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Sri Lanka, Ukraine, South Sudan, Haiti, Greece, Zambia, The Latin America Lost Decade… prepare yourselves for a lesson in history . And in geography. And in (ew) economics! Today, we’re talking about debt.

You might not know it, but the world is in a spiralling global debt crisis. On average, low-income countries spend about a fifth of their entire national budget paying off foreign debt. To put that number into perspective, in 2014, it was just 5%. 3 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than education or health.

And who are these interest payments going to? Bankers, billionaires, and the world’s wealthiest countries — incidentally, often former colonisers.

This is not the story we get told in the media. So to tell us the first-hand human impact of global debt – which is inextricably linked to the climate crisis – we are joined by one of Zambia’s most prominent debt cancellation and climate activists, Precious Kolbwana. Plus, spitting cold hard facts, Lead Economist at the NGO CAFOD, Maria Finnerty.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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