Rer:WB

[Michael Pugliese <debsian@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/sk145/
Statement on Ravi Kanbur's Resignation as World Development ...
Statement on Ravi Kanbur's Resignation as World Development
Report Lead Author. ...
www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/bwi-wto/wbank/kanbur2.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Pugliese <debsian@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: campd227@xxxxxxxxxxx <campd227@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 9:46 AM
Subject: Fw: [PEN-L:16122] WB


>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ian Murray <seamus2001@xxxxxxxx>
>To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 9:20 AM
>Subject: [PEN-L:16122] WB
>
>
>>[from Doug's house]
>>
>>[from the World Bank's daily clipping service]
>>
>>LITTLE COMMON GROUND FOR GLOBALIZATION DEBATE.
>>
>>The proposed debate next month, between four anti-globalization
>>non-governmental
>>organizations on one side and the International Monetary Fund and the
>>World Bank
>>on the other, may struggle even to find a common basis for discussion,
>>writes
>>Alan Beattie in the Financial Times (p.14). Mutual suspicion remains
>>over
>>sincerity of motives.
>>
>>While the financial institutions have an established relationship and
>>a regular
>>meeting with well-known NGOs such as Oxfam and Friends of the Earth,
>>some
>>officials say the boundaries between respectable advocacy and
>>violence can often
>>be blurred, writes Beattie.
>>
>>Assuming that the organizational problems can be overcome, could the
>>fund and
>>bank and their critics even find any common ground on which to base a
>>debate?
>>One of the problems is that they do not agree on the facts - and
>>development
>>economics is notorious for its patchy and unreliable data. They also
>>tend to
>>focus on different outcomes - as eloquently expounded by economist
>>Ravi Kanbur.
>>He says the opposing sides are often both right: liberalizing trade,
>>for
>>example, does in the long run increase growth and benefit all members
>>of
>>society, as the IMF and World Bank would tend to argue. But in the
>>short term,
>>the pain of transition can often hit the poor, as the anti-globalizers
>>say.
>>"There is a strong sense of people talking past each other," Kanbur
>>says.
>>
>>There are signs that the World Bank, at least, has made its message
>>more nuanced
>>and sophisticated, notes Beattie. Its forthcoming paper on
>>globalization, growth
>>and poverty does admit that billions of people are failing to benefit
>>from
>>globalization, and accepts that it has some adverse effects. But it
>>got the
>>standard hostile response from development campaigns when a copy was
>>leaked.
>>They called it "business as usual." The two sides may meet in the same
>>building
>>but their premises remain far apart.
>>
>>Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the World Bank and the IMF said on
>>Monday they
>>believed talks with protest groups ahead of their annual meetings in
>>Washington
>>next month can help make programs more effective and improve dialogue
>>with
>>nongovernmental organizations.
>>
>>The World Bank and IMF late last week sent a letter accepting requests
>>from
>>protesters to meet but the IMF said the agreement does not reflect a
>>new
>>initiative, notes the story. During IMF and World Bank meetings in
>>Washington
>>and in Prague last year, economists from both institutions held
>>discussions with
>>some 400 protesters and members of NGOs who had registered for the
>>gatherings.
>>"What comes out of these consultations is a process of dialogue
>>through which
>>policies can be amended and project effectiveness enhanced," World
>>Bank
>>spokeswoman Caroline Anstey told Reuters.
>>
>>The two lenders, which have been criticized for a lack of openness,
>>will host
>>two days of online debates in the run-up to the meetings in addition
>>to
>>exchanges with protesters, adds the story. Anstey said the online
>>debates will
>>take place on Sept. 27-28, and will focus on globalization and its
>>impact on the
>>environment, decision-making, corruption and culture.
>>
>>The online forum, open to questions and comments from anybody with
>>access to the
>>Internet, will bring together officials from the bank and the IMF as
>>well as
>>NGOs, ministers from around the world, representatives of the private
>>sector and
>>academics, Anstey said.
>>
>>In a separate report, Reuters writes that lawyers for
>>anti-globalization
>>activists filed a lawsuit against the Washington police department on
>>Monday,
>>arguing that planned measures to contain demonstrations during the
>>International
>>Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings were unconstitutional.
>>
>