Life And Debt And My Readings

That this was also the decade in which globalization came into full swing is more than a minor inconvenience for its advocates” (Rodrick). If globalization is supposed to present an advantage to developing countries, why have there been so many setbacks? Indeed, both sides will have its winners and losers regardless of which side of the development coin they live on, but for the most part globalization has lifted millions out of poverty, improved the standard of living, and increased life expectancy rates all while keeping developed nations relatively competitive to their developing counterparts. Globalization’s value is that it seeks to create an economic equilibrium in the world, where parties are free from barriers and can benefit from one another through a more efficient allocation of resources. This allows all participating nations to contribute to an integrated economy and where all nations willing to embrace globalization have the potential to benefit. Regardless, the path to successful integration to the global economy has not always been easy. There is contention towards globalization as some argue that it is detrimental to developed nations, while many developing countries that were forced to hastily open up their markets and integrate failed. However, if implemented properly, globalization has proven that it can benefit all parties involved and that the potential gains outweigh the losses.

In the documentary Life and Debt, it is explained through the stories of local people, the economic and social crisis of Jamaica. With Jamaica receiving mandatory loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1977 because of lack of alternatives, Jamaica was promised meaningful development. Unfortunately, this only made the situation worse because of the extreme policies and foreign economic agendas that came with the loans, forcing Jamaica into even further debt. Therefore, it is my opinion that it is because of the policies and greed of the IMF and The World Bank that came along with the loans, that Jamaica is currently 4.5 billion dollars in debt.

Many times people will assume that third world countries aren’t prosperous because of lazy leadership, lack of education, and overpopulation, but this is not true. For the most part, it is not the country's fault that they are not prospering but usually the effects of neoliberalism and globalization. Neoliberalism and globalization have impoverished previously colonized countries all over the world and the effects are devastating and cruel. In the film Life and Debt, it displays how Jamaica’s economic and political policies have negatively impacted their way of life. The director, Stephanie Black, clearly believes that Globalization has almost completely destroyed Jamaica’s economy. Jamaica is no longer able to sustain itself economically, food, and other basic human needs due to the effects of globalization.

“Life and Debt” is a documentary produced and directed by Stephanie Black, which describes the impact of international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, in small developing countries. (About Life and Debt) The documentary focuses mainly in the repercussions of financial policies imposed in Jamaica and its effects on its citizens. Throughout the film, Black also emphasizes the different industries affected by these international institutions. From the agricultural activity to the construction of a new Free Trade Zone in Kingston, developing countries such as Jamaica did not obtain the aid they were seeking for. Instead, most of these organizations refused to help the country due to its declining economy.

The world is constantly becoming smaller and smaller as time progresses. A process of globalization is rapidly turning the world as we know it into economic opportunity waiting to be exploited. A large factor in this process is due to the advent of technology which is becoming more and more readily available to lesser developed countries. Countries such as Jamaica and other LDC’s are primary targets of economic globalization. In the film Life and Debt by Stephanie Black, we see the effects globalization has on Jamaican culture, industry, and agriculture.

The documentary depicts globalization as way in which countries are interconnected around the world and affect each other through various economic, social, and political processes. The documentary particularly focuses on the economic affects of globalization, by examining the affects of economic liberalization and the internationalization of finance through organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and structural adjustment programs. Loans given by the IMF to developing countries such as Jamaica do not help them develop, but instead prevent them from advancing economically and socially. The advancements that these loans have guaranteed have not occurred, and the policies that have been imposed with the loans have negatively impacted the majority of the Jamaican population. Many local workers, especially farmers, have lost their jobs as goods are imported from other countries. The country is

Globalization is when international organization influence on other countries. It seems that Haiti is a country with a strong dignity that oppose globalization as a force that have an effect on most aspects of economic experience. However, globalization has had both positive and negative effects. Globalization has impacted poverty in Haiti by free trading and many workers works unpaid for many international factories. For many years Haiti was the center of tourism, which was helping the economy, but now it has declined as a source of income . Official data say Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere( Global Finance) . The free trade promoted by global financial organizations has involved the country's economy in a deep retrocession that obliges to neglect barriers and not obstructive goods of developed countries.

One aspect that demonstrates the effects of globalization in Antigua is the never ending poverty of Antigua. Even though a vast amount of tourists come to Antigua one may think that it would be flourishing and rich with wealth; however, in reality the natives and the land of Antigua are extremely poor. Another aspect would be how Antigua is surrounded by a sea and an ocean, but continued to be in a drought. While the natives still have to watch every drop of water they drink, tourists waste water as if Antigua’s has hundreds of puddles waiting to be

     The documentary Life and Debt portrays a true example of the impact economic globalization can have on a developing country. When most Americans think about Jamaica, we think about the beautiful beaches, warm weather, and friendly people that make it a fabulous vacation spot. This movie shows the place in a different light, by showing a pressuring problem of debt. The everyday survival of many Jamaicans is based on the economic decisions of the United States and other powerful foreign countries.

