"The rich shall inherit the earth" analyses the role and impact of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Structural Adjustment Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa and argues that the programmes are mis-targeted, ineffectual and harmful to these countries. It contends that IMF programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa have resulted in reduced incomes, increased poverty, deteriorating social conditions, reduced growth potential and the deepening of dependency. Moreover, IMF austerity regimes worsen the conditions of the poor through, inter alia, growing unemployment, declining incomes, escalating prices for basic commodities and declining access to medical and educational facilities. The laissez-faire ideology which the IMF promotes benefits the industrialized countries at the expense of the societies and economies of developing nations. The study recommends that ruling elites re-think their development strategies in order to reduce balance-of-payments problems, minimize external borrowing, use available resources responsibly and thus avoid the need for IMF-type adjustment programmes.
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