TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: Imperiled Riches—Threatened Rainforests
Interest Rates and Logging
The high interest rates and discount rates of many developing countries give loggers incentive to mow down tropical forests quickly and bank the profits rather than leave trees standing for future harvests. For example, in Bolivia, money in the bank "grows at about 17% annually. Slow-growing mahogany in the wild only appreciates at about 5% a year, about 1% of that from prices increases in timber and 4% in the size of the standing trees."Continued: Economic Restructuring