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"At a minimum, France should reimburse more than 28 billion US dollars to Haiti today," says French Economist

Maxime

Money

In an interview conducted by Doctor of Economics Thomas Lalime, a columnist for Le Nouvelliste, the renowned French economist, Thomas Piketty, said that "the 'Debt of Independence' in 1825 represented three years of production in Haiti..." a total amounting to $28 billion [USD] today.

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Mr. Picketty, who is also the director of studies at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and eminent professor at the Paris School of Economics said his calculation is "...without even taking into account the interests that the French and Anglo-Saxon bankers have not failed to charge up to 1950 in exchange for the 'refinancing' of this debt. At a minimum, France should today reimburse Haiti the equivalent of three years of Haitian GDP or more than 28 billion US dollars."