The World Bank
A Critical Primer
Published on 20. December 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-7453-2713-6 (ISBN)
Description
The World Bank is a controversial organisation. It is widely viewed with suspicion, as the international economic arm of the US, in thrall to the President who is responsible for appointing the head of the Bank.
Eric Toussaint gives a highly readable account of just why the World Bank has become so powerful. In short, clear chapters he shows how the bank operates, who funds it, and what it sets out to promote.
The Bank's main purpose is to grant loans to all the newly independent states of the developing world, to help them on their journey to recovery after colonial occupation. In reality, the conditions imposed on these states - including enforced privatisation of all public services, and enforced neo-liberal rules on trade - mean that the Bank has become the new colonial authority in everything but name.
Eric Toussaint gives a highly readable account of just why the World Bank has become so powerful. In short, clear chapters he shows how the bank operates, who funds it, and what it sets out to promote.
The Bank's main purpose is to grant loans to all the newly independent states of the developing world, to help them on their journey to recovery after colonial occupation. In reality, the conditions imposed on these states - including enforced privatisation of all public services, and enforced neo-liberal rules on trade - mean that the Bank has become the new colonial authority in everything but name.
Reviews / Votes
'Studies the evolution of the debt of Southern countries with painstaking precision and patience' -- Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Author of numerous books, including L'empire de la honte (The Empire of Shame), 2005. 'Eric Toussaint has once again provided absolutely critical information. Anyone concerned with how excessive Northern wealth flows from sustained Southern poverty needs this analysis' -- Patrick Bond, Director, University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South AfricaMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
19 b&w figures
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
429 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-2713-6 (9780745327136)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
08/2023
Pluto Press
€126.28
Shipment within 10-20 days
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2007
1st Edition
Pluto Press
€122.99
Available for download
Person
Eric Toussaint is a historian and political scientist with a PhD from the Universities of Paris VIII and Liege. He is spokesperson for the CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt) of which he is one of the founding members. He took part in the process that launched the World Social Forum in 2001. He is the author of numerous books, including The Debt System; Bankocracy, and Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank: Sixty Questions, Sixty Answers.
Content
About this book
Terminology
Introduction
1. The creation of the Bretton Woods institutions
2. The first years of the World Bank (1946-1962)
3. Difficult beginnings between the UN and the World Bank
4. The post-World War II context - the Marshall Plan and US bilateral aid
5. A Bank under the influence
6. World Bank and IMF support of dictatorships
7. The World Bank and the Philippines (1946-1990)
8. The World Bank's support of the dictatorship in Turkey
9. The Bank in Indonesia: a textbook case of intervention
10. The World Bank's theories on development
11. South Korea: the miracle unmasked
12. The debt trap
13. The World Bank saw the debt crisis looming
14. The Mexican debt crisis and the World Bank
15. The World Bank and the IMF: the creditors' bailiffs
16. Presidents Barber Conable and Lewis Preston (1986-1995)
17. James Wolfensohn switches on the charm (1995-2005)
18. Debates in Washington at the start of the twenty-first century
19. The World Bank's accounts
20. Paul Wolfowitz, 10th World Bank President
21. Structural adjustment and the Washington Consensus: are they things of the past?
22. The World Bank and the respect of human rights
23. Time to put an end to World Bank impunity
24. An indictment of the World Bank
Afterword: Interview with Eric Toussaint
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Terminology
Introduction
1. The creation of the Bretton Woods institutions
2. The first years of the World Bank (1946-1962)
3. Difficult beginnings between the UN and the World Bank
4. The post-World War II context - the Marshall Plan and US bilateral aid
5. A Bank under the influence
6. World Bank and IMF support of dictatorships
7. The World Bank and the Philippines (1946-1990)
8. The World Bank's support of the dictatorship in Turkey
9. The Bank in Indonesia: a textbook case of intervention
10. The World Bank's theories on development
11. South Korea: the miracle unmasked
12. The debt trap
13. The World Bank saw the debt crisis looming
14. The Mexican debt crisis and the World Bank
15. The World Bank and the IMF: the creditors' bailiffs
16. Presidents Barber Conable and Lewis Preston (1986-1995)
17. James Wolfensohn switches on the charm (1995-2005)
18. Debates in Washington at the start of the twenty-first century
19. The World Bank's accounts
20. Paul Wolfowitz, 10th World Bank President
21. Structural adjustment and the Washington Consensus: are they things of the past?
22. The World Bank and the respect of human rights
23. Time to put an end to World Bank impunity
24. An indictment of the World Bank
Afterword: Interview with Eric Toussaint
Notes
Bibliography
Index