Re:France loots former colonies
by meric on Wednesday January 28, 2015 @02:21AM
(#8958567)
I had better luck googling "colonial pact". I think the worry is African's money deposited into French reserve bank is used to invest in African infrastructure, and part of the profits kept by the French (and the shareholders of the named company) themselves and the other part remain forever unavailable to the member countries themsevles.
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I tried the other languages as well. All the same authors, same pieces rehashed. Nothing like a source to base your opinion on, imho. I'd even trust Krugman at this point ;) I don't read French easily, but even Google Scholar seems to hold the same coloured content.
On the contents: a central bank scheme indeed. And in normal circumstances your central banks profits fill the coffers of your state. In this case the problem is the profits are not divided among stakeholders, only to the shareholder (the French).
Well the solution is 'simple': start your own currency. My impression is that those countries greatly benefit from a more stable currency (haven't looked it up at Bloomberg), since there is an implicit guarantee from the French state (is there?). We need a more total picture (costs and benefits) in order to be able to form somewhat of an opinion.
Re:France loots former colonies
by andymcsherry on Wednesday January 28, 2015 @02:32AM
(#8958594)
Here's a Blomberg article in the matter which suggests the rationale of a more stable currency.
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-04-17/african-mone...