THE WORLD BANK'S MISSION CREEP.J. E

THE WORLD BANK'S MISSION CREEP.
J. Einhorn
Abstract
Reports on the history of the World Bank. How its mission has become overly complex; How the bank takes on challenges that lie beyond the institution's operational capabilities; Original intention for the establishment of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; Former World Bank president Robert McNamara's plan to eradicate poverty; How developing countries have defaulted on loans from the International Monetary Fund.
Keywords
INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund -- Economic policy -- Evaluation
LESS IS MORE
The World Bank and the global community have learned a lot about development in the past 50 years. The bank is justly proud of its commitment to being a knowledge-based institution and has consistently responded to development setbacks with thoughtful analysis followed by new areas of lending. At the same time, critics have repeatedly faulted the bank for overlooking certain issues and constituencies, from environmental concerns in the 1980s to civil society in the 1990s. Along the way, the bank has added new tasks to its mandate. In recent years, it has been called on for emergency lending in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, for economic management as part of Middle East peacekeeping efforts, for postwar Balkan reconstruction, and for loans to combat the aids tragedy in Africa.
By now, its mission has become so complex that it strains credulity to portray the bank as a manageable organization. The bank takes on challenges that lie far beyond any institution's operational capabilities. The calls for greater focus through reform seem to produce little beyond conferences and consternation, since every program has a dedicated constituency resisting change. To counter these problems, the countries that own the bank -- its shareholders -- need to elaborate a worthwhile and suitably modest agenda. The views of emerging-market countries, which have shared in the bank's successes as well as its failures, should count a great deal; they are the ones who have lived the lessons of the past decades. Policymakers should consider a broad array of options, including devolving some of the bank's functions to new institutions or redistributing them to existing ones. But whatever the remedy, it is time to redefine the bank's unwieldy mission.
HISTORY LESSONS
The World Bank, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was established at Bretton Woods as part of the post-World War II international financial architecture. This system was meant to avoid future world wars by ensuring an open international trading system and global financial stability. At the founding conference, the economist John Maynard Keynes called for an institution that would focus first on postwar reconstruction and then on development in poor countries. The bank was thus established, beginning the great postwar experiment of using public loans for economic development.
Fundamentally committed to open trade, the bank initially emphasized loans to build public infrastructure -- railways, roads, ports, power plants, and communication facilities. It believed such projects, accompanied by financial stability and private investment, could do the most to trigger development. The bank then learned lessons along the way. Latin America showed the deleterious effects of inflation and macroeconomic instability. South Asia demonstrated how the state could distort markets through price and regulatory controls, producing scarcity and skewed prices. Africa taught the importance of education, training, and human-resource development for economic progress. Thus the bank came to understand the importance of policy. And money became the vehicle for policy advice, displacing the old notion that foreign capital alone would spur greater productive investment and, over time, development.
Economic theory kept pace with experience. Traditionally, economists emphasized GDP growth as the motor of development and focused on the key role of capital. But over time, some began to embrace a broader conception of the inputs necessary for development, such as labor requirements, social structures, and entrepreneurship. Economists observed a correlation between economic growth on one hand and literacy and low population growth on the other, and eventually they accepted these and other social goals as essential inputs to development. As for outputs, development came to encompass not just growth but equitable income distribution and environmental sustainability.
By describing social goals as inputs rather than results, the bank cleared the path for a cumulative piling on of tasks over the decades, including issues of governance, participation by the poor, and anticorruption. This approach also let the bank pursue an increasingly democratic and humanistic agenda without appearing to be politically intrusive. Rather than acknowledging the political dimension of female education in Muslim countries, for example, the bank argued that Pakistan would reap "the highest economic returns" from educating its girls. (Many critics charged that this "narrow" economic rationale was insensitive. But the bank was probably more effective this way than when it tries to justify policy as a matter of shared values.)
From the 1970s to the 1990s, the bank's research continued to expand the development agenda. In a famous speech in Nairobi in 1973, the bank's president at the time, Robert McNamara, called for a new, more challenging, and complex approach to rural development for the globe's poorest people. In a stirring conclusion, he asked all parties to seek to eradicate poverty by the end of the twentieth century, eliminating malnutrition and illiteracy, and raising life expectancy across the developing world. His speech forcefully initiated a tradition of identifying global problems, setting bold objectives, and then attempting to tackle them no matter how complicated the undertaking.
Yet McNamara's vision proved illusory. It is a sad irony that the great post-Nairobi failures came to be identified with the rural sector that figured so prominently in his speech. In Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere's failed rural policies proceeded with bank support as he aimed to resettle peasants in more compact communities. By the early 1980s, the bank itself took note of the exceptionally problematic record of rural development projects, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The failures led to further studies and more ambitious conclusions: the need for strong institutions of government, the centrality of human resources, and the necessity of more participation by the poor in designing projects. The bank had learned how an integrated antipoverty program could tax capabilities beyond capacities.
Whereas Africa required an expansion of the bank's mission within the poorest countries, Latin America posed a different challenge in the 1980s. In the turbulent global economy of the 1970s, the oil-price hikes had created huge new requirements for global financing. Banks with major new deposits based on oil wealth had engaged in large-scale lending to developing countries, particularly in Latin America. As those countries' economic management faltered and debt grew, however, this trend became unsustainable. In 1982, Mexico shocked the world with the news that it could not meet the repayment obligations on its debts. Many parties became tangled in the prolonged resolution of the debt crisis, which spread to other middle-income Latin American countries.
For the bank, this travail set the stage for "structural adjustment" lending, in which loans were proffered in exchange for government commitments to economic reform. This set of commitments came to be known as the "Washington consensus," and it included trade liberalization, tax reform, realistic exchange rates, liberalization of capital markets, and privatization. Although the term has been caricatured and misrepresented as a symbol for heartless World Bank policies, the reality was much more positive. A bank study of 1980s adjustment programs in 42 countries found substantial success -- with steadier growth rates, lower inflation, and improvements in current accounts and trade regimes. And although times were hard for many countries, both the bank and the receiving countries increasingly agreed on the need for reform and the realization that money is only as beneficial as the policies it supports. The bank also learned the importance of taking explicit account of the poor in economic reform discussions. The

