Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins and the sequel...

[Faruq]

Anyone read those two books? Any comments.

[KC Elbows]

Hadn't heard of them before, did a quick search.

I actually read some scholarly works on international aid a couple fo years back, which covered some of the regions used by critics to argue against those books you mentioned, but later in period. In the end, most of the regions used as examples of why those books couldn't be right about such aid ended up pretty badly from western aid, and better from eastern(especially Japanese) aid.

I think one of the things most Americans forget about the Roman empire is how it ended up making Rome irrelevant and Roman culture an oxymoron.

Can't contribute much more.

[Faruq]

Interesting. So what countries got Japanese aid, and did they end up better or worse for it?

[KC Elbows]

Interesting. So what countries got Japanese aid, and did they end up better or worse for it?

The one that comes to mind first is Cambodia, if I recall correctly, I'll have to check on my articles. Better or worse is hard to answer, but western aid was a bit of a disaster in comparison, as I recall.

The fact is, one can't be seeking advantagous prices on a country's primary exports and be a good aid partner, and some Western countries don't pay any heed to this dictum.

[KC Elbows]

Another factor to keep in mind is that Japan has kept far more breast of local economic and cultural realities than a country like the U.S., across the world. And they don't put all their eggs in one basket, so they keep in mind that they have some advantage in being a good neighbor to their neighbors over the U.S.

However, I don't doubt for one second that the U.S. governments' last wish in all of creation is a third world that can negotiate fair prices on their goods. It's a reality for any empire that the chief desires of its peoples' is everything and cheap, both pipe dreams that no amount of sensibility can ever buy.

[Faruq]

That's deep.....

[KC Elbows]

That's deep.....

Don't think it's deep. It's the end result of empire, to enable the center of the empire to profit from the efforts of the periphery. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it does seem to be the result.

I'm looking for the folder of articles I mentioned. Their main focus, as I recall, was aid for higher education in two countries, I'm thinking it was Cambodia and Burma, and it was mixed results at best, but the worst results were from nations with strong direct interests(ties) in the economics of the recipient country, I do remember that.