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The Principles Of Debt Alleviation, Fair Trade Policies, And Economic Inequality

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In terms of world impact, no ideology has irreparably shaped the course of history like neoliberalism. Its core tenets of free markets would inform the policies imposed on developing nations. The assumption among particularly Western nations would be that developing nations would need to advance to become modern capitalistic societies just like them. However, the efforts to reach that ideal would lead to more harm than good. Neoliberalism has resulted in heavy debt for developing nations, unequitable free trade, and strong economic inequality in the global South. In light of these problems, one can utilize the solutions of debt alleviation, fair trade policies, and Keynesian policies to address these issues in a substantial way to mitigate …show more content…

This would not be an issue if all nations were to start on the same playing field. However, it is some of the same developed nations that benefited from the oppression of indigenous people and races that are imposing this ideal of development on developing nations. As such, these global institutions reinforce this narrative of the value of society being in its economic output and growth. In that respect, some developing nations in pursuit of those goals borrowed extensive money from the IMF that eventually resulted in heavy debt due to these countries not having sufficient resources to develop their economy. What makes it worse is that developing nations would then have to prioritize paying back their loans and not necessarily in developing their industries in the first place. In the seventies, neoliberalism rose to prominence in the global stage especially in America. Beforehand, Keynesian policies were the norm due to their success in taking the nation out of the Great Depression with Social Security and the likes. However, the negative impacts of an oil crisis brought upon by OPEC and corresponding stagflation due to deficit spending would dull the allure of Keynesianism (Lecture 6). As a result, free-market economists like Milton Freidman would advocate for laisses-faire economic policies of economic

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