Результаты (русский) 1:

ВСЕМИРНОГО БАНКА МИССИЯ ПОЛЗУЧЕСТИ.J. ЭйнгорнАннотацияДоклады по истории Всемирного банка. Как его миссия стала чрезмерно сложной; Как банк принимает на себя задачи, которые лежат за пределами учреждения оперативного потенциала; Первоначальным намерением для создания Всемирного банка и Международного валютного фонда; Президент бывший Всемирного банка Роберт Макнамара план по искоренению нищеты; Как развивающиеся страны дефолт по кредитам от Международного валютного фонда.Ключевые словаМеждународный валютный фонд--Экономическая политика--оценкиМЕНЬШЕ ЗНАЧИТ БОЛЬШЕВсемирный банк и мировое сообщество узнал много нового о развитии за последние 50 лет. Банк гордится своей приверженности будучи учреждением на основе знаний и последовательно ответил на развитие неудачи с вдумчивый анализ последовали новые области кредитования. В то же время критики неоднократно сбой банка с видом на некоторые вопросы и групп, от экологических проблем в 1980-х для гражданского общества в 90-х. По пути банк добавлены новые задачи к ее мандату. В последние годы она называется на для чрезвычайных кредитов в результате азиатского финансового кризиса, для экономического управления как часть усилий по поддержанию мира Ближний Восток, для послевоенного восстановления Балкан и кредитов для борьбы со СПИДом трагедия в Африке.В настоящее время ее миссия стала настолько сложной, что он штаммов доверчивость изобразить банк как управляемой организации. Банк принимает на себя задачи, которые стоят далеко за пределы оперативных возможностей любого учреждения. Звонки для большего внимания через реформы, как представляется, производят мало Помимо конференций и ужас, поскольку каждая программа имеет специальный избирательный округ сопротивляются изменения. Для борьбы с этими проблемами, страны, которые владеют банка--ее акционеров--необходимо разработать стоит и достаточно скромные повестки дня. Мнения стран с формирующейся рыночной экономикой, которые имеют общие успехи банка, а также ее неудачи, следует рассчитывать многого; они являются теми, кто жил уроки прошлых десятилетий. Директивным органам следует рассмотреть широкий спектр вариантов, включая делегирование некоторых из функций банка для новых институтов или перераспределение их для уже существующих. Но независимо от средства правовой защиты, пришло время пересмотреть громоздким миссии банка.УРОКИ ИСТОРИИВсемирный банк, а также Международного валютного фонда (МВФ), была учреждена в Бреттон-Вудсе в рамках мировой войны II международной финансовой архитектуры. Эта система предназначалась для избежать будущих войн мира путем обеспечения открытой системы международной торговли и глобальной финансовой стабильности. На учредительной конференции экономист Джон Мейнард Кейнс призвал учреждения, которое бы сосредоточиться в первую очередь на послевоенного восстановления, а затем по развитию в бедных странах. Таким образом, был создан банк, начало Великой послевоенной эксперимент с использованием государственных кредитов для экономического развития.Принципиально привержены открытой торговли, банк первоначально подчеркнул кредитов для создания общественной инфраструктуры — железные дороги, дороги, порты, электростанций и средства связи. Он считает, что такие проекты, в сопровождении финансовой стабильности и частных инвестиций, могут сделать наиболее триггера развития. Банк затем уроки по пути. Латинской Америке показали пагубные последствия инфляции и макроэкономической нестабильности. Южной Азии продемонстрировали, как государство может исказить рынки через цена и регулирования, производство дефицита и перекос цен. Африка преподавал важное значение образования, подготовки кадров и развития людских ресурсов для экономического прогресса. Таким образом Банк пришли к пониманию важности политики. И деньги стал автомобиль за консультирование по вопросам политики, вытесняя старые понятие, что иностранный капитал лишь побудит более производительных инвестиций и, со временем, развития.Экономическая теория в ногу с опытом работы. Традиционно экономисты подчеркнул рост ВВП как двигатель развития и сосредоточены на ключевую роль столицы. Но со временем, некоторые начали принять более широкой концепции вводимых ресурсов, необходимых для развития, например требования трудовых, социальных структур и предпринимательства. Экономисты наблюдается корреляция между экономическим ростом, с одной стороны и грамотности и роста низкой численности населения с другой, и в конечном итоге они приняли этих и других социальных целей, выступающего необходимым условием для развития. Что касается мероприятий развитие пришли к охватывать не только роста, но справедливое распределение доходов и экологической устойчивости.By describing social goals as inputs rather than results, the bank cleared the path for a cumulative piling on of tasks over the decades, including issues of governance, participation by the poor, and anticorruption. This approach also let the bank pursue an increasingly democratic and humanistic agenda without appearing to be politically intrusive. Rather than acknowledging the political dimension of female education in Muslim countries, for example, the bank argued that Pakistan would reap "the highest economic returns" from educating its girls. (Many critics charged that this "narrow" economic rationale was insensitive. But the bank was probably more effective this way than when it tries to justify policy as a matter of shared values.)From the 1970s to the 1990s, the bank's research continued to expand the development agenda. In a famous speech in Nairobi in 1973, the bank's president at the time, Robert McNamara, called for a new, more challenging, and complex approach to rural development for the globe's poorest people. In a stirring conclusion, he asked all parties to seek to eradicate poverty by the end of the twentieth century, eliminating malnutrition and illiteracy, and raising life expectancy across the developing world. His speech forcefully initiated a tradition of identifying global problems, setting bold objectives, and then attempting to tackle them no matter how complicated the undertaking.Yet McNamara's vision proved illusory. It is a sad irony that the great post-Nairobi failures came to be identified with the rural sector that figured so prominently in his speech. In Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere's failed rural policies proceeded with bank support as he aimed to resettle peasants in more compact communities. By the early 1980s, the bank itself took note of the exceptionally problematic record of rural development projects, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The failures led to further studies and more ambitious conclusions: the need for strong institutions of government, the centrality of human resources, and the necessity of more participation by the poor in designing projects. The bank had learned how an integrated antipoverty program could tax capabilities beyond capacities.Whereas Africa required an expansion of the bank's mission within the poorest countries, Latin America posed a different challenge in the 1980s. In the turbulent global economy of the 1970s, the oil-price hikes had created huge new requirements for global financing. Banks with major new deposits based on oil wealth had engaged in large-scale lending to developing countries, particularly in Latin America. As those countries' economic management faltered and debt grew, however, this trend became unsustainable. In 1982, Mexico shocked the world with the news that it could not meet the repayment obligations on its debts. Many parties became tangled in the prolonged resolution of the debt crisis, which spread to other middle-income Latin American countries.For the bank, this travail set the stage for "structural adjustment" lending, in which loans were proffered in exchange for government commitments to economic reform. This set of commitments came to be known as the "Washington consensus," and it included trade liberalization, tax reform, realistic exchange rates, liberalization of capital markets, and privatization. Although the term has been caricatured and misrepresented as a symbol for heartless World Bank policies, the reality was much more positive. A bank study of 1980s adjustment programs in 42 countries found substantial success -- with steadier growth rates, lower inflation, and improvements in current accounts and trade regimes. And although times were hard for many countries, both the bank and the receiving countries increasingly agreed on the need for reform and the realization that money is only as beneficial as the policies it supports. The bank also learned the importance of taking explicit account of the poor in economic reform discussions. The

