Chart of the Day: Same Island, 7X Difference in GDP
I first thought this huge difference in per-capita GDP between Dominican Republic and Haiti could be explained by the difference in economic freedom, but according to the Cato Economic Freedom of the World report, Haiti (#94) actually ranks just slightly ahead of the Dominican Republic (#95) for economic freedom.
If that doesn't explain it, what does?
Update: The Heritage Foundation/WSJ 2010 Index of Economic Freedom was released today (h/t to Steve in the comments), and the Dominican Republic ranks #86 vs. #141 for Haiti. Haiti ranks especially low for Property Rights (score of 10 out of 100 vs. 30 for Dominican Republic) and Corruption (14 out of 100 vs. 30 for D.R.).