Jeffrey Sachs writes: The world is at a crossroads. Either the global community will join together to fight poverty, resource depletion and climate change, or it will face a generation of resource wars, political instability and environmental ruin.
The World Bank, if properly led, can play a key role in averting these threats and the risks that they imply. The global stakes are thus very high this spring as the Bank’s 187 member countries choose a new president to succeed Robert Zoellick, whose term ends in July.
The World Bank was established in 1944 to promote economic development, and virtually every country is now a member. Its central mission is to reduce global poverty and ensure that global development is environmentally sound and socially inclusive. Achieving these goals would not only improve the lives of billions of people, but would also forestall violent conflicts that are stoked by poverty, famine and struggles over scarce resources.
US officials have traditionally viewed the World Bank as an extension of United States foreign policy and commercial interests. With the Bank just two blocks away from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, it has been all too easy for the US to dominate the institution. Now, many members, including Brazil, China, India and several African countries, are raising their voices in support of more collegial leadership and an improved strategy that works for all.
From the Bank’s establishment until today, the unwritten rule has been that the US government simply designates each new president: all 11 have been Americans, and not a single one has been an expert in economic development, the Bank’s core responsibility, or had a career in fighting poverty or promoting environmental sustainability. Instead, the US has selected Wall Street bankers and politicians, presumably to ensure that the Bank’s policies are suitably friendly to US commercial and political interests.
Yet the policy is backfiring on the US and badly hurting the world. Because of a long-standing lack of strategic expertise at the top, the Bank has lacked a clear direction. Many projects have catered to US corporate interests rather than to sustainable development. The Bank has cut a lot of ribbons on development projects, but has solved far too few global problems.
Sachs’ bland assertion that “the World Bank was established… to promote economic development” (really? what kind of economic development?) and that its mission is “to reduce global poverty” (which has increased exponentially during the period of the Bank’s sway) is pure propagandistic pap. At the risk of being charged with mounting an ad hominem attack, it’s worth pointing out that this is the same Jeffrey Sachs who played a crucial role in the deliberate destruction of the Russian economy under Yeltsin, insisting as he did on doctrinally unyielding neo-liberal policies which resulted in complete immiseration of the populace and the entrenchment of parasitical oligarchism.. One can only assume that the position of President of the World Bank is about to go on the market and that Sachs is bucking for the job. His shabby little essay reads like an application for the post. Given his past record and his longstanding advisory association with the risible U2 frontman Bono, he’s well qualified for the position. It’s a real disappointment to see this sort of junk posted on this site.