Are Imf Loans Good Poor Countires Essay Example for Free

Are Imf Loans Good Poor Countires Essay A poor country with a weak government is suffering from shortages in terms of financial resources. Most of its population lives below poverty levels, there is high unemployment, low literacy rate, food shortages, no clean water and due to a combination of drought and lack of technology, no crops to export. As if it didn’t have enough problems, the country has debts to pay back to foreign governments, investors and agencies. This is where the IMF, which Easterly calls ‘the world’s most powerful creditor’, steps into the picture. [1] It was originally set up by the West in order to prevent large trade imbalances and unstable currencies. However, it shifted focus and started bailing out poor countries in financial crises. It has had success in helping countries out on a short-term basis. Most of the countries that have benefited from IMF loans are countries that need temporary assistance, do not qualify as ‘emerging markets’ and face difficulties in attracting foreign investors and lenders. For example, the IMF successfully helped South Korea and Thailand during their financial squeezes in the 1980’s[2] . However, there are problems in terms of the long-term development of countries which rely on the IMF. Easterly begins his article by describing a meeting between the IMF and the minister of finance and economic development of Ethiopia. At the meeting, the IMF set out several conditions that the government of Ethiopia would have to satisfy in order to receive assistance and most importantly, pay back their loans. The problem with the conditions was that they were at times contradictory and unrealistic. For example, while stating that it supported the government’s food security program, the IMF also told the finance minister that he would have to be careful that the program did not endanger ‘macroeconomic stability’.[3] How macroeconomic stability could be achieved in a country where most of the people are starving is a mystery. Other conditions that the IMF places on countries include getting them to agree to financial programs which reduce government spending and inflation, limit excessive money printing, increase taxes and put in place austerity measures. Through such strict conditions, the IMF has therefore accomplished very little when it comes to promoting long-term development. The conditions have been too intrusive into government policies. Easterly argues therefore that there is an association between â€Å"IMF involvement and the most extreme political event: state collapse†.[4] This is caused by the involvement of the fund in domestic politics. By ‘forcing’ governments to carry out social cuts such as reducing subsidies on basic goods, the proposed IMF measures create riots and political and social instability. The article demonstrates that out of 8 countries that collapsed or failed, 7 had spent a high share of time ranging from 46 to 74 % of the decade before the collapse on IMF programs. This shows that the IMF measures are often too difficult to comply with and their ultimate success is limited. The author therefore suggests that the countries that ultimately collapsed would have probably been better off without IMF involvement.[5] This is because such countries have far greater problems than the IMF can fix. However, despite this, the IMF never turns a country down even if it fails its programs several times. The author gives the example of Sierra Leone which went into civil war after participating in an IMF program and then returned into the program and failed again, this time requiring UN intervention to protect its population from genocide. He suggests therefore that the IMF should have left it alone in the first place and not intervened. Trying to help was according to Easterly, clear evidence of the ’Planner’s mentality’.[6] However, one might ask what would happen if the IMF did not intervene in such a case? Easterly ´s suggestion of leaving the country alone would lead to the struggles of the people being ignored, genocide would occur and the country would sink into further poverty. The result would be over-reliance on aid, more refugees escaping to struggling neighbouring countries and a low literacy rate which would affect future generations. Perhaps therefore the solution is not for the IMF to turn a blind eye to countries that fail despite decades of following IMF programs. Perhaps the solution is for it to change its strategy and program in order to tailor it to the unique needs of each country. Easterly mentions this as well. He states that not only do the staff at the IMF operate a  ´one size fits all ´ model to all countries, their accounting relies on shaky numbers as evidenced in page 22 of the article. Thus Easterly argues that it is better for a country’s balance to bounce than for it to rely on shaky statistics by the IMF which do not reflect reality. Very little can be achieved if unrealistic goals are set for countries and if their achievements or failings are not measured accurately. Thus IMF loans do not work in the majority of cases. They may only work where a country has some form of reliable government and does not already have many loans to pay back. Getting an IMF loan in such a case is just a temporary measure and the country can pay back without great consequences. In relation to the most poor however, their problems persist so they renew their loans from one change of government to another with little or no prospect of being able to pay back. The IMF stipulates in all its agreements with countries that they need to pay it back before they pay other creditors. However, Easterly argues that by making such a condition, the IMF is actually bailing itself out.[7] It ends up in a situation where it provides new loans to countries so that they can pay it back for old loans. It also drafts the World Bank in to make an adjustment loan as part of the bailout package. This is to no benefit to the country which sinks deeper into the debt to the IMF and still has other loans from other investors to pay back. The IMF calls countries that are dependent on its loans ‘prolonged users’. The definition of a prolonged user is a country which spent 7 out of a 10 year period under an IMF program. The addiction to IMF loans is evidenced by the fact that 44 countries qualify for the definition of prolonged user and half of IMF lending goes to such countries.[8] However, repeated debts do nothing to solve the problem. In1996, the IMF and World Bank decided to forgive part of their loans to the poorest nations. These nations had accumulated loans from not only these organisations but also loans from western countries and other agencies. There was very little chance of them being able to repay the loans and the interest that had accumulated. Such countries were named heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs).[9] 17 out of 18 of the HIPCs were among the countries receiving above average amounts of IMF and World Bank loans. They had no growth of income or resources. They continued to sink into debt with interest still growing. The forgiving of the debts over a period according to Easterly, only encouraged borrowers to keep borrowing. For example Bolivia and other countries got 100 percent debt relief, but they still made no recovery.[10] Another example is offered by the Argentina disaster set out in the article. Argentina was a star pupil from 1991 to 1999.[11] It had gone through several IMF programs and in 1991, it achieved financial stability. After almost a decade of financial stability, the president who was faced with elections led the wave of public spending and loans from private foreign investors. Financial crisis ensued and the IMF put together a rescue loan plan that included loans from the World Bank, Inter-American development Bank and Spain. In 2001 lenders demanded interest rates from Argentina that were 10 percent higher than elsewhere. The IMF continued to give loans worth several billions to support Argentina so that it could pay its private creditors. However, despite this, Argentina failed to pay any of its creditors back their full amount. Its debt reached 81 billion dollars and it eventually had to make ’take it or leave it offers’ to its creditors who had to accept not getting most of their money back. This supports the argument that loans on their own are not the solution to the poor countries’ problem. They need help to resolve their unique political and social problems. Putting them in debt is not going to assist them as whatever progress they make, they will have to give the money back. Easterly concludes therefore that the world bank which is an aid agency should give countries grants not loans. And the IMF should get out of the business of bailing countries out. It has inadequate knowledge of what is happening at ground level and it was not designed to offer the kind of assistance that poor countries need and the long-term planning their needs require. Thus it would be better for aid agencies to continue their work at grass-root level and to contribute to long-term change.

