Free the World Bank. It is not likely to appear on as many placards and T-shirts as "Free Nelson Mandela" did. But an FT piece today argues that the US needs to liberate the World Bank. An opinion piece by Jeffrey Sachs complains of "backroom politics" surrounding the World Bank, which claims to be a leading force in the democratisation of developing countries.

The article complains that the US is in no position to exercise moral or political leadership on the World Bank largely because it is a stingy aid donor. The Sachs piece is not nearly as hard-hitting as some of his other recent comments on the Wolfowitz nomination however.

He concludes with suggested questions for the presidential candidate, including:

1) "would the candidate champion the call of free-market ideologues to privatise public health, educationand infrastructure, or would he or she agree that increased public finance is vital to ensuring universal access to health, nutrition, water and sanitation, schoolingand family planning?"

2) "does the candidate support a bigger voice and vote for developing countries in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund?"

Alex Wilks ~ March 23, 2005

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