The Debt Threat: How Debt Is Destroying the Developing World [Hardcover]

Noreena Hertz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2005

With grand announcements, recycled promises, and much hype about debt relief by the leaders of the world's rich creditor countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank since 1999, many of us can be forgiven for believing that the debt crisis of the world's poor countries is over. Far from it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The debt of poor countries causes terrorism, argues economist Hertz in this follow-up to The Silent Takeover. The first nine chapters give considerable anecdotal evidence of poverty, injustice and disease but fail to link them to indebtedness. Assuming that money borrowed by poor governments is stolen by elites, and that repayment comes from cutting social services to the poor, Hertz compares health-care budgets of countries to their debt service payments. The chapters fail to distinguish among types of debt: direct and indirect, internal and external, infrastructure and export financing, for example. Horror stories from the 1940s to the 1990s are mixed indiscriminately. Chapter 10 is the first mention of the terrorism link; the argument turns out to be little more than that misery causes terrorism. The following chapter is the first part that draws on Hertz's full strengths as an economist, where debt "is very complex stuff, conceptually and politically, and it takes us into difficult, alien terrain." She navigates this terrain with precision and clarity, presenting inspiring visions for change. Her blueprint for development has little to do with debt, and nothing to do with terrorism, but it's the reason to buy this book.
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Review

“The Silent Takeover raises issues that business and politicans would be unwise to ignore.” (Financial Times )

“A trenchant study...a problem that is perceived as vast and intractable is broken down into practical, actionable units.” (London Times )

“A thundering polemic...introduces new urgency into the argument for debt-forgiveness.” (The Observer )

“Simple, straight forward and imperative.” (The Sunday Herald )

“A call for a more humane, civilised and honest approach to globalisation.” (Big Issue )

“[Hertz] navigates this terrain with precision and clarity...her blueprint for development (is) the reason to buy this book.” (Publishers Weekly )

“(An important) engaging new book.” (Time magazine )

“Fast becoming the central text of the antiglobalization movement.” (Christian Science Monitor )

“[Hertz’s] eloquent call to action deserves the attention of every concerned citizen of our troubled world.” (Publishers Weekly )

“Noreena Hertz is one of the world’s leading young thinkers.” (Observer )

“(A) timely analysis of the failure to deal with the debt crisis and its devastating repercussions.” (The Observer )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060560525
• ISBN-13: 978-0060560522
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,104,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blueprint for change, endorsed by rock stars, October 26, 2004

By 

Vincent Toolan (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Debt Threat: How Debt Is Destroying the Developing World (Hardcover)

Few exhortations to action manage to blend a detailed objective analysis of the facts; a practical, well thought-out agenda for change; and the true passion that comes of moral certainty. Dr Hertz's book somehow pulls it off.

Her central case is that developing country debt is the legacy of bad decisions - bad on the parts of the lenders, and of the borrowers. The consequences are awful at the human level, on a massive scale, just as Bono eloquently described at the Labour Party conference. IOU goes some way down the same path, successfully mixing the pure statistics of poverty with anecdotes of uneducated children, needlessly untreated HIV/AIDS sufferers, and women forced into prostitution. One of this book's strengths, however, is that it brings to the fore something far less obvious: namely, that the consequences of debt are malicious for the lenders in the rich world too. The debt quagmire entrenches much of the world's unrealised economic potential in a spiral of corruption, dampening demand for western goods and limiting investment, breeding ill-feeling towards lender nations, and ultimately contributing to the existence of failed states in which terrorists can thrive.

She goes on to explain exactly how to break the spiral, and anticipates and overcomes the practical objections. In a nutshell, she proposes applying strict criteria to debt relief, and an ingenious series of controls to ensure that money freed up benefits people rather than corrupt politicians.

Dr Hertz's breathless writing style conveys her passion for the subject rather well. Colloquialisms, run-on sentences, and a strange eye for the physical characteristics of her protagonists all give the sense of being on the receiving end of an intense face-to-face monologue rather than reading a dry book about development economics. Male characters "probably used to be good looking"; women are "hose clad". But the facts and figures to buttress the case are never far behind. If there is perhaps one area in which she stretches the case a little too far, it is in the impact of debt on the environment. The reader gets the sense that because both debt and climate change are important, there must somehow be a causal link. But this section does little do dilute the impact of the whole.

All in all, an engaging and important piece of work that deserves the plaudits. As Bob Geldof says: "everyone should read this book".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important and accessible history (and solutions), January 28, 2005

By 

Jennifer M (DeKalb, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Debt Threat: How Debt Is Destroying the Developing World (Hardcover)

A highly readable and accessible book on an important subject that most people believe is too difficult to understand. Hertz's history of third world debt, which takes us from the Bretton Woods agreements to the present day, is interspersed with stories from the author's work and observations, such as Bono's Jubilee activism and the author's own foray to Russia as a consultant for the World Bank and International Monetoary Fund. Every American should read this book -- particularly every American who finds the subject off-putting, doesn't think it really matters, or has wondered why all those people are protesting globalization.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unmissable, May 17, 2006

By 

S. Cornforth "Steve Cornforth" (Liverpool, UK England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Debt Threat : How Debt Is Destroying the Developing World (Hardcover)

The relief of debt for poorer countries is an issue which many support but few really understand. Noreena Hertz is someone who knows what she is talking about. She formerly worked at the World Bank and in now Professor of Economics at Cambridge. She is also a tireless campaigner for debt relief.

What I most appreciated was her ability to explain the economics in a way that was both understandable and convincing. She tells us how the debts came about - often during the cold war in an attempt by the West to gain and maintain areas of influence in the developing world. She also reminds us that many of these loans went to corrupt leaders of countries whose citizens now have to pay the price. As a result basic human needs - food, housing, and healthcare are sacrificed to service the debt payments.

We are left in no doubt that we carry a significant responsibility for this situation. This is why we should lobby our leaders to write of these debts. It is easy to say that fault lies on both sides. That may be so but if poor children have to pay then we who are in a position to do something should do all that we can.

She writes all of this in a very readable style. This book did far more than big events such as Live 8 to convince me of the need to do something. I would urge all readers to get hold of a copy and read it!