For as long as there have been rich nations and poor nations, debt has been a powerful force for maintaining the unequal relations between them. Treated as sacrosanct, immutable, and eternally binding, it has become the yoke of choice for imperial powers in the post-colonial world to enforce their subservience over the global south. In this ground-breaking history, renowned economist Éric Toussaint argues for a radical reversal of this balance of accounts through the repudiation of sovereign debt.
About the Author
Éric Toussaint, Senior Lecturer at the University of Liège, is president of Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debts, Belgium. He is the author of “Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank, Sixty Questions, Sixty Answers.”.
What People Are Saying
"Since 2008 CADTM has campaigned for “a new doctrine of illegitimate, illegal, odious, and unsustainable debt” cancellation. This doctrine includes considerations of whether the debtor state is democratic, whether it respects human rights, whether the debt is incurred within the framework of “structural adjustments” (enforced austerity), and includes all debts incurred to pay back previous odious debts. On grounds of global social justice, The Debt System makes a strong case for this new doctrine." —Against the Current
"This work has much to commend it; it provides detailed analyses of the impact of indebtedness in several nations and a compelling explanation of the deep-seated mechanisms at work in the international credit system – a system which is designed to enhance the opportunity for exploitation of nations outside powerful capitalist sates. The author shows that, contrary to orthodox arguments, debt repudiation can be both justified and successfully carried out. I recommend the book wholeheartedly." —Counterfire