Haiti: Economic cost of quake could hit $14 billion

The PBS NewsHour blog (USA) reports on the estimated cost of the recovery effort in Haiti following the recent earthquake, citing Inter-American Development Bank research. "The damage from natural disasters is usually highly dependent on the level of development" and the Inter-American Development Bank's estimates that in Haiti "the damage done to the country's economic sector, infrastructure, roads, and buildings" is very high.

The report also cites Mark Skidmore, a professor of economics at Michigan State University, who added that "Haiti has an opportunity to move ahead two generations in terms of its level of technology and sophistication and that may actually yield long term benefits, but there has to be a commitment by Haitians and the international community."