Global Policy Forum

A Fork in the Road to Riches (June 25, 2000)
The idea of allowing developing countries to choose their best path for development is not welcomed by the World Bank. "Experimentalists" like Kanbur and Stiglitz, who believe that governments can set their own path and pace to the market, both ended up going back to their cozy academia. (New York Times)

Wolfowitz Clashes with World Bank Staff and Mideast Chief Exits (December 12, 2006)
This Bloomberg News piece reports on World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz' worrying praxis of staffing high-level positions in the Bank with individuals who are "short on expertise and long on political connections" to the US Republicans. New appointees replace 14 of the Bank's 29 highest-level executives who have resigned since the former US deputy defense secretary assumed the presidency in June 2005. Among them is the Bank's 30-year veteran vice president for the Middle East who stepped down after "resisting pressure to speed up the pace of lending and adding staff in Iraq." Concerns have now resurfaced that Wolfowitz serves "to provide political cover for the White House" in Iraq.

The Persistently Poor (December 8, 2006)
This Washington Post piece reports on the 2006 ‘Annual Review of Development Effectiveness' compiled by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG). While Bank management boasts about the World Bank's contribution to economic growth in developing countries, the IEG study stresses that in many countries growth has failed to reduce poverty because it has been very unevenly distributed, and also very volatile. The report criticizes Bank programs for failing to adapt to local conditions and for not considering the poor's vulnerability to price and currency liberalizations.

World Bank Trade Programs Must Tackle Poverty (March 23, 2006)
A study released by World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) says that the Bank has not done enough to foster sustained export-growth and to tackle poverty in poor countries. While encouraging market liberalization, the Bank failed to address poor countries' vulnerability caused by their dependence on few export products. The report also encourages the Bank to consider the particular needs of every country in its recommendations. (Reuters)

IMF Report Cites Errors in Handling of 3 Crises (July 30, 2003)
A report by the IMF Independent Evaluation Office concluded that the IMF failed to recognize the gravity of the capital account crises in Indonesia, Korea, and Brazil. (Bloomburg News)

Saitoti Slams World Bank Policies (September 6, 2002)
Former World Bank vice-president George Saitoti denounced the Bretton Woods institutions for disregarding the interests of impoverished African countries. He accuses the World Bank and the IMF of formulating policies that "expose more people to poverty instead of reducing poverty." (East African Standard)

The Two Faces of Globalization: Against Globalization As We Know It (May 2002)
World Bank researcher Branko Milanovic directly attacks the Bank's traditional assumption that openness and trade liberalization lead to growth and, subsequently, poverty reduction. Instead, Milanovic argues that proponents of unbridled liberalization systematically ignore the malignant effects of globalization. (World Bank, Research Department)

The Two Faces of Globalization: Against Globalization As We Know It (May 2002)
World Bank researcher Branko Milanovic directly attacks the Bank's traditional assumption that openness and trade liberalization lead to growth and, subsequently, poverty reduction. Instead, Milanovic argues that proponents of unbridled liberalization systematically ignore the malignant effects of globalization. (World Bank, Research Department)

Can We Discern the Effect of Globalization on Income Distribution? (April, 2002)
World Bank researcher Branko Milanovic finds that trade liberalization and openness benefit the rich, not the poor, in the world's most impoverished countries. His research challenges much of traditional World Bank policy. (World Bank, Research Department)

Writing From the Inside, an Economist Says the World Bank Is Failing Its Mission (March 20, 2002)
World Bank economist William Easterly criticizes the World Bank for unsuccessful programs in developing countries. He explains that the institution still has not figured out how to make poor economies grow. (Washington Post)

Bank Staff Criticize "Thought Police" (January 17, 2002)
The World Bank experiences internal criticism due to censorship and a bad self-governing structure. Several leading economists have left the bank after criticizing it for giving bureaucratic conformity priority over important research findings. (Bretton Woods Project)

Showdown at the World Bank (January/February, 2001)
Robert Wade, a former economist with the World Bank, narrates the saga of Ravi Kanbur and Joseph Stiglitz's stormy resignations from the Bank. Wade argues that the US Treasury played a decisive role in silencing the dissident economists, and advocates for limiting US hegemony at the Bank. (New Left Review)

Creating Poverty (December 15, 2001)
Former World Bank employee Theodore E. Downing criticizes the World Bank and its revised involuntary resettlement policies. He argues that the Bank clings to policies that its own studies have found to be flawed and to be potentially in violation of human rights. (ted-downing)

World Bank Presses Inquiry on Economist Who Dissents (September 7, 2001)
William Easterly, one of the World Bank's top economists, is under disciplinary investigation for publicly criticizing the bank's poverty reduction policies. Bank president James Wolfensohn is asserting greater control over internal dissent in the face of mounting criticism both from the outside and within the ranks of the bank's own employees. (New York Times)

Don't Bank on It: Factions at The World Bank Argue (July 4, 2000)
The resignation of Kanbur and Stiglitz highlights the rifts within the World Bank. This article from the Guardian details the rivalry between the 'ultra-orthodox school' and its critics.

Another One Bites the Dust (June 2000)
The resignations of Stiglitz and Kanbur from their posts at the World Bank were generally seen to indicate an interior power struggle. But this is not the only conflict rocking the organization: Nicola Bullard points out that the Bank is also caught in the middle of partisan politics in the US Congress. (Focus on Trade)

Globalization Versus Internationalization (1999)
In a speech in Buenos Aires, Herman Daly compares these terms and discusses some of the resulting implications.

When Protectionism Is a Good Thing (1994)
Seven years ago, then World Bank economist Herman E. Daly expressed views differing from the policy of the institution as he described how protectionism can benefit national economies because capital circulates locally, allowing societies to become self-sufficient. (People-Centered Development Forum)

Herman Daly's Farewell Speech (1994)
When Herman Daly resigned from his post as Senior Economist in the Environmental Department of the World Bank, he advised the middle-aged institution to get some "new eyeglasses and a hearing aid." He also left some parting suggestions for reforms to promote environmentally sustainable development at the Bank. (Whirled Bank Group)