The Greatest Story Oversold: Understanding Economic Globalization

by Stan G. B. Duncan

Overview

An Exposé of How Third-World Debt came about and of how economic globalization has resulted in a devastating network of injustice.

In the words of the author, "Something [is] fundamentally wrong with our present global economic situation. The corporate and political powers have contorted and stacked the decks of the financial machinery that runs the earth in such a way that rewards the rich and extracts payments from the poor." Duncan's text helps readers understand global economic forces at work, and he connects the dots between what happens "here" and what happens "there."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570758836
Publisher:	Orbis Books
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 8.42(h) x 0.45(d)

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments ix

1 An Introduction 1

Is This a "Religious" Book? 1

Why This Book, Now? 2

Why Addressed to People of Faith? 5

Is This Book Biased? 6

2 Globalization: The Greatest Story Oversold 9

Definitions 11

Shell Game Finance 12

A Snapshot of Our Present Condition 17

Dollars without Borders: The "Washington Consensus" 24

The "Rules" of Economic Globalization: Where Everyone but the Majority Wins 27

So What Really Happened? 37

Globalization's Theological Values 43

Conclusion 50

3 International Debt: Pat and Elaine 52

Snapshots of the Extent of the Crisis 56

How Much Would It Cost? 59

A Personal Loan Analogy 60

History of the Debt Crisis: How We Got from There to Here 63

The Day the Music Died 71

Attempts to Address the Crisis 72

The "Baker Plan" 74

The "Brady Plan" 75

The Rise of the Multilateral 76

The Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC) 83

4 NAFTA: Why Does Nikolas Dance? 94

Background 96

So What Is NAFTA? 102

The Side Agreements 103

Lifting Trade Barriers 104

And Along Came China 107

Investor Protection Provisions 111

The Case for Changing NAFTA 114

5 Immigration: Jasmine and Daniel 119

The Human Face of Migration 119

Economic Causes of Migration 121

Jasmine and Daniel 130

Victims of the System 132

6 Coffee: Victor and Hugo 134

Why It Matters 134

What Happened to Coffee? 136

Why Did It Happen? 138

Victor and Hugo 140

"What Then Should We Do?" 142

7 Trade in Israel: Samuel and Naboth 144

The "Creation" of Israel 144

The Invention of Poverty 146

What Made Israel Poor? 147

Responses from Israel's Activist Community 155

Guidance from Christian Scriptures: Acting Like It Is So 164

"What Then Should We Do" Today? 170

Notes 173

Further Resources and Tools for Action 189