ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the outcomes of debt crises are directed by big banks and the governments that support them. It begins with a historical overview of debt, providing a number of examples of imperial debt burdens during the late 1800s (Tunisia to France, Egypt to Britain, etc.), before considering debt relations in the post-colonial period in more detail. The chapter argues that the imposition of debt has been a central means by which imperial powers regained controlling influence over their former colonies following independence movements. Traversing the 1980s debt crisis and onwards through the 1990s–2000s to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, it describes the looming debt crisis within the Global South, which began in 2016–2017 and has accelerated since. The chapter also summarizes the debt profiles of Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, to reveal some of the detrimental development effects of debt repayments.
