Abstract:
When the inability of developing countries to repay vastly expanding debt threatens, in the early 1980s, to undermine the world financial order, CIA analysts were among the first to try to spread the alarm. Officials at other agencies, notably the Treasury Department, are concerned that what the CIA views as prescience may have unintended effects, among them undermining the confidence of financial markets. In a world where knowledge is power and quickly affects decisions, what is the role of the intelligence community?