The international debt crisis eight years on: an interim report

In 1982, Mexico unilaterally announced that it could no longer meet the interest and capital repayments due on its $80bn overseas bank debt. Within months, dozens of other LDCs followed suit. So was born the "international debt crisis', this article examines the present state of play in the international debt crisis. It opens by outlining the background to the crises, discussing the special combination of circumstances which gave rise to the LDCs' difficulties. It then considers developments both within international banking and the LDCs during the 1980s, arguing that the present strategy of "muddling through' is seriously deficient. -from Author