Whilst driving home today I tuned into the evening news on BBC Radio 4 I heard something that left me dumb founded. I actually didn’t think that it was possible to be shocked or surprised by what is wrong with AID to developing countries.
The news item that left me dumb founded was vulture funds and at this stage I would like to come clean and say I had never heard of Vulture funds and perhaps that is why I was left dumb founded.
These funds work on the basis on buying up third world debt, knowing very well that the third world country is so poor and is unlikely to pay and when this become evident the “vultures” pounce.
What is shocking about this is that these vultures are not breaking the law well not here in the UK anyway. There is however an irony in this because the third world country is unlikely to pay and the only way that country can pay is by dipping into the AID that is allocated to it for health, education, or food. Furthermore, AID is made available through our tax system and as such we the tax payers are putting money into these vultures pockets.
This is disturbing news indeed! I have just finished reading a book called DEAD AID by Dambisa Moyo in which she makes a case for cutting AID to Africa. She argues that Africa remains poor because of AID. It is an intriguing book and one I would recommend everyone interested in matters of international development should read.
She isn’t without her critics and one of them is Stacey Patton however based on the case of vulture funds it is easy to see why her suggestions make sense. Interestingly her native Zambia was the first country to become a victim of vulture funds.
Sally Keeble a British MP has taken up the call to end this practice and you can read about it here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/06/vulture-funds
I am at a loss as to what it would take for western governments to realise that unless AID is structured and monitored there will always be the case of winners and losers and that the losers are those in dire need of our support.
Would love to hear your view on any of the issues raised here
May 7, 2009 at 6:17 am
Western capitalism is based on NATIONAL currencies issued as DEBT. Debt means INTEREST payments as ‘passive income’.
National governments have thus been established in Africa so that Western central banks can control them via ‘national’ central banks.
The key is the use of money to lure people into ‘authority positions’ who then are ‘just doing their job’ – always at the cost of ‘the people’, ‘the citizens’ – in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd world. The trend has been made clearest by Michel Chossudovsky on his video Global Financial Crisis.
See http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11852
I link to your comment on my blog that promotes Muhammad Yunus’ ideas: http://yunusphere.net
Sighingly yours,
Sabine
Organiser, Forum for Stable Currencies
http://forumforstablecurrencies.info/
May 7, 2009 at 6:28 am
[...] world debt is rich pickings for vultures This blog post demonstrates what Dr. Yunus keeps saying: governments and institutions are notoriously slow and keep [...]
May 7, 2009 at 7:11 am
It is a mad world that taxes the poor of the western world to line the pockets of those in authority in poor countries and the super rich of this world
May 7, 2009 at 7:28 am
Mad, sad, cruel and violent! More than necessary…
May 7, 2009 at 7:49 am
[...] Third world debt is rich pickings for vultures « Ethnicsupplies's … [...]
July 6, 2009 at 11:16 am
[...] will recall my earlier blog on Vulture funds someone that read it on Twitter had this to say” GOD SAVE US ALL IF THIS IS A SIGN OF [...]
July 17, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Thank you for an insightful post. It’s a terrible thing that more people are not aware of the profiteering of Vulture Funds. As you point out, the money they seek often means the sacrifice of aid money to pay the debts, particularly when Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) are nearing or have received debt cancellation.
The result of the Zambia case was an absolute disaster – imagine how the money paid to the Vulture Fund could have been served in combatting HIV/AIDs, providing education, better transportation, building infrastructure etc.
Thankfully there are many people who are fighting to prevent these Vulture Funds from taking further advantage of impoverished nations. I invite you to take a look at a recent post on our blog, “Just Africa,” concerning Vulture Funds, as well as the reintroduction of the “Stop VULTURE Funds” Act (H.R. 2932) in the United States House of Representatives at: http://tiny.cc/uJaOI
I believe a similar bill has recently been introduced in the UK? You can most likely visit the Jubilee Debt Campaign UK for more: http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/?lid=2893
It’s so important that these kinds of policy changes are supported as much as possible!
Finally, for additional information on where Vulture Funds are prowling, you can check out an interactive map showing which countries are being affected: http://tinyurl.com/lyz7w7
Keep writing!
July 17, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts. I had no idea as to the extent of this problem. I will post some of those links on Twitter