External Debt

Brazil owes almost $250 billion to private banks, governments and multilateral agencies. External Debt provides a concise history of Brazil’s financial crisis. Marcos Arruda focuses on the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and its agreement with the International Monetary Fund. He examines how Cardoso’s economic policies have brought Brazil to financial ruin by submitting to the dictates of the IMF and the US government. Despite this, the author argues, Brazilians are neither passive nor resigned to Cardoso’s policies. Arruda describes the viable alternatives which the government and opposition parties have both failed to realise, and examines a range of related key issues, such as the Jubilee 2000 Debt Campaign and its Brazilian dimension.Arruda explores the ways in which social movements in both hemispheres have developed a global network around the issue of over-indebtedness, and the extent to which their pressure on authorities has led to important policy changes on the part of creditor governments and multilateral institutions. The study concludes with an assessment of a range of proposals submitted by national and international forums, demonstrating that civil society around the world is mobilised towards equitable relations between North and South.

A concise history of Brazil's financial crisis, the policies which have brought the country to ruin, and the viable alternatives which remain.

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Provides a concise history of Brazil's financial crisis, focusing on the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and its agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Examines how Cardoso's disastrous economic policies have brought Brazil to financial ruin by submitting to the dictates of the IMF, and describes viable alternatives which the government and opposition parties have both failed to realize. A conclusion explores the ways in which social movements in both hemispheres have developed a global network around the issue of debt. Arruda is an activist, writer, and consultant. He is a member of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute. Most of the book was first published in Portuguese by Editora Vozes/PACS, Brazil. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Marcos Arruda is a leading Brazilian activist and heads an influential NGO. He is also a leading member of the TNI in Amsterdam. He is an economist and educationalist and an expert on the International Financial Institutions. He has written widely on politics and education and is co-editor of Beyond Bretton Woods: Alternatives to the International Economic System (Pluto Press/TNI, 1994).