In the previous blog post, I examined four key structural defects in the World Bank’s bureaucracy that reduce effectiveness and ultimately create hurdles for its poverty reduction activities. In this vein, I continue with several more observations that suggest effectiveness is undermined.



1. Maintaining the status quo compels Bank managers to be risk-averse. This tendency exists in tandem with another characteristic known in the institution as its “approval culture.” Managerial… Continue

In April 2009, the G-20 pumped funds into key international financial institutions (IFI) such as the IMF and Bank to mitigate damaging effects of the global economic downturn on the most vulnerable developing countries. Estimates from international organizations, including the Bank, indicated the crisis was returning tens of millions of people back into abject poverty. The G-20’s decision and the impact of the crisis have heightened pressure on the Bank, both from a political and a humanitarian… Continue

In the previous blog post, I examined four key structural defects in the World Bank’s bureaucracy that reduce effectiveness and ultimately create hurdles for its poverty reduction activities. In this vein, I continue with several more observations that suggest effectiveness is undermined.



1.Maintaining the status quo compels Bank managers to be risk-averse. This tendency exists in tandem with another characteristic known in the institution as its “approval culture.” Managerial… Continue

One well-known aphorism that has circulated the halls of the World Bank over the years is it is generally less than the sum of its parts. Part of this tongue-in-cheek observation is based on a cynicism that can grow within any bureaucracy. However, with regards to the Bank, it is also based in part on the cold reality of its unique environment. From personal experience and research conducted for The World Bank Unveiled, I have identified a number of structural inefficiencies that keep the Bank… Continue

Dear Business Fights Poverty Community:



In 2002, the richest countries of the world pledged to devote 0.7% of their GDP to aid poor countries with development and poverty reduction. But by 2008, their aid levels amounted to only 0.28% collectively. Aid from the U.S. was only 0.16%. In part, this reflected a priority to fund the war on terrorism more than the war on global poverty, though some in the development field suggest poverty is a key driver of terrorism. It also represented a… Continue

Dear Friend:



When he left the World Bank in 2005, former President James Wolfensohn said transparency reduced corruption, reduced corruption led to better governance and better governance increased development. Transparency, he believed, was the key. But history suggests the Bank’s management believes transparency is something that should apply to its clients and other external stakeholders rather than to itself.



Defenders of the Bank might note that the institution… Continue

I thought the Business Fights Poverty community might be interested in a new book I published recently with Parkhurst Brothers Publishing and the University of Chicago Press entitled The World Bank Unveiled: Inside the Revolutionary Struggle for Transparency. The book documents my experiences inside the Bank seeking to reform the institution into one that is more open and accountable to its stakeholders. The book addresses several keys questions: What does transparency mean?; How does the World… Continue