"Poverty, Inc." was an eye-opening documentary on the hidden effects of seemingly positive relief efforts. While the entire film was engaging from start to finish, for this discussion paper I will focus on the importation of NGOs. This film had a heavy emphasis on the "unseen" and "unrealized," which was the focal point of the recent book chapter that we read, making it an excellent real-world example to analyze.
In Haiti post-2010, hundreds of NGOs were imported into the area as an attempted relief effort. Short term, this was a massive success. The locals were provisioned adequately and the NGOs were very helpful. This is the "seen." When discussed in the book the "seen" referred to the third-world country sweatshops being a poor work environment. The "unseen" was the opportunity cost being very low due to even worse alternatives than sweatshops, making the sweatshops comparatively a good opportunity, thus improving the quality of life of the seemingly abused employees. In the film, the "unseen" is Haiti becoming dependent on imported NGOs and being incapable of producing their own and thus having a very weak and crippled economy.
While the "unseen" can be fascinating to understand in the book, film, and in real life, even more interesting is the "unrealized." In the book, the "unrealized" is the loss in economic growth because of the regulation that allows sweatshops to exist and thrive in the way that they do. Third-world countries often have very intense regulation in regard to the industries in which the sweatshops exist, therefore competition is not allowed to thrive. Had the regulation been less agressive, competition to sweatshops would be allowed, and wages would be driven up, resulting in better employee conditions. So while we complain about sweatshops being evil, the problem would likely not exist in an unhampered market. The same can be said of the economic situation in Haiti. Had relief not come, although there would have been struggle for a time, the depency on other contries for NGOs would not have been established, and thus an NGO market would have started, grown over time, and eventually thrived due to increased demand. Not only would an NGO market have been introduced to Haiti over time, thus improving their economy as a whole, but other areas would have been affected as well. The "unrealized" has a never ending domino effect that can have far reaching consequences decades into the future, which is what we are currently seeing in Haiti's crippled economy today.
This is a constant theme in the book, the film, and again in the real world. Regulation and people interferring in the market seems to always result in less value creation for consumers, and therefore lower quality of life. While there are always winners and losers in any economic situation, regulation seems to almost always be negative long term, once you have considered and factored in the "unseen" and "unrealized." The unhampered market is much more powerful and efficient in terms of value creation, and would have likely been the best option for Haiti, when you consider the long reaching effects of the "helpful" NGO imports that they recieved post-2010. The film does an excellent job of illustrating this through a clear lense without making anything to oversimplified or convoluted, which I personally appreciated and enjoyed very much.
Works Cited
BYLUND, PER L. Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives. LEXINGTON Books, 2018.
“Poverty, Inc..” Poverty, Inc., https://www.povertyinc.org/.
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