Ditch Wolfowitz & Abolish the World Bank

I was disgusted when I read that Paul D. Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, helped his girl friend (another World Bank employee) get a new job and a salary increase to $193,590. (http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/06/341/) I’ve long thought that the World Bank should be abolished. Here are some reasons:

1. “World Bank Said to Waste Money, Use False Data in Fighting Malaria” by Celia W. Dugger, New York Times, April 26, 2006. http://www-tech.mit.edu/V126/N20/20long4.html

2. It frequently promotes fraud, waste, & abuse. http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Gpress/2005/prg091605.pdf

3. It promotes favoritism. “Wolfowitz and the World Bank: Democratizer or Kleptocrat?” by Charlie Cray, March 31, 2006. http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0331-24.htm

4. Few of its projects are “sustainable.” “Waste Not” by Herbert Werlin, May/June 2005. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501faletter84368/herbert-werlin/waste-not.html

5. It lacks proper auditing. “Audit the World Bank’s Performance” by Adam Lerrick, June 20, 2006. http://www.cato.org/pubs/edb/edb8.pdf

6. It loans our money to U.S. competitors. “World Bank to Invest Huge Money in Shanghai Urban Environment Program,” June 21, 2003. http://english.people.com.cn/200306/21/eng20030621_118658.shtml

7. It continues incompetence as usual. “Is the World Bank’s Word Good Enough?” by Adam Lerrick, March 28, 2006. http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.24129,filter.all/pub_detail.asp

8. “World Bank Favours Clean Fossil Fuels.” http://www.peak-oil-news.info/world-bank-clean-fossil-fuels/


I’m sure that one can find “successes” for the World Bank. But what’s LEFT OUT are the alternative uses of the resources. Those same resources, in private hands, would have accomplished so much more.