Video Analysis : Life And Debt

There is a widespread concern about rising levels of debt. Debt can become disastrous for those who live alone or those families who are already having problems with supporting their family. The people who might be struck by debt, they might have trouble recovering. Debt can cause Americans to lose their homes and stability they need to feed, and shelter their families. Although debt comes upon us Americans quickly, people can see debt as terrible thing to be stuck with. It has many disadvantages that can devastate to people.

The film Life and Debt is a documentary filmed by the award winning film director, Stephanie Black. The film examines the effects of globalization in Jamaica, from the point of view of Jamaican workers, farmers, and government and policy officials. Life and Debt shines a light on how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's structural adjustment policies affected Jamaica. It shows how the impositions made by the IMF and NAFTA, crippled Jamaican industry and agriculture and caused the end of Jamaica’s a self-sufficient economy. The documentary also emphasizes the difference between the Jamaica that the tourists see, and the Jamaica that the native citizens see.

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.

“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.

“Life and Debt” is a documentary that examines the economic and social effects of globalization on Jamaica. The movie mainly describes the affects of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s structural adjustment programs. While these funds are created to help developing countries become more developed, the documentary shows how the reforms were not successful in Jamaica and put the country in debt. This paper will discuss the portrayal of globalization in the documentary, and how globalization can affect people through different scale—both locally and globally.

You may be asking yourself how america got in so much debt well it starts like this for example the capitol building ran out of light bulbs. The company selling them sells a 6 pack for five dollars, but since they are the government the lightbulb company charges them 30 dollars for it, but that's only 30 dollars compared to the 4 trillion dollar budget well add on buying overpriced paper, pens, pencils, tools, plans, ships, and

Federal debt has been increasing for at least the past ten years. Currently, federal debt is $19,929,184,161,352.13 (Chantrill). The national debt has nearly doubled throughout Obama’s presidency and President elect Trump’s ideas do not look promising for change. It is estimated that Trump’s tax cuts will raise federal debt by $7.2 trillion within the next decade (Mauro). Many debt crises have occurred because of declines in growth. When

The U.S. national debt is currently $18 trillion dollars and it is rising fast. The national debt today is the highest the U.S. has ever seen. In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he declared the U.S. should avoid going into debt. If the nation end up in a deficit, that the debtors were responsible for paying off the debt so that it doesn’t burden the future generations. Like the rest of this advice in his Farewell Address, the nation ignored it. The ideal goal right now should be to stop the debt from increasing anymore because it is impossible to stop the debt from increasing and expect to pay it off in this generation.

Currently, the United States owes approximately $19 trillion in National Debt. It is owed to Mutual funds, pension funds, foreign governments, foreign investors, American investors and many others. From the year 1959 to 2015, the United States debt has gone up by around 7554% from the debt in 1959 starting at $285 billion. The debt itself has increased by around 9 trillion since Barack Obama has taken the Presidential office in 2009. Everything has been done to increase national debt, but nothing has been made to reduce the national debt.

In 2009 the debt was amounted to about $12 trillion , or 83.4 percent of the country’s GDP (“Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2011” table 7.1). Since 2003, the debt has been increasing by more than $500 billion annually. The increase in 2009 was $1.9 trillion. According to the Congressional Budgeting Office, this debt will keep increasing at least for the next decade (“The Budget and Economic Outlook : Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020” 21).

As of September 2014, the United States debt had reached $17.7 trillion dollars (Fighting for a U.S. federal budget that works for all Americans, 2014). Over the past few years, the U.S. debt has continued to increase and signs point to this continuing into 2015. According to the article I have cited, China and Japan hold the vast majority of the United States debt (Fighting for a

The US national debt has become an important topic in recent years and needs to be looked at moving into the future. This is the amount owed by the federal government of the United States. This debt is made up of debts held by the public and also debts held by government accounts. The extreme amount of our national debt should be seen as a problem and will need to be fixed. The amount owed is getting to the point where it needs to be taken care of and lowered to a point that is controllable. There are consequences if the national

Since its inception, the United States of America has had fluctuating amounts of debt. High points usually follow in the wake of war or recessions, and low points usually occur in times of relative stability in the U.S. Recently, however, the United States has amassed over 18 trillion dollars in debt. The national debt has been rising steadily since the 1970’s and experienced a large growth around the year 2009. From the years 1929 to 2009, the Debt to GDP ratio was approximately 48 percent on average (excluding the years within the World War II era), while from 2009-2014 the Debt to GDP ratio was approximately 97 percent. This increase was most likely the result of increased defense/war spending, the Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Troubled Asset Relief Program. All of these events

The U.S national debt is 19 trillion dollars. This debt has been growing since the Financial crisis in 2007. As

Thomas Jefferson once stated, "I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt" (Bussing-Burks, 7). A lot has changed since Jefferson was President two hundred years ago, but the need to be financially solvent is something that will always be necessary for the United States to maintain its leadership position in the world. The United States of America currently owes $16.7 trillion in debt primarily as a result of the government’s spending practices during the last ten years. Two wars, several fiscal collapses, the bursting of the bubble in the housing market, looming medical care costs from an