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NOTES ON LIBERIA’S ECONOMIC CRISIS
BEFORE THE START OF THE CIVIL WAR
(...) In order to fully expose the biases
underlying the IMF’s policies, we need to reflect more on the austerity measures
which the Liberian government was obliged to undertake. First: these measures
included savings- and taxation schemes, such as a compulsory national savings
scheme, a national reconstruction tax
and higher excise taxes, - proposals which targeted Liberian citizens, instead
of Liberia’s foreign concession-holders (8). This was a grave injustice to the
Liberian people, as research undertaken by the Dutch academician van der Kraaij
brings out crystal clear. In his
comprehensive investigation of the role of concessions in the Liberian economy
completed in 1983, van der Kraaij argues that the Liberian treasurer lost
potential revenues of nearly $ 300 million during the period from 1975 to 1979.
According to him, $ 60 million or 40 percent of
the average annual domestic revenue was foregone in consequence of poor taxation
policies vis-à-vis foreign companies (9).
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History Online
The Dispatch
Edwin Barclay was selected to complete King's term as president. One of the
first official decisions of President Barclay was to repeal the famous port of
Entry Law of 1864 that had restricted the economic activities of foreigners in
the country. Subsequently, in the early 1930s concession agreements were signed
between the Liberian Government and Dutch, Danish, German and Polish investors.Fred
P.M. van der Kraaij, 'The Open Door Policy of Liberia. An Economic history
of Modern Liberia' (Bremen, 1983), Chapter 2, The origins of the Closed
Door Policies and Open Door Policies 1847-1947, pp. 12-46.
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THE FIRESTONE RUBBER PLANTATION AND LIBERIA: A HISTORY OF BROKEN PROMISES,
SHELL GAMES, AND HIDDEN PROFITS
By Carl Patrick Burrowes, Ph. D.*
(...) After the Legislature had approved the agreements, Harvey Firestone
took the first of many controversial steps that would come to characterize his
company’s dealings with Liberia: He inserted a clause (the infamous “Clause K”),
which made the one million acre lease dependent on the government accepting a $5
million loan from him. Firestone’s proposal aroused widespread and high-level
protests inside the country: The secretary of the treasury denied the need for a
new loan in his Annual Report for the Fiscal Year 1925, while the attorney
general of Liberia judged some articles in the Loan Agreement to be
unconstitutional.
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Why the E.U. Concept of Development in Liberia is Dangerous?
By Moses Geply, Ph.D.
In this short paper, therefore, we intend to argue that the EU Election
Observation Mission Chief’s concept of economic development in Liberia is both a
blatant disrespect for the Laws of Liberia and a lack of knowledge of the
economic history of that country. On this note, without going too far, Max van
den Berg should consult his compatriot and economic historian, F.M.P. van der
Kraaij’s (...)
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The Fagalde Collection of West African Tribal Art
Kissi Money or ‘Money with a Soul’
After being replaced by Western currencies, the use of Kissi money became
virtually limited to ritual ceremonies such as on the occasion of the return of
young men and women from the bush schools (Poro and Sande schools) or for
sacrifices and divination ceremonies. It also serves for making protective
fetishes and to decorate the graves of old warriors. Still many people believe
the old money to possess magical powers. Hence, according to many tribal
Liberians, the Kissi money still is ‘money with a soul’.
This article is published with the kind permission of Dr Fred van der Kraaij
(...)
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The Fagalde Collection of West African Tribal Art
Ritual object or 'Kru money'?
The civil war - fourteen years of looting, destruction and fighting - has cost
the lives of an estimated quarter of a million people and has seriously damaged
Liberia’s cultural heritage. It has added to the negative effects of a humid
climate, carelessness and economic modernization. Today, tons of Liberian art
have been lost.
This article is published with the kind permission of Dr Fred van der Kraaij
(...)
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Dictator of the Month: October 2003
Samuel Kanyon Doe was born on May 6, probably in 1951. He was born in Tuzon, a
small town in Grand Gedeh County, in the Southeastern part of Liberia. His
parents were poor and uneducated, like most rural Liberians, and they belong to
the Krahn tribe. Samuel Doe had only accomplished primary education when he
became a career soldier, presumably because of lack of other job opportunities.
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Die Außenpolitik Liberias seit der Unabhängigkeit
- Aspekte ihrer Bestimmungsgründe -
Von Klaus D. Loetzer
Zum Ende der Regierungszeit Tubman besaß Liberia
die weltweit größte Wirtschaftsflotte, beheimatete die größte Gummiindustrie der
Welt,
war die drittgrößte Eisenerzexportnation, und hatte mehr als eine Million
US-Dollars an ausländischen
Direktinvestitionen ins Land geholt, darunter die höchste schwedische
Auslandsinvestitionen
nach 1945, ebenso wie die größte deutsche Auslandsinvestitionen in Afrika zur
damaligen Zeit (van der Kraaij, 1983).
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The Liberia’s Culture of Unlawful Practices Continues Under New Officials
By Siahyonkron Nyanseor
During the 27 years reign of President Tubman, newspapers were closed down and
their editors jailed for criticizing him or his government. According to Fred
van der Kraaij, “authors such as Robert A. Smith, A. Doris Banks Henries and
Lawrence A. Marinelli ‘devoted eulogies’ to him, while others such as Albert
Porte, Tuan Wreh, Robert W. Clower and Gus J. Liebenow did not attempt to hide
their criticism and, in some cases, their disgust at his policies and practices”.
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Liberia 1989 - 1994
A study of Ethnic and Spiritual Violence
by Stephen Ellis
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VIOLENT CONFLICTS AND GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES IN WEST AFRICA: The Case of
the Mano River Basin Area
Amos Sawyer
Rubber production and iron ore mining were the two dominant economic export
activities and foreign
exchange earners. Together they accounted for more than 40 per cent of the wage
earning labor force. For
about a decade as of the early 1960s, government’s resistance of workers’
initiative to constitute unions
and collective bargaining associations was a constant source of tension.
Sporadic strikes were perceived by
the government to threaten the security of the state. (See Clower et al. (1964),
Mayson and Sawyer (1979),
van der Kraaij (1983)
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Ritualistic Killings Spark Mob Action in Maryland
By Josephus Moses Gray
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