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Jubilee 2000
Another Band-Aid Solution
This year has been named by many Christian and socially concerned groups as Jubilee 2000. The idea behind this name is an Old Testament Law that, every 50 years, all debts should be forgiven, and the debtor can start over. The year 2000, being divisible by 50, sounds like a good time to enact this well meaning law to African countries who are horribly crippled by international debts.
The intention is good, but it will not accomplish much. To see why, let’s look at what happened to the original money loaned to these countries.
A lot of this money was loaned under the condition that it was to be invested into certain projects administered by western donors. Most of these western projects, led by high-priced western experts, did not work in Africa. Yet the Africans have to pay for this.
Money coming from loans allowed political leaders to divert funds from schools, roads, and hospitals into building armies. We in the West like to manufacture armaments that keep our economy growing and find their ways into African wars. Yet the Africans have to pay for this.
Money coming from loans went into foreign bank accounts of the political leaders. We do not want to tighten the international banking laws because our banking system is dependent on deposits from corrupt political leaders and…