Результаты (русский) 3:

всемирный банк пробуксовки.


доклады об абстрактных J эйнхорн истории всемирного банка.как его миссии стал слишком сложным, как банк принимает вызовы, которые находятся за пределами учреждения оперативного потенциала; первоначальное намерение о создании всемирного банка и международного валютного фонда; бывший президент всемирного банка роберт макнамара плана по искоренению нищеты;о том, каким образом развивающиеся страны не выполняют кредиты от международного валютного фонда.
ключевые слова: международный валютный фонд - экономической политики - оценка
менее более
всемирного банка и глобального сообщества много узнали о развитии в последние 50 лет.банк по праву гордится своей приверженности является учреждением, основанным на знаниях, и последовательно ответил на проблемах развития, в глубокий анализ, после чего новые сферы кредитования.в то же время критики неоднократно обвинил банк с видом на определенные вопросы и округов, от экологических проблем в 80 - е годы гражданского общества в 1990 - х гг. вместе с тем,банк были добавлены новые задачи, для выполнения его мандата.в последние годы стало призвали для экстренного кредитования после азиатского финансового кризиса экономического управления в рамках усилий по поддержанию мира на ближнем востоке, послевоенный балканских реконструкции, и для кредитов в борьбе с спидом трагедии в африке.
сейчас,