Ellen Foster Essay -- essays papers

Ellen Foster The majority of families were once considered perfect. The father went to work everyday, while the mother stayed at home and cared for her two children, â€Å"Henry† and â€Å"Sue†. The children never fought and the parents were involved in all the community events. Our society has grown to accept that there is no such thing as a perfect family. Eleven-year-old Ellen from the book Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons, grows up in a household where her father is an abusive alcoholic and her mother is too sick to complete everyday tasks. By using her positive assets, and learning from her negative assets, Ellen was able to overcome a lot of challenges throughout the book. One would think that six of the most important external assets fall under the category of support. Without support from one’s family and friends, he/she would have to be living in a state of depression. Ellen can claim to have only two of the support assets, which are to be in a caring school environment and to receive support from three or more nonparent adults. In school, her teachers worry about her, and want to know if she is OK: â€Å"The first day back at school my teacher noticed a bruise he put on my arm†¦ she asked me if I had somewhere to spend the night†¦the teacher says everything is OK and she will make the necessary arrangements†. Although Ellen found support from the school psychologist, she also found support from her best and only friend Starletta’s parents. Starletta’s parents told Ellen, â€Å"You come on back when you want to†¦ If he’s there when you get home you come on back here if you want to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Starletta’s parents are very understanding and they even take Ellen downtown whenever she needs to, buy clothing or food. Even though Ellen found sup... ...family that she grew up in was such a negative environment. It is very possible that she will grow up to be an art teacher. One might think this because she looked up to her art teacher so much and admired her; Ellen’s mind is full of creativity and ideas. When Ellen’s school found out that her dad was abusive to her they put her up at her art teacher’s house. Ellen says â€Å"I came a long way to get here but when you think about it really hard you will see that old Starletta came even farther†¦ And all this time I thought I had the hardest row to hoe† Like Ellen did, it is important for everyone to look back into their life and see what they have learned. Doing so cannot change ones past but only add to their future. Ellen will always carry the horrors of her childhood with her but by using all of her assets that she gained throughout the book her future can be enriched.

