The World Bank

• the World Bank’s Articles of Agreement (its charter) require that it lend only for productive purposes
• the bank’s nature and practice ensure that its projects will have a high failure rate
• he bank promotes risktaking, but only for its borrower

Key criticisms of the World Bank

• the World Bank has power without responsibility
• borrowers are driven to continue borrowing to repay loans made for unsuccessful projects, creating a spiraling debt burden that is crushing many developing countries
• efforts at debt reduction are unfair, ineffective, and counter-productive

The article recommends that:

• the World Bank should be accountable for its actions
• the bank should forgive loans in proportion to its responsibility for their failure
• there are existing legal mechanisms that could be adapted to this purpose