Life And Debt Essay

The 2001 documentary Life and Debt examines the impact of IMF and World Bank’s ‘structural adjustment policies’ (also called ‘conditionalities’) on Jamaica. The IMF started lending to Jamaica in 1973, after years of extreme poverty were followed by the ‘oil shock’ that created a global economic catastrophe, eventually leaving the country about $4.6 million in debt. The loans were front-loaded with conditions, requiring Jamaica to “enact major economic reforms, including trade liberalization (The removal or reduction of restrictions or barriers on the free exchange of goods between nations.Investopedia online. Retrieved 9/13/16 from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trade-liberalization.asp) and privatization (to transfer from public or government control or ownership to private enterprise. Dictionary.com, retrieved 9/13/16 from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/privatization?s=t), and regulation.
Trade liberalization essentially put farmers out of business. Whereas, before the IMF came in, there were thriving onion, potato, and beef farms, now
This condition caused major food and commodities deficiencies, resulting in civil unrest and people being killed. A bitter reminder of this time is felt in the loss of a 25 year old expectant mother who was killed in a cross fire in full view of her devastated family. One native Jamaican poignantly describes these changes by explaining that the Jamaica she knew as a child doesn’t exist anymore, partly because of time, and partly because global economic changes. Another citizen likened the food situation to the way slaves used to be given the refuse meat for sustenance, while the slave master got the better cuts. Obviously, the changes brought on by the conditions attached to the IMF loans have created bitterness among Jamaican