Boys Don’t Cry Analysis Essay

Boys Don’t Cry Analysis Brandon was deffinately a very confused person, but yet seemed to have everything under control most of the time. This is the only reason that she was ever eve able to trick everyone into thinking she was a he. Brandon was able to apply most of the male social norms to her every day life, for example: Drinking and driving, neither of the women were asked to drive after they had been drinking, it was the least drunk male that drove them all, and that illegal social norm is usually attributed to males only. Brandon committed many deviant acts through out the movie, some illegal, and others just kind of weird. An illegal deviant act was her stealing cars, a non illegal deviant act was her trying to drink like a real man, when there was no doubt in her mind that she would be able to. Because deviance refers to socially disapproved behavior, which is basically what Brandon did through out the movie. The normative view of sexuality is one of scorn and hatred; Tom and Jon had normative views of sexuality. They did not understand it, therefore they did not like it, and it’s as easy as that. While on the other hand the reactivate view of sexuality has a much more broad and opened mine about the subject. Lana was a reactivate when it came to sexuality, she understood what Brandon was feeling for her, and no matter what the consequences were, and she would live with them. The normative view of sexuality is definitely the perspective that best applies to sexual identity. That is really kind of what sexual identity is any way, how you as a human want to look, feel, and act. The medicalization of deviance in this movie ran ramped; almost everyone had some sort of problem that could be considered an illness. With Tom, Jon, Lena, and her mom, it was drugs and alcohol. For Brandon, it was her sexual identity problem, she just did not comprehend that she was a female, and has to live with it. Medicalization of deviance, and conflict theory go hand in hand, because all medical model does is create conflict, right? It is just like our justice system out there, the number of poor people getting arrested in the United States out numbers the more wealthy and respected by three times. Should that be telling us something about how we are running this country. That is the same reason for all of the characters in the  movie; they drink, swear, steal, and lie, basically because that is the way that they like to live in the lower classes of society. I would have to say that what Brandon has is not a result of bad parenting, but rather a medical deviance problem. I am sure that Brandon’s upbringings were not great by any means, but it did not turn Brandon into what she had become. So basically what I believe is that, yes parents do need to show their children both rewards and punishment, but in moderation, but neither of those will help that much when it is as bad as Brandon’s case There were many examples of Brandon conforming to male roles through out the movie; some were pulled off better than others. One that she did pull off quite well was her ability to sexually please a woman with out her knowing that Brandon actually had no penis. Another male role she played well was her ability to slip little messages in to conversations or situations that would back up her manliness. Like getting in a fight at the bar, or waiting at the door until the girl had gotten in to make sure she was ok, or the suggestion of Brandon having a baby of her own, but while still keeping the masculinity in the subject. One of the hardest challenges that Brandon faced was riding the truck; she took a tremendous beating for a woman and shook it off like a man would do. When you know she hurt much worse than she showed, because that would not be very manly to show your pain. So in conclusion I would have to say that any woman that could pull off being a man for that long with out even her closest friends knowing about it for that long of a time period is a very strong willed person, and maybe deserves to live as a man, or what ever she wishes to be.

