Why Reform Global Finance? Stresses and Imbalances

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During the late '90s and onward many countries fell victim to the repercussions of "hot money"-funds that were shrewdly managed for short-term profit in spite of their tendency to increase market instability. Economic meltdowns in Africa and elsewhere were so severe they eventually sparked humanitarian groups to call for cancellation of the poorest countries' debt. In this program Hazel Henderson examines the need for global finance reform with a panel of three renowned economists. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the UN's Human Development Report, believes globalization has harmed impoverished nations, and former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff proposes the use of grants instead of loans. Controversial author John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man), also an independent economist, says he was hired by corporations to help lure underdeveloped countries further into debt. The panel also discuss the growing poverty gap, and the viability of the Washington Consensus.