Question

Critics say:

The World Bank ultimately ends up hurting the poor by focusing on long-term economic development at the expense of immediate poverty relief. Also bank infrastructure projects, such as building roads and dams, have seriously harmed the environment.

Supporters say:

World Bank policies lift people out of poverty by contributing to the long-term development of poorer countries. In recent years, the bank has also focused on alleviating poverty by increasing funding in the social sector, in areas such as health and education.

What is your position and how you can justify it? Also justify opposing point of view. Cite relevant data, give examples.

Answer 1

Case Specifics

The World Bank as we today know, is a sum of two different organizations which is the International Development Association, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and development.

Over the years, the World Bank has been one of the key players in development of societies and in helping them up their economic growth and overall development. It has lent money to players like India, Bangladesh and other Asian countries and has taken greater interest in regional development so that these countries can play a larger role in the world.

The role of the World Bank in economic and social development has long been criticized because some people feel that the bank does not take care of immediate poverty. However it is important here to realize that immediate poverty is not because of small problems but because of destabilization in the economy as a whole.

The key case is that of India which post-independence had followed a strategy in which they discouraged imports into the country which led to inefficient organizations and extremely poor overall growth for the country.

Post 1990's when the Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization policies were adopted, the Indian economy saw a raise capital backed by the World Bank.

The World Bank ensures that the money which they deliver to any country is in installments so that the funds are utilized for the specific purpose only.

While critics say that this money is used to destroy the ecology, I strongly disagree with this.

The World Bank has ensured that it corrects the roots of all problems rather than focusing on smaller immediate problems. Generation of Infrastructure and jobs remains its top priority which is the root cause for underdevelopment in most countries across the world.

It has largely contributed in making countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal etc. self-reliant in production of electricity and the growth trends of each of these countries widely denote how, the world bank’s lending has changed them from being places where unemployment and energy utilization were a big problem to being countries with constant growth trends of 10% and above like India.

Conclusion

Most economic problems require a proper root cause analysis and The World Bank has always focused on this. Its efforts have been always to analyses the root cause of poverty and unemployment and has encouraged countries to improve their infrastructure and engage in growth requiring development thus enabling them to earn for themselves that solving small problems while the main one still persisting.

In this, the World Bank must be credited for eradication of poverty in most areas it has invested in and the rapid development of countries respectively.

Please feel free to ask your doubts in the comments section.