Hi Tom,
At 08:23 25/05/01 -0500, you wrote:
(TL)
<<<
The text below was part of a speech by Summers to a World Bank county
directors' retreat. It appears that some things don't ever change for some
people. Comments?
>>>
Although I don't understand some of his abridged comments, it seems to me
that Larry Summers is implying that the World Bank (and the developed world
generally) is coming close to a policy akin to the practice of battlefield
triage by medicos -- that is, ignoring those who are going to survive their
injuries without help, ignoring those who are so seriously injured that
they are going to die anyway, and confining help to those who could survive
with help.
Keith H
>
>
>"There are two agendas of development -- one of concern and one of hope.
Under the first, more than one billion people are still desperately poor,
HIV/AIDS is ravaging whole countries, the International Development Goals
for 2015 look beyond reach., etc. Under the second, the standard of living
of poor countries has doubled and then doubled again in the last forty
years. This is the most significant progress in human history since the
European Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. The Bank has been
leaning too hard towards the agenda of concern rather than the agenda of hope.
>
>"Empowerment. I am skeptical of Bank rhetoric about 'empowerment'. If
you mean education, OK. But that's not very novel. If you mean human
development more generally, including health, that too is understandable
but again not very original. But if you mean generalized improvements in
decision-making which give greater weight to local groups, there is little
hard evidence that this will help economically. The East Asian experience
was that strong economic growth led to democracy rather than the other way
around. The Bank should not de-emphasize its analytical role so as to have
direct influence on villages.
>
>"Client-Centered? Officials of democratically elected governments (in
Latin America, for example) are right to object to the Bank's "anointing"
civil society representatives who are probably less representative than
they are.
>
>"Emergencies. The Bank should continue to contribute to financial
bailouts for middle-income economies. Times of crisis open unusual
opportunities for rapid and fundamental reforms (such as in banking).
>
>"Global Common Goods. Think of the development impact IDA would have had
over the last ten years if, instead of committing $6-7 bn a year in new
lending, it had committed only $5-6 bn to national projects and devoted $1
bn to agricultural research, global health issues, curriculum development,
etc. To support global initiatives, the Bank should be willing to step
aside and be leveraged for a change rather than always leveraging others.
>
>"Public Support. The pro-development/anti-poverty constituency in
high-income countries must be protected. It saddens me that the typical
middle high school student in the US is more concerned about dead species
than dead children. Unfortunately, too many carriers of moral energy about
development say things which are dead wrong about markets, growth and
globalization. The Bank should stand up for the fact that we can be
hardheaded, rigorously analytical, evaluative of our own efforts and at the
same time deeply caring. The Bank often avoids speaking the truth for fear
of being considered 'non-visionary'. The long-term benefits of bracing
truths are greater -- even in winning over good-hearted groups -- than the
short-term benefits of being expedient.
>
>"Safeguards. As long as everybody tries to be politically correct, the
forces of political correctness (e.g., "All power projects are bad") will
grow even stronger. There should be a cost-benefit analyses on
environmental safeguards.
>
>"The Bank needs to get back to basics: Cameroon will be better off in 20
years with 4% annual growth than with 1-2% growth, even if nothing else
happens. The Bank should not dull its analytical edge in order to promote
empowerment and it must keep defending markets and growth while trying to
be 'holistic'.
>
>
>
>--
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Tom Lowe One of the most powerful aspects of
>Jackson, Mississippi delusion, or ignorance, is the belief
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] that what we do does not really matter
>http://www.jacksonprogressive.com -- Sharon Salzberg
>
>
>
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727;
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
________________________________________________________________________
