The Debt Crisis and the World Economy Report by a Commonwealth Group of Experts

‘The message is clear. The present situation is not sustainable. The world’s financial safety is balanced on a knife-edge... There is no room for complacency. We sense rather that a recognition of the gravity of the issues and of the dangers posed by the debt crisis in an interdependent world is growing. Full expression is not always given to this recognition, perhaps because of fear seeming to aggravate matters. But the situation has now been reached where collective determination to take action is imperative. The knowledge that such determination has been mustered will itself be a factor for greater sustainability.’ – From the Report. ‘The capacity of developing countries to comply with demands by the IMF and banks for austerity measures has political limits. In the final analysis, these limits are represented by unrest and the threat of revolution. Before that point is reached, debtor countries will obviously refuse to meet the terms and conditions of contraction demanded of them; there is growing evidence that that point is fast approaching.’ – From the Foreword by Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal.