O Siochain, Seamas (1989) Alternative approaches to the debt issue. Third World Now (37). pp. 20-21.

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Abstract

Since the debt crisis erupted in 1982, the poor in the heavily indebted countries have paid a heavy price. As Cardinal Arns of Sao Paulo in Brazil said “every time the United States raises its interest rates, thousands die in the Third World, because money that would be used for health care and food is sent outside these countries to pay the debt”. Higher interest rates, falling commodity prices, inflation, devaluation, cheap labour policies, slashed public expenditure all have hit the poor hardest. Yet, as well as causing suffering, the I.M.F. austerity programmes have failed in their primary goal, which was to guarantee the continuation of debtor country repayments. The growing recognition of this failure has strengthened the position of those who have long argued for alternative policies. What are some of the alternatives available?

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Debt issues; alternative approaches;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Anthropology
Item ID:	1098
Depositing User:	Dr. Seamas O Siochain
Date Deposited:	02 Dec 2008 14:33
Journal or Publication Title:	Third World Now
Publisher:	Cómhlámh
Refereed:	Yes
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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