What does $40 Billion Buy You?
Link
Today the G8 decided to forgive immediately $40 Billion in third world debt in 18 countries with another $15 Billion that may be added in the future if as many as 20 additional countries meet the IMF and World Bank standards for good governance and eliminating corruption. These standards are notoriously loose. One of the countries among the 20 that may qualify for the additional relief is Sudan. Yes, the very same Sudan that is systematically killing and raping its way into infamy. Some countries that are among the 18 getting debt relief immediately are: Ghana, Mozambique, Niger, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Yep, these are certainly “world class” governments.
Why do the major industrialized nations think that forgiving such massive amounts of debt to such corrupt and criminal governments is a good thing? Isn’t it instead reinforcing corruption and criminal activity?
Update I: Phyllis Schafley has another take on this deal.
Update II: Capt. Ed at Captain's Quarters has more on one of the benefactors.
Update III: Anne Linehan over at BlogHouston points out this link.
Today the G8 decided to forgive immediately $40 Billion in third world debt in 18 countries with another $15 Billion that may be added in the future if as many as 20 additional countries meet the IMF and World Bank standards for good governance and eliminating corruption. These standards are notoriously loose. One of the countries among the 20 that may qualify for the additional relief is Sudan. Yes, the very same Sudan that is systematically killing and raping its way into infamy. Some countries that are among the 18 getting debt relief immediately are: Ghana, Mozambique, Niger, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Yep, these are certainly “world class” governments.
Why do the major industrialized nations think that forgiving such massive amounts of debt to such corrupt and criminal governments is a good thing? Isn’t it instead reinforcing corruption and criminal activity?
Update I: Phyllis Schafley has another take on this deal.
Update II: Capt. Ed at Captain's Quarters has more on one of the benefactors.
Update III: Anne Linehan over at BlogHouston points out this link.
posted by Rorschach at
7/09/2005 04:00:00 PM
4 Comments:
A few links in the following story of mine you might find of interest.
Eat The Rich
Hey Prof! Long Time no BBS! Yep, it's me. Same crotchety B@stard I always was...
Bop over to BlogHouston and click on my e-mail icon on one of my posts to send me an e-mail with your e-mail address (I haven't figured out how to set it up with a blind e-mail form so the spambots don't snag it yet.) if ya would..
Have ya heard from any of the rest of the old crew lately?
LHM, I finally took some time to look at the links you left. Kim Du Toit is absolutely right. You cannot save a people not willing to be saved, nor can you build self-reliance or infrastructure by undermining those very mechanisms. The only outside intervention that has a ghost of a chance is the same sort of nation building going on in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. But that in of itself is a very iffy thing. Sadly America does not have the brass pair required to stay and fight it out to the end I'm afraid, there is no way we could do it again on the dark continent. Besides, the Europeans didn't do such a hot job of it themselves. Not being a student of the culture myself, I have to ask, doesn't much of the tribal rivalry stem from artificial boundaries and tribal distictions imposed upon them by the europeans? I guess "you break it you bought it" doesn't apply to nation building when you are a liberal socialist....
BTW, your blog rates a link for that!
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