Odious debts : loose lending, corruption and the Third World's environmental legacy / Patricia Adams.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-239) and index.

Part I: The environment's demise. 1. The environmental legacy of yesterday's loans -- 2. The environment strikes back -- 3. The environment strikes back: the economy -- 4. The asset sale -- 5. The debt crisis' silver lining --

Part II: Easy lenders. Introduction: The queen comes to Sicartsa -- 6. Bankers to the Third World -- 7. A credit union for countries -- 8. The new mercantilists -- 9. Givers and takers -- 10. The petrodollar recyclers --

Part III: Eager borrowers. Introduction: Ponzi writ large -- 11. The business of the state -- 12. Money for the military -- 13. Despots on the dole -- 14. Corruption in high and not-so-high places -- 15. The nether borrowers -- 16. Unchecked governments --

Part IV: The Third World's tax revolt. Introduction: Illegitimate debts -- 17. The doctrine of odious debts -- 18. Mercantile law versus the people -- 19. The virtues of taxation -- 20. Conclusion: tragic commons no more.

"The single most important shackle on the Third World is the debts "owed" to the richer countries - amounting now to over $1.4 trillion. The original loans were mostly put to uses of very dubious benefit to the countries concerned, and the repayments, which despite the hand-wringing and concern the North is insisting on, are stripping those countries of their assets and impoverishing their people and environments. This book gives an exceptionally compelling account of how this catastrophe came about and of its consequences. It analyses the parts played by the different participants: among the lenders, the World Bank, the IMF and other multi-lateral agencies, as well as the export credit agencies and commercial banks; and among the borrowers, not only governments and state enterprises, but also the military and above all greedy and despotic leaders. The story is one of recklessness and corruption. In the face of it, Patricia Adams invokes the doctrine of "odious debts" - those debts contracted by a regime that are not binding for a nation - first used by the US to repudiate Cuba's debts after taking it from Spain, but neglected since. Together with changes in the international financial structure to discourage governments from raising money by borrowing rather than from taxes, this doctrine offers a way of both resolving the crisis justly and furthering democracy and accountability in the Third World." -- From the back cover.