Basis points—the smallest movements that shift the tides of entire economies. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point, a fraction so small it seems meaningless. But in the hands of those who control billions, basis points decide who can afford a loan, who loses their home, whose government can pay its debts.
You have seen this before in Haiti, though we do not call it basis points. We call it the creeping cost of survival. One week, a gallon of gas is 500 gourdes. The next, it is 600. The rise is small, but its effect is heavy. A merchant in Pétion-Ville pays more for tap tap fare, so she raises the price of the avocados she sells. The woman buying avocados stretches her money thinner, cutting something else from her daily expenses. One shift leads to another, until the entire market moves.