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There were several stories a few months ago about how China’s Silk Road projects were being given to countries they couldn’t pay them back. I guess it’s true.

There were several stories a few months ago about how China’s Silk Road projects were being given to countries they couldn’t pay them back. I guess it’s true. Look for more of this.

LaundroMat 8y ago
Yes, the Malaysian railway is such a project. http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/malaysia-admits-its-too-late-cancel-chinas-14bn-ea/ http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/malaysia-admits...
- pp19dd 8y ago
  Also, Montenegro's ONLY highway. They went into it despite experts knowing full well that the country couldn't afford one. "Doubts about the highway surfaced after two feasibility studies, conducted in 2006 and 2012, showed it was not economically viable." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-silkroad-europe-montenegro-insi/chinese-highway-to-nowhere-haunts-montenegro-idUSKBN1K60QX https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-silkroad-europe-mon...
  - moltar 8y ago
    I can’t imagine building a highway on that terrain. I drove thru a lot of Montenegro and I haven’t seen any flatlands.
    - dragandj 8y ago
      The country's name is literally "Black Mountain". There are tiny flatlands around the capital city and that's all.
    - andresalo 8y ago
      You should check the A-8 Highway in northern Spain (paid with EU funds though)
supergirl 8y ago
rich loan to poor to get richer. this is new to you? you think china is the first or the last to do this? IMF is doing this wherever they can. the west is annoyed china is doing this too so they push all these "amg china is evil" articles to stir the pot and try to turn the locals against chinese.
- icebraining 8y ago
  I'm not sure comparing China with the IMF will help your case; at least in my Western European country, the IMF is itself considered evil by many.
  - barry-cotter 8y ago
    Much easier to blame the IMF than the fact that if you want to spend more than you take in in taxes you’re going to have inflation and currency depreciation unless you have capital controls. Also, the IMF doesn’t really lend large amounts of money to countries that can access global capital markets generally. Non-concessional lending is mostly for when no one will lend your country money because you’re not expected to be able to repay. Concessional lending is interest free so I struggle to see how they’re supposed to make money on that.
  - werber 8y ago
    American's are largely unaware of the IMF and World Bank. It's not something that is mentioned in any huge way. I'd be surprised if more than 15% of the country could give a broad definition of each organization.
- Agathos 8y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
- seibelj 8y ago
  No one takes money from the IMF unless they are so screwed that they have no other options. The reason they have no one willing to lend to them is that their government has enacted policies that destroyed their economy and the IMF requires concrete changes to get them back on the right track. The alternative to taking an IMF loan is so bad (collapse of country) that they take it. It isn’t the IMF’s fault, it’s what happens when those in power loot their country via corruption, huge bloated public sectors, unsustainable pensions, crony capitalism, etc.

There were several stories a few months ago about how China’s Silk Road projects were being given to countries they couldn’t pay them back. I guess it’s true. Look for more of this.

LaundroMat 8y ago

Yes, the Malaysian railway is such a project. http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/malaysia-admits-its-too-late-cancel-chinas-14bn-ea/ http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/malaysia-admits...

pp19dd 8y ago
Also, Montenegro's ONLY highway. They went into it despite experts knowing full well that the country couldn't afford one. "Doubts about the highway surfaced after two feasibility studies, conducted in 2006 and 2012, showed it was not economically viable." https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-silkroad-europe-montenegro-insi/chinese-highway-to-nowhere-haunts-montenegro-idUSKBN1K60QX https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-silkroad-europe-mon...
- moltar 8y ago
  I can’t imagine building a highway on that terrain. I drove thru a lot of Montenegro and I haven’t seen any flatlands.
  - dragandj 8y ago
    The country's name is literally "Black Mountain". There are tiny flatlands around the capital city and that's all.
  - andresalo 8y ago
    You should check the A-8 Highway in northern Spain (paid with EU funds though)

supergirl 8y ago

rich loan to poor to get richer. this is new to you? you think china is the first or the last to do this? IMF is doing this wherever they can. the west is annoyed china is doing this too so they push all these "amg china is evil" articles to stir the pot and try to turn the locals against chinese.

icebraining 8y ago
I'm not sure comparing China with the IMF will help your case; at least in my Western European country, the IMF is itself considered evil by many.
- barry-cotter 8y ago
  Much easier to blame the IMF than the fact that if you want to spend more than you take in in taxes you’re going to have inflation and currency depreciation unless you have capital controls. Also, the IMF doesn’t really lend large amounts of money to countries that can access global capital markets generally. Non-concessional lending is mostly for when no one will lend your country money because you’re not expected to be able to repay. Concessional lending is interest free so I struggle to see how they’re supposed to make money on that.
- werber 8y ago
  American's are largely unaware of the IMF and World Bank. It's not something that is mentioned in any huge way. I'd be surprised if more than 15% of the country could give a broad definition of each organization.
Agathos 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
seibelj 8y ago
No one takes money from the IMF unless they are so screwed that they have no other options. The reason they have no one willing to lend to them is that their government has enacted policies that destroyed their economy and the IMF requires concrete changes to get them back on the right track. The alternative to taking an IMF loan is so bad (collapse of country) that they take it. It isn’t the IMF’s fault, it’s what happens when those in power loot their country via corruption, huge bloated public sectors, unsustainable pensions, crony capitalism, etc.