PanamaTimes

Saturday, Oct 24, 2026

The Profitable Business of Enslaving Third World Countries

Back in the good old days, if you were an empire builder, you’d just round up the troops and invade where-ever you please.
But that came with a myriad of problems
The plebs in the country you’re invading would retaliate and not comply
You’d lose some of your own troops
Today, other global superpowers like Russia could rebel to protect their allies
You’d build animosity with everyone you ruled over
Invading countries you want to capture isn’t a good public relations move

In today’s world, we needed a different strategy where’d we get the same outcome: control over another country to expand our empire, make more money, get access to their natural resources, etc
But without all the negatives that come with an all out invasion.

Enter - debt

Debt is the most subtle and effective form of imperialism the world has ever known
Let’s say you’ve got a huge construction company or engineering company that specializes in massive power plants, hydroelectric plants, civil engineering infrastructure
Or you’re a powerful politician with a stake in big private companies like these

You all want the same thing - more money.

But there are only so many giant new infrastructure projects first world countries need
So if you can’t get new business domestically, how are you suppose to grow your business and profits?
Third world countries

it’s pretty easy to justify that, “hey, if we build this stuff for you, your people and your economy would be a lot better off and would love you for it”

You almost have a multi-billion dollar strategy - but we’re not quite there yet
They don’t have much money to pay you for these expensive projects

That's where the magic of debt in the form of foreign aid comes in
Countries that previously couldn’t afford your services, all of a sudden can
Even if just one of these projects goes through banks approving a giant loan, that’s a good few billion dollars

As a politician, the more entrenched a country is in your debt, the more power and money you have

As a bank, you’d be getting a ton of interest on these giant loans

To convince them, instead of door to door salespeople, we send economists, engineers, analysts

These people’s jobs are to study the economy of the nation and make economic projections and studies of where the country might be in 10, 20 years if they had a shiny new hydroelectric plant built

This kind of thing has been happening since around the 1970’sit’s been effective so far - developing countries still have a growing $7.8 trillion dollars in debt
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
Trump-Era Policy Shifts Test the Boundaries of U.S. Institutions
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Cuba’s Grid Fails Again as Fuel Crisis Deepens
Nazca Lines Flight Crash Kills Thirteen as Peru Suspends Aerodiana
OpenAI Faces Demands for Full Disclosure After Models Breach Hugging Face
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Why Americans Queue for $15 Ice Cream and a $100 Caviar Pint
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Venezuela’s Earthquake Devastation Turns U.S. Investment Opportunity Into a Thirty-Seven Billion Dollar Reconstruction Challenge
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Colombia Influencer Dies After Cosmetic Procedure at Unlicensed Bogota Salon
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
On the Island That Did Not Yield to Trump, There Is No Electricity, and 10 Million Live in Darkness
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
×