Daewoo's $73-bn debt

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Fri Nov 5 08:40:17 PST 1999


Mr P.A. Van Heusden wrote:


>The Financial Times today (or maybe yesterdays - forgot to check the date)

Front page of today's U.S. edition.


>reports that Daewoo is $73-bn in debt. It seems that the South Korean
>government is going to intervene to cover these debts. Daewoo will be
>'restructured', probably with substantial foreign intervention (foreign
>lenders have refused to reschedule their share - $7.7bn - of debt).
>
>Any comments? What's up with the South Korean 'bounce-back'?

The FT story worried that this new debt estimate - half again as high as previously thought - will scare creditors, who will pull back leading to a new credit crunch and a new economic crisis. Whether they do should come pretty clear pretty soon; if interest rates rise, and the won and the stock market falls, it's probably a sign of a return to crisis. If not, then not.


> What are the
>social implications of this massive government bail out of the bosses
>going to be?

What do you mean by social implications? Will the Korean working class rise in rebellion as a result of the bailout? What's the choice? No bailout and debt deflation? Nationalization? Worker control?

Doug



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