Video: Eric Toussaint on Debt dependency of the third world countries as a mean of control over their development and resource

4 December 2015 by Eric Toussaint

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Eric Toussaint described how the debt bondage leads different countries to underdevelopment. He cited examples of the opposite policies as well: success stories of states that defied recommendations imposed by the IMF and the World Bank. After a long-lasting audit of the odious debt, the leftist government of Ecuador defaulted, thus freeing direct funds for economic development, education, and poverty reduction. Éric Toussaint urged the Ukrainians to “disobey the creditors” and to demand debt relief. If the “plan A” (reaching a consensus through negotiations) does not work, we should implement a “plan B” – revolutionary break with the international financial institutions.

However, it is clear for the citizens of Ukraine that their government is hardly capable even for the first scenario. Discussing the case of Greece, where the government was forced to capitulate without having used the report of the anti-debt committee, established by former President of the Hellenic Parliament Zoe Konstantopoulou, Éric Toussaint noted that even this defeat should be a lesson for the European Left: during this period, they have to figure out how a “plan B” could look like.



Eric Toussaint’s lecture took place in Kiev (Ukraine) on the day of October Revolution, November 7. Left-wing academics and activists proved their ability to carry out socially critical activities of international level. The renowned Kiev Polytechnic Institute (KPI) has hosted researchers from Ukraine, France, Great Britain, Russia, Belgium, Germany, and Greece. The “Economic Crisis or Crisis of Neoliberalism? Alternative Development Policy for Ukraine” conference ascertained a high level of debate against the dominant ideological discourse.

Economists, sociologists and trade union activists manifested lots of issues to be voiced. However, the representatives of the Ukrainian government, who would need to hear the raised proposals in order to save the country from the collapse, did not show up at the conference.


Author
Eric Toussaint

is a historian and political scientist who completed his Ph.D. at the universities of Paris VIII and Liège, is the spokesperson of the CADTM International, and sits on the Scientific Council of ATTAC France.
He is the author of Greece 2015: there was an alternative. London: Resistance Books / IIRE / CADTM, 2020 , Debt System (Haymarket books, Chicago, 2019), Bankocracy (2015); The Life and Crimes of an Exemplary Man (2014); Glance in the Rear View Mirror. Neoliberal Ideology From its Origins to the Present, Haymarket books, Chicago, 2012, etc.
See his bibliography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ric_Toussaint
He co-authored World debt figures 2015 with Pierre Gottiniaux, Daniel Munevar and Antonio Sanabria (2015); and with Damien Millet Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank: Sixty Questions, Sixty Answers, Monthly Review Books, New York, 2010. He was the scientific coordinator of the Greek Truth Commission on Public Debt from April 2015 to November 2015.

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