What and Why Crisis
By: Amriadi Al Masjidiy
(Ceo & Founder Tebar Suara)
Every year the Africans gave £ 2 for rich countries, but ended the year with a debt deeper. We can play it and see it from a different direction - on average we receive £ 1.30 a year on debt payments for the services of the people of Africa. But we get £ 51 a year in the form of subsidies of African workers within the meaning subsisdi coffee, copper or brown. We, however, give the people of Africa aid, and we gave her £ 7 a year. So this is what the help - we give back £ 7 on the people of Africa from £ 51 that they gave us. Of course £ 51 given to us not distributed evenly - I do not get my share - but it gives us the impression (the case) a transfer of wealth from poor countries to rich countries.
Each year Africa borrowed $ 12 billion, but every year Africa pay the debt of $ 14 billion (all figures are in US $). So they nonetheless been impoverished by $ 2 billion. $ 1 billion of here falls into the IMF, which is assumed to help development in poor countries. We provide some aid to Africa, but one-fifth of the aid it back as soon as possible as the debt payment for services. So it was a relief for the IMF and the banks (in) the north.
The poor countries are always borrowing and debt crises have occurred in the past. In 1820, the US is a poor country and borrowed into English. Debt crisis occurred in 1842 when 11 US states collapsed, and they never pay its debts to the UK. After the First World War the British borrowed money from the US. Debt crisis in 1932 and the UK slumped. Britain now owes about $ 20 billion since the First World War which was never paid. Economist Charles Kindelberger explain why you get a period of growth where there is a real earnings growth and the expansion of bank credit very quickly. Finally, the money growth exceeded productivity - where money and then fall into the speculation. Speculation is not only certain but also cause darkening of the more speculative lending. Which often includes lending to poor countries - and you get something called 'loan-pushing' (the urge to borrow) which in fact banks encourage borrowers to borrow money they do not need. This causes economic bubbles and huge expansion - this is called with periods of mania (mania period). At the end of this bubble burst, prices fall, banks are trying to get back his money - this is called a panic (panic). Loan dismissed so that everything is collapsing and that is called destruction (crash). Capitalist circles (capitalist cycle) is a cycle that has lasted for 50 or 70 years, and it still continues. We have experienced mania in the 1820s, 1860s, 1920s and 1970s. Part of mania-mania is the lending to poor countries, and at the end of periods of mania poor countries are often forced to borrow money just to pay back their loans. This is what the US actually experienced when borrowing money from the UK in the 1820s and the British who borrowed to the US in the 1920s. So the debt crisis that we see today is not a phenomenon, this is a normal part of the circle of capitalist economy.
But the circle is happening today is different from what happened in the past. In 1970 the poorest countries in the world owes $ 70 billion. Entering 1980 they owed $ 600 billion, nearly nine times that of the previous debt. How could this happen? In the mid-1970s real interest rate is negative. Banks chase poor countries to borrow money. The period of panic came in 1979, but, like the panic in 1929, followed by a crash, panic in 1979 was not followed by a crash. In 1930 workers next to the north lie the visible affects of depression. Northern capitalists also pay, while South capitalists and laborers southern actually benefited. Latin America in the 1930s shows a period of growth and industrialization - one reason is the neglect of Latin America to pay its debts and even save money (it) in the nation. The ruling classes decide what happened in 1979 will not be repeated again. They decided that buruhlah, both North and South, which had to endure this time of crisis. They introduced the policies of neo-liberal free market, especially policies that transferring money from poor countries to rich countries. In the north suppression of the workers and a decrease in salaries. At the same time, they also suppress the south. This is done in two different forms.
There was a growth rate that is very large. From 1977 to 1981, interest rates increased by 10 percent. Countries are taking loans at negative real interest rates then face the fact that they suddenly have to pay 9 percent - and they can not afford to pay it. So they take out new loans to repay the old loan - but this is not even enough. Between 1984 and 1989 amounted to $ 100 billion has been transferred from poor countries to rich countries - this is the difference between new loans and aid they received to reissue the loan as well as the flowers they do.
Between 1989 and 1989 the amount of these debts berlibat double. Most of the expenditure here is reset (refinancing) of old debts. Debt has been duplicated since it was first borrowed. But at the same time another way to transfer wealth from the South to the North to do, and it is done by lowering commodity prices. Commodity prices produced African people are now paid only half of what they get in 1979. Generally speaking Africa have been subsidizing the North in the last 20 years to approach as much as $ 400 billion.
How North out of this hoax? There are two very important things: The first is the existence of the Bretton Woods intitutions, the World Bank and the IMF, which was first established in 1945 to help rebuild Europe after World War II. This institution has gained tremendous strength to the poor countries and they have prevented the cancellation / cancellation of debts of poor countries because they were able to impose the terms, one of which is that you have to pay back the loans. So here the circulation of money is very large between North and South. This is a hoax perpetrated by the institution to impose a structural adjustment policies, because they say that the aid would be conditional on the return of the loan and therefore the loans must always be paid. This mechanism makes these institutions have very strict controls.
Some countries, such as Nicaragua, Mozambique and Angola, trying to burst out of it and they were beaten. During the cold war period has been able to impose its will-will on anyone who is not in line with the World Bank and the IMF, and the slaughter of as many as needed to be done to enforce that policy.
So the mix between economic policy and military policy has been able to ensure that poor people in the South and the poor in the North suffer from panic period in 1979, and prevent crashes. For the capitalist class, this new system has gained remarkable success. For the first time they naturally have delayed crash for a period of at least 20 years. Some of the loans are used for development projects, but many of these loans in the 1970s and 1980s are the loans of the cold war - to raise Mobutu in Zaire, apartheid in South Africa, and others. This causes the (development of) a slogan in various campaigns in the South, that says, 'Can not pay, will not pay' (Can not pay, will not pay), and also, 'Dont owe, will not pay' (do not borrow, will not pay).
With respect jubilee in 2000 - said the jubilee is derived from the Biblical Old Testament where every 50 years you assumed to cancel / abolished all debts and free all slaves. Jubilee 2000 starts by saying let's make 2000 as a jubilee year, and it started out as a church campaign. But this is in fact a radical demands because it challenges the whole basis of the international financial system. In the last two years Jubilee 2000 more widespread than the base of his home church. We are now given support by the trade unions - the TUC, TGWU, Unison, FBU and many other organizations. Jubilee 2000 now exist in more than 50 countries and movements in the South is very radical. It's time to boost occurred on the Jubilee 2000 movement - of people in indebted countries. They not only directs the target to creditors such as the IMF but also talk about their elites, and said we should use anti-debt campaign to mobilize our people, to urge our governments to be more transparent, to change the relationship between the country- our country.
Debt has become an issue for nearly 20 years but now suddenly debts become agenda. Jubilee 2000 has succeeded at least to help it. We have changed the view of the world because we have a message that is simple and clear - debt is a justice issue, and must be canceled in 2000. It is a fundamentally radical demands which challenged the entire international financial sisem. And this is with regard to strengthening the people to do the same.
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