Wealth in Haiti= building and tearing down

For IPUMS-International, I look at a lot of international census data. And I make a lot of household wealth indices using dwelling characteristics, utilities and household assets. Most census questionnaires ask about assets as an indicator of socioeconomic status, especially in developing countries. And most of these assets are common across countries: cell phone, TV, car, bicycle, cart, fan, computer, fridge, radio etc.

But, Haiti 2003 gave me two new indicators of wealth: machetes and excavators.