Publication

This Special Report argues that US-led economic reconstruction in Haiti and Afghanistan is clearly off track and becoming increasingly costly and unpopular. One multipurpose solution to this problem is to create reconstruction zones (RZs) with two distinct but linked areas — a local-production reconstruction zone (LRZ), which would develop products for local consumption, and an export-oriented reconstruction zone (ERZ), which would develop products just for export. With appropriate financial, legal and regulatory frameworks in place, RZs could be used to replace the fragmented way we now provide aid with a more integrated approach to economic reconstruction.