In this book Ann Pettifor examines the issues of debt affecting the first world or OECD countries. She traces the history and roots of where the current international debt crisis comes from--economic liberalization--and the restructuring of the international financial architecture in the early 1970s. The book goes on to explore the implications of high international indebtedness for governments, corporations, households and individuals. An important and unique contribution is Pettifor's discussion of the justice and morality of debt.
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'This insightful book examines how the current international trade in goods and finance that is making the rich richer and the poor poorer and threatens ecosystem and societal collapse is no accident.' - Jonathan Essex, Green World
About the Author
ANN PETTIFOR was the co-founder of Jubilee 2000 which campaigned for debt relief at the turn of the millennium and is now a Director of Advocacy International, which works with debtor governments, and has helped countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia and Guyana write off millions of dollars of debt.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Useful insights,
By
This review is from: The Coming First World Debt Crisis (Paperback)
I read the book before I read the reviews here. After I read the book, I thought to myself that the author had some interesting ideas. Not many people before 2007 thought so negatively about bankers : before the crisis, bankers were well-respected people who were regarded as upright, intelligent and deservedly rich. Young graduates rushed to join banks not only for the money but the prestige. Now we know how wrong we all were. The banks abused the privilege (of being able to create money from thin air) given to them, chased short-term profits that resulted in the collapse of the system, dragging down innocent people with them. If anything, the book should have served as a warning to policy makers before 2007 that bankers should be reined in. I disagree with the other reader who called the author Marxist and other names. The facts support her views. Banks serve an important function in a capitalist society, but they have to be kept under a leash, otherwise they will do damage to the society. Credit creation is a two-way sword, we need it for economic growth, but if it is given too loosely, it will destroy the system. This is not Marxist speak, this is pragmatism.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prescient Book,
This review is from: The Coming First World Debt Crisis (Paperback)
In this book published in 2006 Ann Pettifor put forward a detailed scenario in which excessive debt in the developed world caused a serious economic crisis. The 2008 financial crisis proceeded exactly as she suggested it would. Pettifor does an excellent job of explaining how the basic financial structure of our society was undermined in the lead up to our most recent crisis. I have read fairly extensively on economics, and this book contains by far the best explanation of what money is and how it works that I have encountered. Pettifor makes a case for her own solutions to the problems leading up to the crisis, which are mostly radically outside of the mainstream options being considered. Of course the idea of a first world financial collapse was outside of the mainstream when the book was published.
Ultimately the presentation of the flaws in our system that led to the crisis is easily separated from the critique/solutions that Pettifor presents. Pettifor's ideological bent isn't as cut and dry as other reviewers have suggested, people ranging from marxists to libertarians will find suggestions they agree with and others they don't. Even if you aren't amenable to any of the solutions proposed in the book it does such a phenomenal job of outlining the problem that, regardless of your ideological bent, it is well worth your time. If you are looking for an incisive analysis of the underlying flaws that have lately plagued our economy this is the book for you.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
not receivedmitem,
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This review is from: The Coming First World Debt Crisis (Paperback)
i have not received this book. I am till waiting for it s arrival after 5 weeks.
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