I was watching news coverage of the Jubilee demo. A reporter asked a spokesperson, won't debt relief cost the American taxpayer. The fellow replied, yes and that's as it should be because the U.S. is consuming a very large portion of the world's resources. Both he and Buchanan are wrong.
This is very bad policy and politics. Bad policy because debt relief costs are minuscule compared to U.S. fiscal resources. The U.S. taxpayer wouldn't feel a thing. Second, it is not obvious that taxes would be required in the first place, since as Patsy points out at least part of the cost should be eaten by the lenders.
It's bad politics because it seeks to mobilize workers by telling them they're pigs who consume too much, and if they refuse to stop they are immoral to boot. As such, it's a perfect set-up for Buchanan types, and a guarantee that the anti-globalization would fail. The reason is that if there is no debt relief, there is little or no incentive for low-wage countries to support labor standards.
Debt relief for desperately poor nations is a nice set-up for debt relief -- financial reform -- as it applies to the U.S. worker.
mbs