“The Rich Got the Loans, the Poor Got the Debts”

2019 ◽  
pp. 158-170
Author(s):  
Jerome Roos
Keyword(s):  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
State Autonomy ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Debt Restructuring ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Reduced State

This chapter takes a closer look at the outcomes of the Mexican debt crisis and the consequences of the reduced state autonomy at the heart of the crisis of the 1980s. The first section considers the brief period of tension between Mexican policymakers and their foreign lenders, and discusses Argentina as a counterfactual case in which a democratically elected government came to power that was strongly opposed to debt repayment. The second part of the chapter considers the final resolution of the Mexican debt crisis through the Brady debt restructuring deal of 1989–1990, which, far from constituting a coercive default, was actually undertaken at the initiative of the Wall Street banks with their own interests firmly in mind. Finally, the chapter considers the unequal distribution of adjustment costs inside Mexico as a direct consequence of the creditors' power to shape the outcome of the crisis in their favor.

The Fiscal Contract: States, Taxes, and Public Services

2005 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 530-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey F. Timmons
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Public Services ◽  
State Autonomy ◽  
The Poor ◽  
State Capture ◽  
The Rich ◽  
State Taxes ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Fiscal Contract

Using data from approximately ninety countries, the author shows that the more a state taxes the rich as a percentage of GDP, the more it protects property rights; and the more it taxes the poor, the more it provides basic public services. There is no evidence that states gouge the rich to benefit the poor or vice versa, contrary to state-capture theories. Nor is there any evidence that taxes and spending are unrelated, contrary to state-autonomy models. Instead, states operate much like fiscal contracts, with groups getting what they pay for.

Necropolitical metamorphoses

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Sang-Keun Yoo
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Toxicity ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Distribution Of Power

This article analyses and compares two films by South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho: his 2006 sf film Gwoemul (The Host; South Korea 2006) and his most recent film Gisaengchung (Parasite; South Korea 2019). I interpret these two films through the lens of outbreak narrative and socio-environmentalism. I argue the films foreground the way each class has a different power and ability to defend itself against environmental toxicity, even though our bodies share the same porosity to it. The films show that with the unequal distribution of power and wealth, the rich and necropolitical nation-states use outbreak narrative to (re)constitute communities based on class lines, drawing imaginary lines between them. As a fictionalised enemy, poor communities are pushed away to uninhabitable places - the exceptional places made for emergencies. Bong shows that those pushed away to live minimal lives metamorphosise into parasites in the mental, behavioural and somatic senses, and further demonstrates that the current economic and political conditions offer no possibilities of solidarity. The paper concludes that his films demand that humanities scholars rethink our approach to environmentalist discourses, reminding our audiences that environmental justice for the poor can never be achieved without changing the necropolitical system of politics and economics.

Editor's Note

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. i-iii
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Ethnic Origin ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
Good Education ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

In this election year, 2004, people are grappling with the various forces that make up these United States. What forces encourage inclusion and which exclusion? Who is to be included and who excluded? Is this to be a country with wide discrepancies between the rich and the poor? Is this to be a country where public education is poorly funded and a good education depends upon private resources? Are we going to forget that discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnic origin, and economic status still exists and needs to be perpetually, vigilantly addressed? There is a deep division in the country over the proper and fair use of our resources that constitutes concern in all our citizens

A Final Muse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wendell Moller
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

Why are kings without pity for their subjects? Because they count on never being common human beings. Why are the rich so hard toward the poor? It is because they have no fear of being poor. . . .—Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile; or, On Education1In Shakespeare’s ...

“One law for the rich and one law for the poor.”

1890 ◽  
Vol s7-IX (224) ◽  
pp. 288-288
Author(s):  
H. Fishwick
Keyword(s):  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

THE FINANCIAL RETURN OF CEREAL FARMING FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF ETHIOPIA

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
LALISA ALEMAYEHU DUGUMA ◽  
IKA DARNHOFER ◽  
HERBERT HAGER
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Net Return ◽  
Net Returns ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Central Highlands ◽  
The Rich

SUMMARYA study was conducted in Suba area, central highlands of Ethiopia, to assess the net return, land and labour productivity, and the return to scale of cereal farming practice. Seventy-five farmers belonging to three local wealth classes (poor, medium and rich) were randomly selected and interviewed about inputs and outputs related to cereal farming for the production year 2007/2008. Farm soil properties were investigated to check the variability in soil quality among the wealth classes. Benefit:cost ratio (BCR), net returns and annual profit were used to indicate the worthiness of the cereal farming activity. The return to scale was estimated by using the Cobb–Douglas production function. The results show that cereal farming is a rewarding practice, with the rich households gaining more profit than the poor. Farm size was the most important variable that affects the net return. There is an increasing return to scale. However, it is unlikely that farmers will have more land than they own at present because of the land shortage problem in the country caused by the increasing human population. Thus, attention should be given to minimizing the costs of production through proper regulation of domestic fertilizer costs and increasing labour productivity especially for the poor and medium households. The use of manure and compost as an additional fertilizer should also be promoted.

scholarly journals Vertical position can affect categorization of the rich and the poor in Chinese culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 183449092110257
Author(s):  
Qiong Li ◽  
Chen Deng ◽  
Bin Zuo ◽  
Xiaobin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Social Categorization ◽  
High Income ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich

This study explored whether vertical position affects social categorization of the rich and the poor. Experiment 1 used high- and low-income occupations as stimuli, and found participants categorized high-income occupations faster when they were presented in the top vertical position compared to the bottom vertical position. In Experiment 2, participants responded using either the “up” or “down” key to categorize high- and low-income occupations, and responded faster to high-income occupations with the “up” key and low-income occupations with the “down” key. In Experiment 3, names identified as belonging to either rich or poor individuals were presented at the top or bottom of a screen, and the results were the same as in Experiments 1 and 2. These findings suggest that social categorization based on wealth involved perceptual simulations of vertical position, and that vertical position affects the social categorization of the rich and the poor.

The effects of debt restructurings on income inequality in the developing world

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406612110014
Author(s):  
Glen Biglaiser ◽  
Ronald J. McGauvran
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

Developing countries, saddled with debts, often prefer investors absorb losses through debt restructurings. By not making full repayments, debtor governments could increase social spending, serving poorer constituents, and, in turn, lowering income inequality. Alternatively, debtor governments could reduce taxes and cut government spending, bolstering the assets of the rich at the expense of the poor. Using panel data for 71 developing countries from 1986 to 2016, we assess the effects of debt restructurings on societal income distribution. Specifically, we study the impact of debt restructurings on social spending, tax reform, and income inequality. We find that countries receiving debt restructurings tend to use their newly acquired economic flexibility to reduce taxes and lower social spending, worsening income inequality. The results are also robust to different model specifications. Our study contributes to the globalization and the poor debate, suggesting the economic harm caused to the less well-off following debt restructurings.

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