>> Mozambique is typical of the reasons why: imperialist greed is
>> behind this human holocaust.
i'd like to hear about the specific dynamics of this, to wit......
>> The IMF admits Mozambique spends more on debt service than on
>> health and education.
how exactly does this happen? if the IMF comes in and pumps a ton of money into the system, i take it that the IMF then imposes a specific payback schedule on the loans. when they pump money into a place like mozambique, does the economy GROW by some significant fraction that in 'theory' ('practice') should (does) allow mozambique to cover the debt without diggin into other pockets, or are the IMF debt schedules CLEARLY SET UP in such a way that the receiving nation MUST dig into its other monies (which would otherwise have gone to health care) in order to make the payments?
if the latter is true, then i understand your first sentence.
secondly, following a paraphrase of Louis P. yesterday, if history is the ledger book of 'real decisions' made at any given point, what other 'real' options were available to a.) the IMF in terms of debt schedules, b.) other nations seeking to rebuild mozambique after the destruction from the war with S. Africa?
which brings me to a third point, regarding lbo-talk.
I came here mainly to listen (cf. doug's lbo-talk/excel ledger) and learn some more about economics, some history, ways of analyzing the movement of people, companies, countries, and how people organize in their political lives. i get the feelin many of you who write a lot on this list know each other from countless aeons before, and your writing style shows. what i am getting at is this: it would be nice to us 'learners/beginners' if when you write a piece, you don't always suppose we are all at the same advanced level as you, eg. throwing darts at 'imperialist greed in Mozambique' cause you 'just plain know' that its imperialist greed working in this case. some of us (or is it only __me__?) want to know specifics, details, whats 'really going on', rather then simply reading the MHN (thats my abbrev for the Marxist Headline News: 'IMF/imperialist greed kills 11m in mozambique, film at 11!).
is this third a fair point, or does every group need a place to get together in friendly(??) fashion, drink some beers, and throw some darts?
chow.... -- ____ Les Schaffer godzilla at netmeg.net ___| ------->> Engineering R&D <<-------- Theoretical & Applied Mechanics | Designspring, Inc. Westport, CT USA Center for Radiophysics & Space Research | http://www.designspring.com Cornell Univ. schaffer at tam.cornell.edu | les at designspring.com