The World Bank Before Singapore: Continuing Crisis
The Wolfowitz agenda
The controversial former United States Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz succeeded James Wolfensohn as the head of the World Bank in June 2005. It was a change that put a great sense of urgency into the question of what course the world’s most influential financial adviser and financing institution would take. However, Wolfowitz’s first year in office brought no great surprises. Instead of radical changes, the Bank’s agenda was governed by the goal of maintaining continuity, writes Daniela Setton.
Completely in line with the wishes of the large European shareholders, Wolfowitz stresses the role of the Bank in middle-income countries, focuses heavily on Africa, promotes the private sector and does not hold back when it comes to moral declarations on the World Bank’s mission to “fight poverty” ... ... this article was published (free content) in >>> Issue 3/Aug-Sep 2006.
The Superiority of the Financial Transaction Tax + Global Unemployment on Record Levels + New Beginning in European Development Policy? + Clean Development for the South
Global Economic Prospects for 2010 + Does Copenhagen Really Matter? + Quo Vadis, German Development Cooperation? + Mapping Social Protection in South Asia
The ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings - an increase of 30% over the previous year. The new Survey also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers' rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.
Barely in office, German development minister Dirk Niebel unambiguously mapped out the road: he wants to ensure that development cooperation once again focuses on German interests. This position provoked-probably intentionally-protest from the greater part of the German development community.
Latvia and Estonia show us what Greece may look forward to if it follows the advice it gets from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union. As noted previously, Latvia has experienced the worst two-year economic downturn on record, losing more than 25% of GDP, a recent study shows.
A group of economists has written an open letter to European policymakers criticising their collective failure to address the Greek crisis as a European crisis. It sets out the various causes of the Greek crisis, of which poor fiscal management by that country is only one, and points out the European dimension of the problems. It calls for decisive and coordinated policies by European and national actors to stem the crisis.
The evaluation of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank's support for gender issues between 2002 and 2008 is of significant relevance in the light of the Beijing+15 review and the launching of gender mainstreaming as crucial strategy for all institutions and organizations.