European and global debt crises

Key points

1)Reckless lending caused by liberalised financial system

Key points 1)Reckless lending caused by liberalised financial system 2)Bailout and austerity destroys lives and maintains the crisis

Key points 1)Reckless lending a root cause of crisis, caused by liberalised financial system 2)Bailout and austerity destroys lives and maintains the crisis 3)European campaigners for economic justice have to be working on the European debt crisis

Key points 1)Reckless lending caused by liberalised financial system

EU reckless lending Current account balance

Global reckless lending

Net lending to countries in the South (does not include illicit flows)

History of crises Government defaults

Key points 1)Reckless lending caused by liberalised financial system 2)Bailout and austerity destroys lives and maintains the crisis

Bailouts and austerity By start 2013, EU and IMF had lent Greece $290 billion – now accounts for 65% of foreign owed debt

Bailouts and austerity External debt in the global South

Human impact In Greece, 11 per cent of population now live in extreme poverty; cannot afford a decent diet and enough heating In Spain, Red Cross helped feed 1 million malnourished people in 2012

Impacts: In 1980s Latin America Population living in poverty increased from 144 million to 211 million Africa Population living in extreme poverty increased from 205 million to 330 million

Key points 1)Reckless lending a root cause of crisis, caused by liberalised financial system 2)Bailout and austerity destroys lives and maintains the crisis 3)European campaigners for economic justice have to be working on the European debt crisis

We have to work on Europe European campaigners for economic justice have to be working on the European debt crisis: The impacts are huge We are irrelevant to our fellow citizens if we don’t The crisis, and response to it, are a central part of the financial system which has dominated the world for 40 years

Final point Capital now rushing to the global South again, because of crisis in the North - Some countries using capital controls, eg, Brazil - Some taking opportunity to borrow, eg, Rwanda