During the last decade of the twentieth century, the word ‘globalization’ has become an increasingly prominent feature of political, social, and economic discussion in academic and policymaking circles, as well as in the media. The processes and outcomes of globalization drew attention and debates that had one thing in common. The research shows that nearly everyone agrees that globalization is a trend that is changing the face of the world, and as a result the world society lives in a more ‘globalized’ world. Nearly two and a half decades passed since 1990s, and studies have been conducted to examine the causes and consequences of globalization. Moreover, nearly every person experiences some type of globalization and can testify firsthand the effects it has on their life, society, and the state. The analysis of the effects that globalization dynamics have on the world society indicates that globalization has a significant positive impact via spreading opportunities and wealth across nations, stimulating innovation and productivity, enhancing the economic development of poorer countries, and helping to improve living standards.

Jamaica is not just white sand beaches and mimosas. Behind the thin veil of paradise lurk corruption, violence, and inequalities. Life & Debt illustrates the daily realties of Jamaica following IMF structural adjustment programs. IMF reforms have perpetuated a cycle of debt that Jamaicans have little hope to escape. Although IMF conditionality claims to develop nations so that they can grow and re-pay their lenders, Jamaica is still indebted $4.5 billion dollars and has little development to show for it. Measures of austerity coupled with devaluation, high interest rates, and drops in local wages results in greater unemployment, increased violence, and widening inequality. The bulk of the film focuses on how global integration has undercut

Life & Debt focuses on the stories of individuals residing in Jamaica whose survival is solely based and determined by United States and other European countries, IMF to be more specific. The movie Life and Debt discusses the effect of globalization on Jamaica. It elaborates and portrays to the viewer the Global Inequality Jamaica faces. The movie first explains the inequality of finance. International Monetary Fund sanctioned a loan in 1976 in order to aid Jamaica to flourish as a developed nation. The president at the time intended on having a long term plan that would embellish the Jamaican economy; however, rather than being an aid for Jamaicans the loan transformed into a curse. Since the loan was sanctioned, Jamaica had to devalue its currency devaluation, diminish imports, and lower wages. The goal of the International Monetary fund is to reduce inflation by loan repayments. By devaluing currency and the price of imports it caused the nation to go in debt and had a much more severe effect on the residents. Consider this, a twenty-dollar bill is equivalent to hundreds of Jamaican dollars. In order to pay the IMF, the nation had to cut back on spending. Hence why there are basic schools and no new hospital has been established. The loan took a toll on Jamaica’s healthcare and education system.

The rise of globalization following WWII generated three important factors that define today’s world. McNeill and McNeill agree with Pollard, Rosenberg, and Tignor that multiple economic changes, such as the creation of financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contributed to the globalization of the world economy. Carter and Warren further this argument by claiming that globalization has caused shifts in the modern economy, namely the rise of Asian economic powers. However, all three historians agree that the rise of globalization goes hand in hand with the rise of inequality in today’s world. Gaps in power, wealth, and access to information have only widened due to the trend of globalization. The final key factor defining our world today are the ongoing processes affecting development countries. McNeill and McNeill argue similarly to Carter and Warren that the end of imperialism generated new nations who quickly realized the free market was a pathway to stability. However, Pollard et al. and McNeill and McNeill place importance on financial institutions like the IMF forcing developing nations to reform their economies to be subservient to the world’s economy. Together, these historians argue that the trend of globalization following WWII caused factors like the modern global economy, the rise in inequality, and the development of new, decolonized nations to be key determiners in the world today.

The three major international economic institutions are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization; this book mainly focuses on the IMF and the World Bank, due to the author’s first-hand experience with both institutions. The IMF, a public institution built as a guiding hand for economic stability around the world, has brought false

Although it is right that globalization promotes free trade among the states and unites them, but there are also negative outcomes, which states whether rich or poor try to protect their own interests? These negative outcomes of globalization have made the dependency theory significant in describing the state of affairs in the present world. Poor countries attempt to protect their national markets and become self-reliant (Hewison, 1999). Self-reliance can be seen as supporting a strategy of controlled relations with the world economy. Poor nations should only approve relations on the condition that the relations will enhance the societal and financial well being of the larger population. However, endeavour by the peripheral states to oppose the impact of dependency can result in results in financial sanctions and/or military attack (Sen, 2010). One example of such resentment against globalization is “localism“that surfaced during the financial crisis in Thailand (Hewison, 1999). Localism is an illustration of populist response to the changes and disparities created by globalization. Localism gained substantial energy from the Thai King’s speech in 1997, where he recommended a self-contained economy to counter the negative effects