Facebook And Its Negative Effect On Its Users - 1216 Words

Facebook and Its Negative Effect On Its Users Facebook, the number one online based networking. Nowadays, everyone must have heard of or used the application. But only few people realize the negative impact Facebook leaves on users. Such as privacy, attitude, and behavior. In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg who recently dropped out of Harvard University, in order to chase a dream of creating the world social networking. And the young guy s ambition did pay off. Now the guy has become a millionaire, and a successful young entrepreneur. Facebook is an online social networking, with its community make up by more than six hundred million active user. the main purpose It helps connect everyone in the world together and the secondary purpose is to slap people s face with thousand of advertisements. It s about social interaction, identities, and a huge community. This free application let users have their own page, where folks could post their information, pictures, videos and status. Others can also make comments on their friend s posts, but the most notable feature of Facebook is â€Å"like† button. this virtual of evaluation is simple yet powerful. It sends out a powerful feeling to its users, because It makes them feel importance of their opinions on a subje ct. The reason Facebook is subject of research is that It’s very popular webpage and it contains highest number of online users. The benefits of Facebook are mentioned, but the negative effect deserve some spotlights as well. The firstShow MoreRelatedThe Attack of Facebook: the Negative Effects It Has on Its Users1815 Words   |  8 PagesMary C. WRD 104/Rozzell 27 October 2010 Research Paper The Attack of Facebook: the negative effects it has on its users In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg created a social network called Facebook that would affect the lives of millions. A social network is defined according to Danah M. Boyd, a PhD candidate in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley and author of Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship as a â€Å"web-based service that allows individuals to (1) constructRead MoreThe Psychological Needs Of A Social Network Service1512 Words   |  7 Pagesa rapidly growing number of active users, Facebook is beginning to serve a huge social purpose for most young people. The use of online social network service, such as Facebook, provides people with the ability to remain socially connected with a large network of friends. Besides satisfying its users’ need to stay connected with their social groups, Facebook has also been shown to satisfy users’ psychological needs. However, recent research also links Facebook to the less desirable outcomes, particula rlyRead MoreFacebook Is A Good Thing1016 Words   |  5 PagesFacebook is allowing people or users to socially connect to old friends from their past, meet new people, be connected to the world news and share it all with your friends and family at a touch of a button. 1.49 billion Users around the world are logging into Facebook (Noyes, 2015). With only 320 million people in the US alone means a great deal of users are international. According to Lev Grossman at Time magazine, when naming Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, person of the year 2010, saysRead MoreEssay about Facebook Lifestyles1097 Words   |  5 Pagesfriends, and gives society the ability to explore your interests and hobbies. The famous social networking site, Facebook, has swept the social media scene since its establishment in 2004. Recently, Facebook has accumulated billions of dollars in the global market. Shandi Raice reports that Facebook’s worth will rise to 140 billion dollars by 2015. Mark Zuc kerberg, the creater of Facebook, was named Time magazines man of the year in 2010. Zuckerberg created this social network in the dorm room of HarvardRead MoreIs Facebook Killing Our Souls?1588 Words   |  7 Pagesto my friend’s Facebook inbox hundred of miles away. The astonishing speed of how quick we can communicate in today’s societies, all thanks to social media. The invention of Facebook simplified everything we know about communication. We can connect to people whenever and wherever, sharing information has never been more convenient and exciting. In Shane Hipps’ Article, â€Å" Is Facebook Killing Our Souls?,† he has no intention to impede technological advancements, instead he wants users to understandRead MoreFacebook And Its Effect On Our Lives1455 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"Connect with friends and the world around you on Facebook† (Facebook,) is a slogan in the homepage of Facebook website that I will see at least one time per day when I open my Facebook. So, I think a lot of people out there, who is a Facebook’s user, will agree with me. According to the article â€Å"Almost as many people use Facebook as live in the entire country of China,† writes by Caitlin Dewey, more than 1.35 billion Facebook’s users in the world today, and it is nearly equal the China’s populationRead MoreThe Effects Of Facebook On People s Psychological Well Being Essay838 Words   |  4 PagesStatement: The effect of Facebook on people’s psychological Well-being. This literature review is made to discuss the effects of social networking websites especially Facebook on people’s psychological Well-being. Since Facebook became the number one social networking website in the world and almost everyone use Facebook to communicate with people, we should know that people from the age of 18 to 25 are the ones usually glued to their Facebook accounts due to the fact that they careRead MoreThe Issue Proposal : Social Media1229 Words   |  5 Pagesapplication of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry† Online Etymology Dictionary). Social media is defined â€Å"as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking† industry (Online Etymology Dictionary)†. Websites such as Facebook, Myspace, Instagram, Twitter, Skype, Snapshot, Pinterest, and the E-mail makes it possible to stay in touch with family and friends. It’s obvi ous that our world has changed dramaticallyRead MoreFacebook And Social Networking Sites1532 Words   |  7 PagesMark Zuckerberg founded Facebook when he was 23 years old while he attended Harvard University. Zuckerberg went to Harvard to study psychology and while he went there he developed a number of social networking sites that allowed students to view other students with the same degree and others where users could rate people’s attractiveness. When Facebook was first launched in February of 2004 it was called â€Å"The Facebook†. 1,200 Harvard students signed up and had a Facebook profile within the firstRead MoreNegative Effects of Facebook Essay689 Words   |  3 PagesWith more than 350 million active users, Facebook is one of the most popular social-networking sites in history. While it may have benefits such as connecting one with friends, it may also have very negative effects that could be irreversible. Three main negative effects that could arise from using Facebook include loss of sleep, depression, and putting one in a dangerous situation. At a quick glance, Facebook may be perceived as an intriguing and enjoyable website, but the addictions that sometimes