transferred rose from a daily average of 20.6 million in September to 20.8 million, an increase of 1.2%. There was a 4.7% increase in the average price to $1,043.16, resulting in a 6.0% rise in value to a daily average of $21.8 billion. The number of transfers dropped by 0.8% to a daily average of 1,908.”
The world consumes 82 million barrels of crude oil each day. At $77 per barrel the physical trade of crude oil is worth $6.3 billion each day. This means that the amount of gold that changes ownership each day is, in dollar terms, 3.5 times the dollar value of crude oil that is consumed each day.
In a GATA dispatch in October 2009 the market analyst Paul Mylchreest estimated that the gross volume of gold traded on the LBMA each day was about 2,100 metric tonnes:
http://www.gata.org/files/ThunderRoadReport-10-15-2009.pdf
That equates to $77 billion each day at 1,150 per ounce. The NYMEX WTI crude oil contract trades 400,000 contracts each day, which is 400 million barrels. At $77 per barrel, the gross value traded is $30.8 billion, which is only 40 percent of the value of the gross trade in gold.
There is a myth among even knowledgeable gold investors and analysts that the gold market is tiny, but in reality it is the biggest physically traded commodity market in the world. The perception of gold being a tiny market comes from the tiny annual production of gold. Global gold production is only 2,200 metric tonnes per year, which is equivalent to the gross trade in gold on the LBMA in just one day.
In a previous article I analyzed the LBMA market numbers and deduced that it was impossible for the LBMA to have enough gold in its vaults to trade such large daily volumes. The inescapable inference is that the LBMA is operating a fractional reserve system and has sold much more gold than it has or could ever have. The amount of gold that has been sold is estimated to be around 65,000 metric tonnes, while the maximum amount of London Good Delivery bars that exist in the world is around 15,000 metric tonnes. So even if the LBMA possesses the world’s entire stock of LGD bars there are 50,000 metric tonnes of obligations that cannot be met if the owners ask for delivery.
To put that quantity of gold into perspective, it is equal to all the gold reserves that remain to be mined in the earth.
Gold is unique among all commodities because its very nature and function enable such a fraud to be perpetrated. Gold has very few uses that consume gold. Its main function is to store wealth, and gold can perform that function while in your house, in your vault, or even on the other side of the world in someone else’s vault. When it is acting as a store of wealth in someone else’s vault, you have to trust that someone else that there is any gold at all in his vault.
Many wealthy individuals, institutions, and sovereign states buy gold through the LBMA in unallocated accounts and leave the gold they supposedly own in the custody of the LBMA.
That people are buying and selling gold without ever taking delivery means that there is the opportunity for the bullion houses to sell gold that doesn’t exist. The bullion houses probably don’t view this as illegal or dishonest, because they will operate a fractional reserve type of system just as the banks do with fiat currency and will make sure that they have enough gold on hand for what would be the maximum estimated volume of gold that could be called for delivery at any one time.
For this fraud to continue without being exposed, no requested delivery of gold by an LBMA customer must ever be defaulted upon or else a massive “run on the bank” would be triggered. When the bullion banks get into trouble and don’t have enough gold on hand to meet delivery demands, central banks lease or sell them gold to cover the shortfall. The central banks are willing to aid and abet the crime because the selling of “paper gold” has the same suppressive effect on the gold price as selling real gold. Suppressing the gold price accommodates the central banks in masking their promiscuous fiat currency creation. In this way the traditional inflation “canary in the coal mine” is muted.
This is the basis of the “strong dollar policy” that allows interest rates to be lower than they should be, and in turn it lowers the price of commodities and imports as it artificially enhances the dollar’s buying power. Further, the central banks are able to earn a lease rate on their gold hoards.
If commission fees are 3 percent, then the annual commission earned by the LBMA is approximately $585 billion on only $500 billion of assets. A 100 percent return on investment is certainly a handsome profit.
The much-heralded public auction by the Bank of England of half of its gold stock was open only to members of the LBMA.
From the thesis presented here it can be seen that the suppression of the gold price suits the central banks and that running a fractional reserve gold inventory is extremely lucrative for the LBMA, especially when it is backstopped by the central banks.
Mobilizing central bank gold to maintain liquidity in the market is essential. Maintaining secrecy of such gold activities is equally essential. Over the last 10 years GATA has amassed a large amount of evidence that more than half of central bank gold has been sold, leased, or swapped into the market. This is what lies at the core of the federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit GATA has filed against the Federal Reserve. The Fed is denying access to hundreds of pages of documents pertaining to the U.S. gold reserves because they are deemed to be exempt from disclosure as “trade secrets.” GATA believes that the Fed is trying to cover up its involvement in the suppression of the gold price as part of the implementation of the “strong dollar policy,” which necessarily involved mobilizing or encumbering the U.S. gold reserve in some way. GATA intends to find the truth.
