The IMF Good or Bad?

[DCal430]

IF there is one thing I remember from my college class on the "Sociology of Food" was how terrible organizations like the IMF and World Bank are. How they force money on these poor countries and demand they grow cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, and sugar. How these countries are forced by the IMF and World Bank to use the best land for crops of no nutritional value, and the worst lands to grow their foods. One of the biggest cause of the food shortage in Africa is because of the IMF and World Bank.

The purpose of the IMF isn't to prop up poor countries, no its purpose was to keep them down and keep a steady supply of cheap crops to rest of the world.

 

[wuliheron]

The IMF and World Bank are merely the largest loan sharks around, just another branch of organized crime. No matter what the sharks make their money and if that means ruining the environment, ruining lives, and even killing people so be it. Their job is to figure out who they can loan money to or extort to extract the maximum profit. Sometimes the people they lend to and extort from benefit, sometimes they don't. To put this into perspective, 1/4 of all the world's billionaires are drug cartels.

However, its the law of the market place that allows them to continue their practices. Bribing cops to look the other way, creating a little local good will, and whatnot costs money. In the US we have credit card companies charging 30% interest, but we still have loan sharks because the market still supports their existence. The question is how to set up the system so the loan sharks don't dominate the market.

 

[JS80]

Monetary economics is really really hard!

 

[yllus]

How exactly do you force money on a poor country?

I'm not unaware of some of the concessions the IMF wrings out of countries that take its funds, but it's mostly a market response - they end up cap in hand in front of the IMF because nobody else is willing to lend them money. The IMF, not in the charity business, are going to have certain demands.

 

[DCal430]

How exactly do you force money on a poor country?

I'm not unaware of some of the concessions the IMF wrings out of countries that take its funds, but it's mostly a market response - they end up cap in hand in front of the IMF because nobody else is willing to lend them money. The IMF, not in the charity business, are going to have certain demands.

Forcing these people to grow cash crops for the rest of the world is a despicable demand. You dangle money front of people who are better off without your demands. The IMF believes growing food staples crops like rice won't bring in the money needed to pay off the loan.

 

[Jhhnn]

How exactly do you force money on a poor country?

You co-opt the ruling elite, who rake the loaned money off the top, put it back into western banks, then beat the cash out of the populace to make the loan payments, or privatize things like water, make money that way.

Hell, they'd privatize air, like in Total Recall, except they haven't figured out how to do it...

 

[wuliheron]

Hell, they'd privatize air, like in Total Recall, except they haven't figured out how to do it...

They already have. In Asia there are vending machines that sell bottled air, people routinely buy filter masks and, of course, there are endless air fresheners. The trick is to sell people first on the idea that normal air isn't good enough, that the slightest bad oder is unacceptable, and then pollute what air they can get for free.

 

[Zebo]

Terrible institution. Basically it enables a global elite instead of the people to profit off their labor and natural resources leaving communities destroyed and environmental nightmares. Think of it as global robber barrons.

Like Carnegie if you managed to scrape together $100,000 to buy a steam boat to compete he'd cut his prices until you were out of biz and bankrupt then immediately raise prices 150% to cover his loss. IMF works the same which is why prices are so volatile. Instead they pit people against people countries against countries instead of ferry boat operators.