http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?030407ta_talk_surowiecki What will happen to Iraq’s debt? James Surowiecki argues that “odious debt” should be forgiven—which I approve of, although I hope this won’t make it too hard for poor countries to secure loans. (Countries with high credit ratings (like the US, for example), already pay far less to “service” their loans than countries with low credit ratings—meaning that it costs the US less to borrow the same amount of money.)
International finance is screwed up. Over the last five years, for example, Mexico paid $6bn to the World Bank, India $1.5bn, Indonesia $4.7bn and Nigeria $1.7bn. (See the “net transfer” tables of the “About the World Bank” chapter from their 2002 Annual Report.) 14:14
