The Debt Trap: The International Monetary Fund and the Third World

by Cheryl Payer

Details the history of the first thirty years of the system of aid and credit in which the IMF is the keystone.

Genres: Politics, History, Finance, Economics, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Kevin Koranteng · Rating 5 out of 5]

To understand why the world is the way it is politically, it is important for everyone to read this book. So called aid, which is used by many a right wing activist as a way of justifying the massive profit and material expatriation from developing countries must be understood for what it really is. I would recommend this book to anyone who is genuinely interested in creating a better world for all.

[Madelyn Ashburn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read 3/4 of this researching for a paper on how the International Monetary Fund has or has not been effective in boosting the economies of underdeveloped countries. It was helpful in giving a historical look at positive and negative cases of IMF intervention in the second half of the 20th century; however, the book is now outdated and the author is pro autocracy (i.e. North Korea)... The facts given were helpful, but the analysis/commentary was academically and morally questionable given the author's ideology.