Investors in precious metals should take delivery of their bullion. No matter what the outcome of GATA’s lawsuit, the fraud will be exposed by customers of the LBMA asking for their gold. When it becomes clear that there isn’t enough gold to meet demanded delivery, the gold price must rise in accordance with the new market reality of a much smaller supply than previously was apparent. If you don’t take delivery of your bullion, you might discover that investments you thought you had in gold are just promissory notes.
Goldtent is beyond my capability or qualifications to understand entirely, but you certainly hit a resonant note with me at 20;42 when you described gold, water and some food stuffs as the things that hold value over time. I agree entirely with your singling out of these three keystones of civilization as we know it today - gold, water and food for humans. Best wishes. Equiz.
by kitcoblows @ 20:56 pm.
Perhaps in doing so, you can tell the class how your statement of fact is relevant in a world where floating currencies have existed less than 40 years.
======================
First, you live in that currency environment, now. Second, though the Dollar has been constantly inflated since its inception, it is only under the guise of a floating currency pricing system that da boyz can inflate the Dollar enough into the teeth of this K-Winter by using all means possible, while still leaving most in the dark to the real extent of Dollar inflation processes underway.
Anymore quesions, boss?
US accused of ‘occupying’ Haiti as troops flood in …..France
the untamed truth….without sensitivity…is appearing..technically challenging? No chart required …
In regards to the incompatibility with the given real time limiting nature of such narrations of trust and shortcomings of man? We will become enlighten and walk into a nwo….well? Not to mention or imagine the intellects of whom has or shall guide the collective to an accepted universal god….is a restless syndrome of man’s making on a fools errand.
summary….unfortunately man has always ruled by sword and not pen ( caveat sword first pen after..kiss)…so we have a enchanted problem…inflation and deflation…absolute nonsense and red herrings for the sheep news, accident or design..
we have a power walking to a earthly power goal…conning all now ..very well.
Good night …greed..was the food….feed to …well the mixture was high and low.
it appears illinois is also on the brink. the welfare state is about to be exposed across the country. what really irritates me is that the states that are in reasonably good shape are going to pay dearly.
rno
debt destruction is happening at a pace equal to or greater than any central bank can manage in the developed Western World.
The re-flating efforts of central banks is not sufficient enough to avoid debt destruction, nor is it enough to fund the service of liabilities on an increasingly larger number of households, corporation and governments of all sizes.
That may change.
Off to sleep.
Consulting tomorrow, so hope dwellers have a good trading day.
Perhaps in doing so, you can tell the class how your statement of fact is relevant in a world where floating currencies have existed less than 40 years. I suggest Chavez cares not a wit about gold holdings relative to his currency, nor does anyone else. For with Venezuela it is the political animal that is Chavez that matters little else.
It is the last paragraph, in the context of the last forty years I find most interesting.
Gold cannot be legislated out of existence in any fiat paper system because it still plays a vital role.
When I wrote about the fact that all paper currencies are constantly inflated to the point that they have to be “re-set”, it is only Gold held by each country that allows such a re-set to occur. Thus, no matter what anybody says, any paper fiat currency only holds value to the extent of the amount of Gold that is held by a country over any reaonable period of time.
by kitcoblows @ 15:27 pm.
don’t ignore the politics. Value can be destroyed in an instant, all it takes is a change in the political landscape. A new President, a new law, a rumor, guilty by association.
————————————————
~ ~ ~ In almost all cases, “value cannot be destroyed”- it is price that is destroyed when price and value are not in the same ballpark. For instance, in early 2007 when I spoke of the Dow falling in a waterfall decline into late 2008 as a momentum bottom, I showed both the “value” and the “price” charts of the Dow. The “value” of the Dow had already shown a waterfall decline of around 70% from 2000 to the high in price of the Dow in 2007. I had suggested at the time that price will always revert to “value”, thus the expected sharp decline in the Dow. Thus, in the deflation scare there was nor real value that was lost as the deflationists argue. There was only a reversion of “price back to value.”
Here is another fact. I took the timing for that deflation scare off of the chart of Gold in the late 70’s since the “reversion to value of price” occured at exactly the same spot in the cycle- the only place it could occur based on the environment we were in. This is why I named it a “deflation scare.”
Without such charts that clearly distinguish between “price and value”, then everybody starts mixing up terms like price and value that really much any discussions up. Yet, I know of no time in history where such charts have failed in distinguishing value from price, and further from distinguishing inflation from deflation.
Thus, I would suggest that “price can be manipulated in a fiat paper currency” at will, but “value is really a constant that cannot be manipulated, changed, or defaced.”
========================================
With respect to gold, it would be legislated out of this country instantly if the Treasury thought it could do it effectively. They cannot for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the second they did it, its value would explode internationally, as it would be seen as a weak spot in US policy.
—————————————-
~ ~ ~ Gold cannot be legislated out of existence in any fiat paper system because it still plays a vital role. When I wrote about the fact that all paper currencies are constantly inflated to the point that they have to be “re-set”, it is only Gold held by each country that allows such a re-set to occur. Thus, no matter what anybody says, any paper fiat currency only holds value to the extent of the amount of Gold that is held by a country over any reaonable period of time.
