[Apollia]

Originally Posted by outdoorsnewzealand

I have a very poor understanding of the political problems that cause poverty in third world countries, does anyone know of a good book or website that I could read to get a better understanding?

I think one major problem might be, when "aid" is given to Third World countries, it often comes at a price - it puts the countries into debt with interest that the countries have to somehow pay back.

Here are two links which might be helpful. Not sure how credible they are.

Poverty Facts and Stats - Global Issues

Originally Posted by The above website

For every $1 in aid a developing country receives, over $25 is spent on debt repayment.

(About a year ago when I last glanced at this website, the quote was "The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants." - so things seem to be getting worse).

Originally Posted by The above website

The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money.

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MyDD :: The World Bank: Worse Than Wolfowitz

Originally Posted by The above website

Over a hundred countries in the developing world have taken to neo-liberal policies thanks to the insistence of creditors from the north, including the G8, the World Bank (WB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But after 20 years, it is clear that these policies have not worked. The poor are poorer with their governments spending a lot of money to pay back loans, activists say.

Aminata Toure Barry from Jubilee South, an organisation working against globalisation and for debt cancellation, said that her country, Mali, has already paid eight times the loans it owes to creditors from the North. "But we are still continuing to pay. In fact, the loan principal has increased by three percent since 1980," she said at a seminar on The Debt Cancellation Trap by G8, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at WSF Karachi Tuesday evening.

outdoorsnewzealand wrote:

Originally Posted by outdoorsnewzealand

Also what do the people here think we can do to help with the political problems?

Maybe, give grants to Third World countries, not loans - and cancel all the existing debt.

Best wishes,
Apollia