Can We Talk About Ukraine’s Debt To The IMF?
Whoever owns the debts writes the rules. “Investor friendly” is just code for slavery.
Before the war, Ukraine didn’t have a very good economy. We know this because back in 1992, Ukraine got hooked into a payday loan program with the International Monetary Fund to the tune of $2.2 billion. After a few more loans, Ukraine now owes $22 billion to the IMF.
Before the war, Ukraine’s economy was valued at about $155 billion. Even before the war, it would be hard to find an analyst who would tell you with any confidence that Ukraine could pay off that debt. Ever.
A debt that cannot be paid, won’t be paid. — Michael Hudson, historian, and economist
Last year I read “…and forgive them their debts”, by Michael Hudson. In that book, Hudson walks us through a couple of thousand years of the history of debt and money. He shows us that the Austrian economics people have got money all wrong. Money wasn’t created by people who got tired of bartering. It was invented by the first governments in the cradle of civilization, Sumeria, and Mesopotamia.
He also shows us something else. Throughout history, the record shows that loans were often not made to be repaid. They were made for slave labor. Families who could not pay their…