TPTB has no problem with Gold or its value. They only seek to control the psychology of the masses so they seek paper derivatives of Gold as the only trading proxy for Gold as they can control the price of the paper proxy- paper gold, a derivative of Gold. Real Gold’s value is never hindered, except to the extent that the psychology of the people can be affected in terms of “price”……….never in terms of “value.”
=====================================
Having said that, gold works as a store of value because it has stood the test of time. Even revisionist history cannot dull it. You would be hard pressed to find something else that can make that claim, with the possible exception of water and some food stuffs.
———————————
~ ~ ~ Gold has stood the test of time as a store of value because “it does have value.” People’s perceptions change in terms of price as they are deluded to focus on paper derivatives of gold that are traded. As JS stated this week, any hindrance on the trading of paper gold brings the value of real Gold into focus.
Add Illinois to the list…..only 1 million liquid in the bank today…billions in deficit…and 5 billion due to the pension funds in weeks…and 10 billion more next year…
Aggie ..this Haiti disaster the Mass. election and what the House and Senate do about it …what do you think will happen if the House jambs through the Health Care Bill on Friday? The Senate version to boot!
These guys on idiot T.V are having fun with it …but IMHO this is the straw that will ignite all the other problems swept under the carpet in just the last year….
MO ..Roxbury area in Boston will be the only area Brown gets hit in…and Ware Mass.
Yes…..but California will get massive amounts of monopoly money furnished by the US fed. My guess is, in the worst case scenario the US govt. will not let California tank. This seems to me to further the argument PMF has made that the dollar will keep getting inflated…until it is worthless. Again…..the very definiton of inflation is vast creation of currency with nothing to back it up.
All the best.——–aggie.
Hope you folks south of the border had a nice holiday today.
Pretty anemic volume in the Canadian juniors as a result.
Winedoc
The traditional worry about excessive government debt is that it can be inflated away by central-bank money printing. But, at the risk of invoking the most dangerous term in finance and economics, there’s something different this time. The governments about whose debts the markets fret the most now cannot resort to the printing press.
These are the PIIGS of Europe — Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain — and most particularly the Hellenic Republic. As part of the European Monetary Union, their adoption of the euro has precluded their past easy-out of devaluation. Now, by contrast, the PIIGS are forced to conform to the monetary orthodoxy of the European Central Bank.
At the other end of the world, the sovereign debtor whose situation evinces real concern is the State of California, the seventh- largest economy in the world. As such, it vastly overshadows in importance other dicey sovereign debtors, such as the PIIGs. But like members of the EMU, California can’t devalue to reduce its real debt burden.
By most economic measures, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. It had a nominal GDP of 7.018 billion USD in 2009, with a GDP per capita of 790 USD, about $2 per person per day.[57]
It is an impoverished country, one of the world’s poorest and least developed. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti now ranks 149th of 182 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2006). About 80% of the population were estimated to be living in poverty in 2003.[58] Most Haitians live on $2 or less per day. [59] Haiti has 50% illiteracy,[60] and over 80% of college graduates from Haiti have emigrated, mostly to the United States.[61] Cité Soleil is considered one of the worst slums in the Americas,[62] most of its 500,000 residents live in extreme poverty.[43] Poverty has forced at least 225,000 children in Haiti’s cities into slavery, working as unpaid household servants.[63]
About 66% of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming,[64] but this activity makes up only 30% of the GDP. The country has experienced little formal job-creation over the past decade, although the informal economy is growing. Mangoes and coffee are two of Haiti’s most important exports.[64] Haiti’s richest 1% own nearly half the country’s wealth.[65] Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.[66] Since the day of “Papa Doc” Duvalier, Haiti’s government has been notorious for its corruption. Haitian dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier, his wife Michelle, and three other people are believed to have taken $504 million from the Haitian public treasury between 1971 and 1986.[67]
Foreign aid makes up approximately 30–40% of the national government’s budget. The largest donor is the United States – followed by Canada, and the European Union also contributes aid.[68] From 1990 to 2003, Haiti received more than $4 billion in aid. The United States alone had provided Haiti with 1.5 billion in aid. [69] Venezuela and Cuba also make various contributions to Haiti’s economy, especially after alliances were renewed in 2006 and 2007. In January 2010, China promised $4.2 million for the quake-hit island,[70] and President Obama pledged $100 million in US assistance.[71] European Union nations promised more than 400 million euros ($616 million) in emergency aid and reconstruction funds for Haiti.[72]
U.S. aid to the Haitian government was completely cut off in 2001–2004 after the 2000 election was disputed and President Aristide was accused of various misdeeds.[73] After Aristide’s departure in 2004, aid was restored, and the Brazilian army led the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti peacekeeping operation. Following almost 4 years of recession ending in 2004, the economy grew by 1.5% in 2005.[74]
In 2005 Haiti’s total external debt reached an estimated US$1.3 billion, which corresponds to a debt per capita of US$169. In September 2009, Haiti met the conditions set out by the IMF and World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries program to qualify for cancellation of its external debt. [75]