Mainstream economists tell us that developing countries will replicate the economic achievements of the rich countries if they implement the correct “free-market”policies. But scholars and activists Toussaint and Millet demonstrate that this is patently false. Drawing on a wealth of detailed evidence, they explain how developed economies have systematically and deliberately exploited the less-developed economies by forcing them into unequal trade and political relationships. Integral to this arrangement are the international economic institutions ostensibly created to safeguard the stability of the global economy—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank—and the imposition of massive foreign debt on poor countries. The authors explain in simple language, and ample use of graphics, the multiple contours of this exploitative system, its history, and how it continues to function in the present day.
Ultimately, Toussaint and Millet advocate cancellation of all foreign debt for developing countries and provide arguments from a number of perspectives—legal, economic, moral. Presented in an accessible and easily-referenced question and answer format, Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank is an essential tool for the global justice movement.
Fine study of debt This important study presents a mass of evidence that capitalism has failed to let the peoples of the world have decent living standards. The IMF and World Bank used teaser loans to trap developing countries into debt, and then imposed on them public spending cuts and free trade. The authors point out that the EU is repeating the IMF/World Bank debt trap, forcing its members to pay banks first, imposing public spending cuts, increasing their debts.Between 1970 and 2007 the…
A fascinating text After reading this book you will want to get in touch with your elected people and give them a peice of your mind.