COLONIALISM, A GLOBAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES


‘Wealth Creation’ – a cartoon on global trade and international relations. (a) According to this cartoon, how does global trade affect people in developing countries?


(b) What connection does the cartoon make between global trade and international aid?


(c) How is the ‘wealth creation’ machine depicted in the cartoon? Why do you think it is so depicted?


(d) Is this cartoon biased or does it give a fair perception of global trade and international relations? Attempt to explain your point of view.


2 International debt and problems associated with debt relief Despite the injustices of the global economic system, Uganda’s national economy performed reasonably well up to 1971 – the year that Idi Amin took over the country as military dictator. The economy then began to decline rapidly. Hyperinfl ation of up to 200% a year made the Ugandan shilling (Uganda’s national currency) almost worthless. Uganda could not then repay even the interest on the loans that it had borrowed from foreign creditors. It therefore plunged further and further into international debt. By 1987 the Ugandan government was forced sign the fi rst of several ‘economic rescue’ agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


Idi Amin, military dictator of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Idi Amin’s dictatorship greatly harmed the economy of Uganda. Among other things, he expelled from the country thousands of Ugandans of Indian extraction who operated many shops and other trading outlets.


33


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20