Almost unfashionably, he views the granting of asylum as a debt that needs to be repaid.
This is a turnaround for the two institutions, which essentially rejected the notion of granting 100percentt debt relief three years ago on the grounds that such a policy would be inequitable.
While canceling the debts would give these nations a much-needed lift, it would be a hollow gesture unless the International Monetary Fund were removed from the process of granting debt relief.
The IMF has said that recovery is impossible until Athens is granted some form of debt forgiveness.
By making mortgages subject to renegotiation in bankruptcy under the supervision of a judge, Merkley hopes to establish a process that would allow borrowers to remain in their homes without simply granting a get-out-of-debt free card to everyone whose home value has declined since the collapse of the housing bubble.
This was not that far off from the time tables of a significant financing round, though, granted, the debt size of $4 million would not be considered a significant round.
Moreover, private investors are not obliged to take the write-down, and two big holders of Greek debt, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, are not granting debt relief.
PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ of Venezuela, speaking to leaders of the OPEC countries in Caracas last week, urged crybabies lamenting the high price of oil to direct their anger at national taxes or, in the case of the poorest countries, at the failure of the rich to grant them debt relief.
In 2007 the IDB granted billions of dollars of debt cancellation to five countries in the hemisphere: Bolivia, Haiti, Honduras, Guyana, and Nicaragua.
Granted, the debt is a result of spending not backed by revenue, but the issue is not overspending.
