Suchergebnisse

The global debt problem influences the foreign-policy capabilities of the United States through its impact on the government's "linkage strategies" in foreign affairs. In some circumstances policy makers are forced to make connections between different policy instruments or issues that might not otherwise have been felt necessary; in others, opportunities for connections are created that might not otherwise have been felt possible. The Polish debt crisis of 1981–82, the Latin American debt crisis of 1982–83, and the IMF quota increase in 1983 are suggestive in this regard. Linkage strategies bred by the debt issue are more apt to be successful when the interest shared by the United States with other countries in avoiding default is reinforced by other shared economic or political interests. They will also be more successful to the extent that the government can supplement its own power resources by relating bank decisions to foreign-policy considerations. Power in such situations, however, is a wasting asset, even when employed indirectly through the intermediation of the IMF.

If debtors prisons were still in fashion, many countries around the world would now be in jail. Poland, Rumania, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico—all recently have found themselves teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, unable to pay even the interest on the money they owe to Western governments and banks. And the list keeps growing longer. Over the last year nearly three dozen Third World and East European nations have fallen into arrears' on their foreign loans. Never before have so many countries come so close to default on so much debt.

What do machine tools, motorcycles, and mushrooms have in common? All are industries that, threatened by foreign competition, have recently applied to Washington for import protection. And American manufacturers are not alone. Industries across the globe are pressing their governments to restrict purchases from abroad as a way of saving jobs at home. The story is an old one; When times are bad, cut imports; export unemployment instead.That times are bad is obvious. Since the first oil shock a decade ago, global economic growth has slowed to a snail's pace. Not even the erstwhile "miracle" economies of Japan and Germany have been able to escape the harsh grip of recession. In the United States, one worker in ten is out of a job. In the industrial world as a whole, 30 million people are now looking for work.