Cambodia’s “Dirty Debts” to the US — Redux
In the 1970s, the US allowed Cambodia to finance the importation of rice and other agricultural commodities. The debt remains unpaid. One version of this story is that successor Cambodian governments have refused to pay these “dirty” debts. In this telling, the US used the loans to prop up a friendly but illegitimate Cambodian regime. Although the US shipped food, loan proceeds mostly financed the Cambodian military, which the US used as a proxy in the fight against the North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge. Meanwhile, the US was bombing the Cambodian countryside, destroying domestic food production and contributing to a humanitarian crisis. To make matters worse, it turns out most of the food was sent to countries other than Cambodia. To some observers, the US bears a significant share of responsibility for the Khmer Rouge’s ultimate rise to power. Decades later, after indescribable suffering (caused at least in part by US interference) the US wants money back. The contours of this story are largely true, but the real story of the PL-480 “Food for Peace” program is more complicated. Today’s episode is about what we have found so far and the questions that still remain open.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5561161
Producer: Leanna Doty
All content for Clauses & Controversies is the property of Mitu Gulati & Mark Weidemaier and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Cambodia’s “Dirty Debts” to the US — Redux
In the 1970s, the US allowed Cambodia to finance the importation of rice and other agricultural commodities. The debt remains unpaid. One version of this story is that successor Cambodian governments have refused to pay these “dirty” debts. In this telling, the US used the loans to prop up a friendly but illegitimate Cambodian regime. Although the US shipped food, loan proceeds mostly financed the Cambodian military, which the US used as a proxy in the fight against the North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge. Meanwhile, the US was bombing the Cambodian countryside, destroying domestic food production and contributing to a humanitarian crisis. To make matters worse, it turns out most of the food was sent to countries other than Cambodia. To some observers, the US bears a significant share of responsibility for the Khmer Rouge’s ultimate rise to power. Decades later, after indescribable suffering (caused at least in part by US interference) the US wants money back. The contours of this story are largely true, but the real story of the PL-480 “Food for Peace” program is more complicated. Today’s episode is about what we have found so far and the questions that still remain open.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5561161
Producer: Leanna Doty
The Invasion Tax
The lawsuit over Ukraine's $3 billion bond debt to Russia seems to be on hold (maybe forever) in the English courts. And maybe there is no way for the Russian government to force repayment. Still, the debt is a minor cloud hanging (along with many bigger ones) over Ukraine. It would be nice if there was a way to make it go away permanently. Might there be? We talk about a common provision in a sovereign bond's Taxation section — we aren't sure how common, but it certainly isn't unique to Ukraine — that lets the issuer tax investors who have a connection to it other than simply holding its bonds. As written, this provision would allow Ukraine to impose a 100% tax on bond payments to Russia. This may not be what the drafters had in mind, and it opens the door to some unsavory tax shenanigans, but an Invasion Tax doesn't seem too objectionable.
Also: "Whatever it takes" means "whatever it takes!" Except when it means something else.
Producer: Leanna Doty
Clauses & Controversies
Cambodia’s “Dirty Debts” to the US — Redux
In the 1970s, the US allowed Cambodia to finance the importation of rice and other agricultural commodities. The debt remains unpaid. One version of this story is that successor Cambodian governments have refused to pay these “dirty” debts. In this telling, the US used the loans to prop up a friendly but illegitimate Cambodian regime. Although the US shipped food, loan proceeds mostly financed the Cambodian military, which the US used as a proxy in the fight against the North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge. Meanwhile, the US was bombing the Cambodian countryside, destroying domestic food production and contributing to a humanitarian crisis. To make matters worse, it turns out most of the food was sent to countries other than Cambodia. To some observers, the US bears a significant share of responsibility for the Khmer Rouge’s ultimate rise to power. Decades later, after indescribable suffering (caused at least in part by US interference) the US wants money back. The contours of this story are largely true, but the real story of the PL-480 “Food for Peace” program is more complicated. Today’s episode is about what we have found so far and the questions that still remain open.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5561161
Producer: Leanna Doty
