I would imagine that land values in Haiti are pretty low right now.
Indeed, I think that if Warren Buffett and Bill Gates wanted to buy Haiti now, they would definitely have enough money to do it.
Why, you might well ask, would anyone want to buy Haiti? Well, given our current problems in the U.S., it might turn out to be a great solution to a lot of problems in both Haiti and the U.S.
First, and perhaps most important, "buying Haiti" means that an enormous number of skilled workers would be needed to clean up the mess and start rebuilding.
We have an enormous number of skilled workers in the U.S. who are out of work because greedy companies moved factories out of the U.S to low-income countries.
Second, our skilled workers can train poverty-stricken Haitians to do all the jobs necessary to rebuild the country's infrastructure.
Third, out-of-work teachers here in the U.S. can start working at new schools in Haiti so the population can become literate.
Fourth, if Buffett and Gates took on Haiti with the goal of making it a world-class Carribean resort, there are probably a lot of people who would invest in such a project.
So not only do we save Haiti, we provide jobs for our own people and create something wonderful and profitable.
Finally, I expect that if Buffett and Gates stepped up to the plate with this amazing project, they could raise even more money by selling "shares in Haiti." I, for one, would be willing to invest a few dollars in hope that a new Haiti, guided by incredibly smart and wealthy businessmen, would eventually become a huge success.
What better use of billions of privately-owned dollars could there be??
Otherwise, the U.S. is going to be stuck with the cost of helping Haiti recover as well as all our other well-known and expensive problems.