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almost half of last year's export
ea rning s , were ear ma rked to
import less oi l than in 1972- but
at 1
O
times the cost. This year oil
costs will ta ke 60 pe rcent of
export earnings.
"Africa is dying," says the
former foreign minister of Togo.
Mu c h of the cont inent is
unable to feed itself. Food pro–
duction per capita is actually less
in severa! impo rta nt Africa n
na tions than in 1970 . Widespread
hunger and famines are due to
severa! causes. The continent's
soaring population growth relent–
lcssly surpasses all increases in
food production . To this crisis has
been added widespread drought
and weather upsets in recent
months and years. But in severa!
nations, food shortages are a lso
caused by revolution and warfare
and their attendant poli tical and
social tu rmoi
l.
Triba lism and language bar–
riers intern a ll y divide ma ny
nations of Africa.
Debts Eat Up Development
Ten years ago the leading borrow–
ers of money on international
markets paid less than 6 percent
of their export earnings to service
their externa ! debts. Today
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colom–
bia, India, South Korea, the Phil–
ippines, Taiwan, Thailand , lvory
Coast and other nations
as
well
have to spend 20 percent more of
expor.t earnings to service their
interest-laden debts. That means
less and less fi nancia! resources
are avai lable to develop faltering
economies.
According toS
out
h,
a magazine
about developing nations, five
years ago one metric ton of jute–
an important fiber ex port oflndi a,
Ba ng lades h an d Thai land–
bought 35 barreis of oil an d
$56,000 in interes t. Today the
same amount is wor th only
11
bar–
reis of oil and $2,000 in interest.
1
n 197S, one metric ton of
cocoa bought 148 barreis of oil
a nd paid $23,000 in interest. In
1980, the same amount of cocoa
bought 72 barreis and $13,000 in
interest , effectively halving the
value of tbe commodity.
Brazil is an example of a nation
June / July 1981
so deeply in dcbt there is almost
no chance it could repay. But the
Wes t can't afford to Jet it go
under. .
Brazil will owe $60 billi on to
the central banks of other nations
by the end of the year. This year,
Brazi l will spend on oi l and inter–
est payments the equivalent of 75
percent of its export earnings.
This leaves almost nothing for
development , so it must borrow
more money.
Inflation hit 113 percent in
Brazil last year, more than double
the 54 percent average for all of
South America. Des pite this,
Braz ilian authorities are confi–
dent they can borrow from com–
mercial banks again this year.
Said one Brazi lian banker, "We
tt
Almost every nation
on earth is now
plagued with a spiraling
demand for affordable
fuel and food.
' '
owe so much that we can't afford
not to borrow more."
To such gl ibness the execu tive
director of one of London's com–
mercial banks answers rhetorical–
ly: " What else can the banks
do- walk in and turn off the
lights in a country? You roll over
the debt because, frankly, there is
nothing else to do."
l f you think oil wealth wi ll
solve a nation's economic ills, you
should look at Venezuela (or any
number of other important oi l–
producing nat ions).
Oil wealth led to massive Yene–
z ue lan government spending.
This produced soari ng inflation.
· The result ? Everyone has lost
buying power and feels insecure
a nd demorali zed. Yenez uel a's
poor, who never received the ben–
efits of oi l wealth , are even more
impoverished.
Coming too little and too late is
an attempt of the Organizat ion of
Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) to establish a fund of a
few bill ion dollars in low-cost
loans to help non-oil , poor nations
stabilize commodity prices and
pay oi l bilis. OPEC has also pro–
posed a $20 billion development
bank for s uc h nations . Thi s
amoun t is much too litt le for
developing nations' needs. And
the reality of such a bank is high–
ly in doubt. The lran-I raq war
and Mideast instability discour–
ages any long-range commitment
to such a fund.
All of these and other similar
problems in the world today are
the result of the
wrong way of
living!
Huma n selfi shness and
greed have produced these g igan–
tic problems. The way of nations
today has robbed mankind of
many blessings they could have!
Now here is good news! There
is a revealed solution to these
huge problems in your Bible!
The Good News
Leaders of many nations feel
helpless to cope with many of the
problems you have j us t been
reading.
" What can
1
do to help my
people?" ask many world leaders
in conference with Herbert W .
Armstrong, editor o f this maga–
zine, during his worldwide trips
to fulfill his great commission.
Mr. Arms trong gives them a mes–
sage of hope for humanity. What
is that hope?
Mr . Arms tron g tells world
leaders of government and busi–
ness the real
cause
of humanity's
ills. He tells them that all of
humanity's economic, political
and social ills are produced by the
GET
way of life-the sel fish con–
cero and taking for oneself at the
expense or hurt of others, at the
disregard of conseq uences in the
future or to future generations.
T he Bible reveals the
source
of
this attitude. This self-seeking
"gel" way is actually Satan's atti–
tude cleve rl y placed in human
minds by the deceptive devil (see
Ephesians 2:2-3 and Revelation
12:9).
Mr. Arms trong tells leaders
the on ly t rue solution to their
national problems. That solution
(Continued on page 28)
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