From a personal perspective, I have followed the developing country debt debate for many years now. In my Economics degree I majored in Economic Development and International Economics where the “debt problem” formed part of both courses. In those days in the early 1980’s, Susan George and Therese Hayter were loud critics of the way in which developing country debt was unfolding.
On the other side of the political fence, some economists were concerned about developing countries not paying their debt (in Latin America in particular) and what such an outcome this would have on the lenders. Some readers may recall that there was an international “debt crisis” that lasted between 1975-1985 that threatened the very fabric of the emergent global economy.
Cut to the 2ist century and journalist Naomi Klein, very much in the mould of Hayter and George, campaigns from the Left about the perceived injustices that befall developing countries through rich-country policies and actions. Klein is the author of the book “No Logo”, among other critical works of global capitalism. In this latest article in the The Guardian from the UK she writes about Haiti and foreign debt.
Klein writes that while it may seem a positive step forward for the outstanding country debt in Haiti to be written off in the light of the catastrophic recent earthquake, there is more to the issue than simple debt forgiveness. Klein highlights four key reasons as to why it is the West that owes a debt to Haiti: slavery, US occupation, dictatorship, and climate change. The detail is in the article.
The thinking point here is whether Klein’s four points are really valid and realistic. How much is the historical legacy something to be paid for by the generations of today? Such a question is important for many societies, especially where settler societies have impacted upon indigenous populations. And what is the responsibility of rich countries for the negative economic and social impacts of future climate change, a situation unresolved at the Copenhagen Climate Conference only a couple of months ago? And finally, how much responsibility do rich countries have for the economic position of developing countries after so many decades of developing country independence?
The questions may be emotionally charged and extreme, but they are indeed worthy of thought amongst readers of the global development literature. Often, the development literature takes a rather bland look at real-life situations that affect real people. Mostly, this is the context in which the development literature is written. But sometimes it is worth looking at articles with plenty of emotion, lots of conjecture and debate, and some real opinion-making. As such, I will be using selected newspaper reports to highlight some emerging issues that are likely to effect the development “literature” world in the coming years. As such, the opinions and perceived biases remain with the original articles. Thinking about and debating these articles is the purpose of the week’s news stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment