Political dimensions of the international debt crisis

Abstract

Using a political economy approach, explores the idea that underlying Third World debt problems are power relations which are generally placed beyond the purview of academic economics. Social and political dimensions of international debt are at the forefront of the approach, but it also includes financial constraints and the technical rigour which their treatment demands. Political dimensions of the debt crisis are identified at the international, geo-political and national levels through a series of studies which include an overview of the debt crisis, and case studies of Sudan, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Mexico. Among the conclusions of the volume is the observation that the erosion of the powers and legitimacy of government is ultimately the most damaging consequence of the debt experience of Latin America and Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. All papers are abstracted separately. -from Publisher