Who Owes Who? 50 Questions about World Debt

· A comprehensive, up-to-date and radical guide to every aspect of the developing country debt crisis · Engaging question and answer format and attractive visuals aimed at the general reader · Clear, practical arguments for activists, educationalists and students of development Using 50 questions and answers, this book explains in a simple but precise manner how and why the debt impasse for developing countries has been arrived at. Illustrated with figures, maps and tables, it details the rol. . . Contents::Introduction::Part 1. The Third World in Globalization::1. What is the Third World?::2. Are the conditions of the very poorest people improving?::3. What are the different kinds of debt?::4. What has been the impact of the foreign debt on human development?::Part 2. The Origins of the Debt of the Developing Countries::5. Who have been the leading promoters of developing country indebtedness?::6. What is the geopolitical context in which super-indebtedness has taken place?::7. Who have been the leading actors of indebtedness within developing countries and how have they made use of what they borrowed?::Part 3. The Debt Crisis::8. How can one explain the debt crisis?::9. How has the external debt grown over the past 30 years?::10. How have the creditors organized themselves in the face of the debt crisis?::Part 4. The Management of the Debt Crisis::11. Who is the key actor in the management of the debt crisis?::12. How does the IMF operate?::13. How does the World Bank operate?::14. What is the economic logic advocated by the IMF and World Bank? ::15. What are the short-term measures forced on countries by Structural Adjustment, and what have been their consequences?::16. What are the long-term measures forced on countries by Structural Adjustment, and what have been their consequences?::17. What is the role of the Paris Club?::18. Have all developing countries been caught up in the same situation?::Part 5. Anatomy of the Developing Countries' Debt::19. What does the external debt consist of?::20. Who are the main creditors of particular groups of developing countries?::21. How has the relative importance of the different creditors altered during the course of the past 30 years?::22. Are developing countries paying back their debts?::23. How is financial instability related to the debt being managed?::Part 6. Moves to Reduce the Debt Burden, and the Steps now in train::24. How did the initiative to reduce the debt burden come about?::25. What is the HIPC initiative?::26. What have been its results in practice?::27. What are its limitations?::28. What is NEPAD - the new economic partnership for African development?::29. What are vulture funds?::Part 7. Debt Cancellations and Service Payment Suspensions in the Past::30. Has there ever been a debt cancellation?::31. Why do governments in the South continue to pay back the debt?::Part 8. The Case for Cancelling the Debt Burden of Developing Countries::32. Would debt cancellation be sufficient to ensure the development of developing countries?::33. What are the moral arguments in favour of debt cancellation?::34. The political arguments - what are they?::35. The economic arguments - what are they?::36. The legal arguments - what are they?::37. The environmental arguments - what are they?::38. The religious arguments - what are they?::39. Who owes whom?::40. Should debt cancellation be conditional?::Part 9. Issues at Stake in Debt Cancellation::41. If creditors decided to cancel the debt, would it provoke a worldwide financial crisis?::42. Would debt cancellation trigger an impoverishment of the North, notably for tax payers? (CHECK)::43. How would it be possible to find alternative sources of capital for Third World development?::44. Wouldn't debt cancellation benefit those dictatorial regimes currently in office?::45. How would one avoid a new round of indebtedness after any debt cancellation?::46. Would it be necessary to abandon future recourse to international borrowing?::47. Is it possible to compare the external debt of developing countries with the Northern countries' public debt?::48. How in practice can we achieve a debt cancellation and a general improvement in the human condition?::Part 10. The International Debt Cancellation Campaign ::49. How was the international campaign in favour of outright debt cancellation begun?::50. How was CADTM founded?::::List of Countries Affected::Glossary of Terms::Reading List::Campaign Resources

Tables Figures Maps Glossary of Terms Bibliography 256 pp BIC:/JP/KC/GTF
Political Science | E