Best prospect for the Third World in ages

The news that the G-7 is considering total debt relief for the world's most indebted nations beckons with hope.

Forget about empowering women entrepreneuers, building microcredit institutions, fostering "institutions," challenging international brands, or the rest of the crap the Porto Alegre crowd promotes. By far the simplest, at-one-stroke act that rich nations can enact to improve the welfare of the people of poor nations is debt relief.

With that said, putting some limits on the kinds of loans bankers are allowed to issue these countries would be a wise counterpart to a debt moratorium.