[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsGDP-yfduo[/youtube]

Naomi Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine warned of the rise of “disaster capitalism” under which governments and corporations use disasters as a chance to push through free-market policies unachievable in times of stability. Where most see a crisis, neoliberal actors spy new market opportunities. And with poor countries desperate for any kind of aid, they are often forced to carry out extensive privatisation, deregulation and wage cuts in return.

Following the devastation inflicted on Haiti by Tuesday’s earthquake, it’s clear that the country has become a target for such economic “shock therapy”. Over at Left Foot Forward, Adam Ramsay (recently interviewed by the NS) notes that some right-wing institutions have explicitly declared their intention to use the disaster to further a corporate agenda.

via Saving Haiti from disaster capitalism, New Statesman