ABSTRACT
Human rights standards are affected both by the accumulation and dispersal of finance. Political lessons can be drawn for human rights' intersection with the world of high finance. Local economies are today materially shaped by the exigencies of global finance, such that the capacity of states, communities, families and individuals to deliver on human rights expectations may be positively or negatively affected by the circumstances far beyond their control, knowledge or even awareness. The need for human rights discourse to engage more thoroughly with the political intrigues of finance, both locally and globally, is imperative. Finance's thrall is broad and powerful. But where the political will exists, neither finance in general, nor specifically the management of sovereign debt, are beyond regulatory control and reform. As an essential feature of economic relations, finance has long impacted on how individuals and communities obtain the desired social derivatives of the good life.
