Campaigns to cancel debt have been a very valuable step to a global movement against capitalism, but I think this campaign is in great danger of running into its own contradictions. IMO they can only be transcended by explicitly arguing a) that capitalism itself produces unequal exchange, concentrates and centralises capital unevenly, independently of the will of any bloated individual b) that it is esential to move towards social democratic structures of world government which will continuously pump out finance to the periphery without patronising the recipients as being morally irresponsible. We need a shift of psychological and scientific perspective. Really it should not be called "debt" any more? Deficit? Chris Burford London >Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [stop-imf] Invitation to an online forum on the third world debt >crisis > >List-Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=help> >List-Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Subscribe: <http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/stop-imf>, > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=subscribe> >List-Id: information critical of the IMF <stop-imf.lists.essential.org> >List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/stop-imf>, > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe> >List-Archive: <http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/stop-imf/> >Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 16:04:59 -0400 (EDT) > > >From the Worldwatch Institute: > >Please join us for an online forum on the third world debt crisis > >As the leaders of the world's most powerful nations gather in Genoa, >Italy--and as thousands of protestors throng the streets--join us for a >global, electronic conversation on one of the most disturbing issues >within the debate over globalization, the third world debt crisis. > >Do the world's poorest countries need immediate release from the >"chains of debt"? Or will that just let corrupt dictators off the hook? >What can be done to prevent another crisis? If those questions trouble >you, please join us to discuss them. >---------------------- >Sponsored by the Worldwatch Institute and Communications for a >Sustainable Future > >WHEN: July 18-25, embracing the July 20-22 G-8 summit in Genoa. The >best time to subscribe is now, before the forum opens. > >WHAT: David Roodman, the author of a new Worldwatch Institute report-- >Still Waiting for the Jubilee: Pragmatic Solutions for the Third World >Debt Crisis--will participate in this online global forum. To learn >more about the report and the forum, visit > http://csf.colorado.edu/sustainable-economics/third-world-debt. >Copies of the report, paper and electronic, are available for a small >fee at > http://secure.worldwatch.org/cgi-bin/wwinst/WWP0155. > >WHO: Everyone is encouraged to join. The forum will be moderated. >Archives of the proceedings will be publicly available. It will help to >read the Worldwatch report beforehand, but please participate even if >you do not read it. > >HOW: To subscribe, visit > http://csf.colorado.edu/sustainable-economics/third-world-debt. Or send >a one-line message containing "subscribe sustainable-economics" to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >---------------------- >Background >The global debate over the third world debt crisis will crescendo on >July 20-22 as the heads of the world's eight leading industrial nations >(G-8) gather in Genoa, Italy. The host of the summit, the government of >Italy, has vowed to put the debt crisis at the top of the agenda. And >Drop the Debt, a London-based successor to Jubilee 2000 (the campaign >that forced rich-country politicians to respond to the debt crisis in >the late 1990s), has set its sites on a "New Deal on Debt" from the >Genoa summit (see http://www.dropthedebt.org/action/genoa.shtml). > >Since World War II, the richest countries have lent the poorest ones >hundreds of billions of dollars, much of it in the name of democracy, >freedom, and development. Yet scores of the borrowing countries are now >mired in debt and poverty--some 47, according to World Bank benchmarks, >all but 10 of them African. Together, they owe $422 billion, or $380 >per person, a substantial sum for them, but just 11 months of military >spending for western governments. Responding to pressure from >nongovernmental organizations, creditor governments have recently >offered to cancel up to 55 percent of the debt they are owed by 41 poor >debtors. In return, they are demanding that debtors implement market- >oriented "structural adjustment" economic policies and design poverty- >fighting plans in consultation with civil society groups. > >Many rich-world politicians now want to put debt cancellation behind >them. But many non-governmental groups are calling for more. Both >sides, Roodman argues, may have unrealistic expectations about how much >good such programs are doing and can do. On the one hand, almost all of >the debt set for cancellation would never have been repaid anyway, so >canceling it will not make much financial difference. On the other >hand, debtor governments uncommitted to the policies that creditors are >demanding in return for debt cancellation will generally implement the >policies only in the breech. To expect much more is to ignore the >lessons of history. >---------------------- >Do you agree? Disagree? Join David July 18-25 for a lively discussion. >Visit > http://csf.colorado.edu/sustainable-economics/third-world-debt >---------------------- >To encourage others to join, please circulate this invitation. >---------------------- >To learn more about the Worldwatch Institute and Communications for a >Sustainable Future and the, the event's sponsors, visit > http://www.worldwatch.org and http://csf.colorado.edu. >---------------------- >Questions? E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >/ > >_______________________________________________ >stop-imf mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/stop-imf >To subscribe or unsubscribe by e-mail, send a message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED], with your administrative request in >the subject line
