Articles by Andre Gunder Frank

Andre Gunder Frank The reparations transfer out of Germany after its First World War defeat reached a maximum of perhaps 3.5 per cent of GNP and 15 per cent of export earnings in the darkest years of 1929-31. In his "The Economic Consequences of the Peace", Keynes warned that this drain would be unsustainable for Germany and counterproductive for the world. He was proven right by the resultant rise of Hitler Yet many Third World countries are today being drained at 5 and 6 per cent of their GNP and 30 to 50 per cent and more of their export earnings annually through the resource transfer of their debt service. And despite this enormous hemorrhage of the Third World, most proposals to deal with the Third World debt crisis propose to further increase the debt now and debt service later even more.

before the Storm?
Andre Gunder Frank The international economic recovery since 1983 has been widely acclaimed as having overcome the economic problems of the previous decade through renewed growth. This claim rests on shaky foundations. In the US the recovery has been weakly sustained by consumer spending and debt finance; and internationally the spread of the recession has been slow and uneven which has exacerbated international economic imbalances and threatens the stability of the world economy in the next recession.

World Economic Crisis and Third World in Mid-1980s Andre Gunder Frank The Americans are playing financial poker with the West Europeans and the Japanese, as well as with the Brizilians, the Nigerians and everybody else. As long as the international economic system continues to work, the American banks and American economy are continuing to benefit. So it is rational for them, in the short run, the bluff as much as possible against their opponents and partners as long as the Americans have, or think they have, the financial ace that, at the moment, there is no alternative to the US dollar in the world economy. The Americans are, therefore, most reluctant to come to any alternative arrangement of the world financial system, while the Europeans and others are much more willing to do so, and some indeed are asking for a new arrangement.

Development Living in the Real World Andre Gunder Frank Are we living in many different societies and going through various crises simultaneously, or are we really living in a single world that is going through only one crisis, albeit with different manifestations?

Emergence of Permanent Emergency in India Andre Gunder Frank This paper argues that the most important causes and consequences of 'Emergency Rule' in India should be sought and can be found in the depending accumulation crisis in Indian industry (and in the capitalist world generally) since the mid-1960s and in the measures taken by Indian (and foreign) capital to confront this crisis.