Speaking Freely: Susan George on Neoliberalism Volume 2

Neoliberalism, or market-led globalisation, predominates today. Since it became institutionalised during the Reagan-Thatcher era in the 1980s, the gap between poor and rich has increased, both within countries as well as between the North and South. Institutions such as International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have forced structural adjustment measures on poor countries, forcing market openings that have allowed for the extraction of their resources for the benefit or northern banks and governments. As a result of this extraction of wealth and resources, these countries have been re-colonised through debt. The debt of the African countries, so onerous upon them, amounts to a small proportion of the wealth of the north. It could be cancelled tomorrow, but that would mean losing the leverage over those countries that can be used to pressure them to vote the right way at the UN, or privatise key sectors of their economies.

• 1.Poverty
• 2.The debt boomerang
• 3.Inequalities
• 4.Globalisation
• 5.Western ideas
• 6.Understanding international relations

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