Rescuing the World Bank
Publication Info
Publication Type
Initiatives
Research Topics
CGD Experts
Opinion
Articles
- Birdsall joins chorus for Wolfowitz to quit [Financial Times]
- CGD Experts Urge IMF to Include Developing Countries in Re-Write of Financial Rules
- CGD Survey Finds Strong Support for Reform of World Bank President Selection Process
- Does the IMF Cap Health Spending in Developing Countries?
- Online Survey: Choosing the Next World Bank President
- The Next Crusade: Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank
- Wolfowitz and board settle differences on anti-corruption
- Wolfowitz Isn't the World Bank's Biggest Problem [Time]
- Wolfowitz issue highlights bank selection process
- World Bank problems deeper than Wolfowitz
- Zoellick Has Work Cut Out for Him [WSJ]
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09/05/2006
The World Bank is assailed by critics of the left, right and center on grounds it is not effective, not accountable, not democratic or legitimate, and most threatening of all, not relevant in a global economy where private capital, production and ideas dominate. Yet the world needs a strong World Bank working with other international institutions to manage development and the related global challenges of the 21st century. Are the Bank's shortcomings exaggerated or potentially fatal? If potentially fatal, can this critical institution be rescued?
Rescuing the World Bank explores the answers to these questions. The first part of the book, The Hardest Job in the World: Five Crucial Tasks for the New President of the World Bank, is a report by a Center for Global Development (CGD) Working Group delivered to Paul Wolfowitz on his first day in office in June 2005. The second part comprises selected essays, many first presented at a CGD Symposium in the fall of 2005.
The Working Group members and essay authors represent a rich array of experience and views. CGD president Nancy Birdsall was co-chair of the Working Group and selected and edited the essays. Her view that the Bank is a crucial global institution but potentially at risk is widely--but not universally--shared by the Working Group members and the essay authors.
This provocative volume will be widely read and discussed by those who are actively grappling with how to strengthen the World Bank, by its many stakeholders, and by readers with a broad interest in development seeking a better understanding of this vital and complex institution as it struggles to adapt to the demands of the 21st century.
Selected Essays
A Global Credit Club, Not Another Development Agency by Nancy Birdsall
Votes and Voice: Reforming Governance at the World Bank by Masood Ahmed
The Battle for the Bank by Ngaire Woods
The World Bank and Low-Income Countries: The Escalating Agenda by William Easterly
The Role of the Bank in Low-Income Countries by Steven Radelet
Has the World Bank Lost Control? by Adam Lerrick
The World Bank and the Middle-Income Countries by David de Ferranti
The Missing Mandate: Global Public Goods by Michael Kremer
The "Knowledge" Bank by Devesh Kapur
Evaluations and Aid Effectiveness by Pierre Jacquet
The Evaluation Agenda by Ruth Levine and William D. Savedoff
The World Bank: Buy, Sell, or Hold? by Mark Stoleson