This is the goal of the IMF according to their website:
"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world."
If many of these results are not being achieved, should the debt incurred from these structural adjustment programs be forgiven?
These are not meant to be yes or no questions. Please be sure to explain each of your answers.
While globalization is not inherently bad, the documentary points out the negative impact economic impact it has in terms of the establishment of self-sufficiency. Jamaica is stuck in a rut where they are desperately trying any means that will allow them to stand on their own feet. While the IMF may be have policies that aim to create stronger, more sustainable economies, it clearly isn’t working out for Jamaica. Because of their current crisis, I think that Jamaica should be allowed to default on its debts, because they are no position to pay money back AND work on self-sufficiency. Although self-sufficiency is difficult in relation to a competitive global economy, it is important that every national economy maintain a degree of internalized industry, or no country should be dependent extensively on imports. In Environmental class, we learned about externalized costs, which essentially say that the value of an item produced is no equal to its actual value, because it does not figure in the labor and true extent of the resources that were necessary to make it. While a job is better than no job, low wage employment is a form of exploitation that detracts from positive alternatives which would be more significant in created a job market. This includes smaller, local companies that offer higher wages and more benefits to individuals.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have said it better myself! Well done.
DeleteIt did change the way I looked at globalization because I originally thought of it as always a good thing because the world is becoming more connected. I think that globalization being good or bad depends on the country. If it is poor, it will not be able to compete with other richer countries and therefore globalization would be considered bad for it. Low wage jobs are always better than no jobs at all because people will actually have a source of income. I do not think the debt should be forgiven. It is not fair to the IMF to have to essentially give up money just because a country can not pay it back. Although Jamaica may not be in a position to pay off its debts, they borrowed money from the IMF and must therefore follow the policies on the loans. The IMF and Jamaica should work together to make a plan in order to help Jamaica pay the debt while at the same time not harming Jamaica.
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