*For educational purposes only*

World Bank admits misguided policies http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/headlines/19990915/ftemkts/emkts.937441289.html

The World Bank said in its annual World Development Report that many of its past policies were misguided and that it needed help to succeed in the future. The report said developing countries had fallen even further behind rich nations despite the efforts of the bank over the past 50 years. It said simple solutions like investing in physical and human capital and liberalising markets would not work in isolation but governments, the private sector and donor organisations had to work together.

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), September 16, 1999

Answers

In the Overiew of the World Bank's 1999/2000 World Development Report, "Entering the 21st Century," they have come to some interesting conclusions from their much touted fifty years of having funded projects in developing countries. In light of the global risks of the Year 2000 technology problem, will these insights be key to understanding how to reduce the various challenges of a post-Y2K world? The World Bank identifies two inevitable trends: globalization and localization. Will globalization and localization be relevant?

Globalization is defined as the force driving a "progressive integration of the world's economies, [requiring] national governments to reach out to international partners as the best way to manage changes affecting trade, financial flows, and the global environment." In the hypothetical aftermath of broken technologies, breakdown of communication, break down of banking and financial structures, etc. on the one hand and the internal problems of various countries, will previous attitudes about globalization change? Diminish or intensify?

Localization is defined as a force expressed in "the growing desire of people for a greater say in their government, [manifesting] itself in the assertion of regional identities. While a post-Y2K world may see a louder and more insistent desire for a say in government and, perhaps, a re-defining of government, how will localization play out if there is a general distrust of local government that failed to make emergency relief available and various contingency plans for infrastructure that got broken? I think that there will be intense mixed feelings about localization either way. What will prevail?

The four great insights that the World Banks see as key to development strategies and the stabilization of the international community are as follows:

1. Macroeconomic stability is an essential prerequisite for achieving the growth needed for development.

2. Growth does not trickle down; development must address human needs directly.

3. No one policy will trigger development; a comprehensive approach is needed.

4. Institutions matter; sustained development should be rooted in processes that are socially inclusive and responsive to changing circumstance.

Will these insights matter in a Post-Y2K world?

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), September 16, 1999.

The link for the report:

http://www.worldbank.org/wdr/2000/fullreport.html

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), September 16, 1999.

What? Something's wrong with giving/loaning corrupt politicians money for ill-advised projects?

They need someone on their staff to evaluate the long term effects of their funded projeccts...they also need someone to tell them that money alone isn't going to be enough. Education is one of the keys (ethics is another).

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 16, 1999.

True change is usually a long process, as it must be incorporated into existing cultural values and institutions. To be introduced with success, the change must have continuity with these values and institutions and must validate existing indicators of personal self-worth, such as status and rank. Why? - Because these factors form the psychological structures that supply motivation for changes in behaviors.

"Make it so, number one," only works in an existing hierarchy. IMHO, outside entities, (do-gooders, developers, regulators,) will fail to change behaviors unless they understand these fundamentals.

One of the finest examples of successful implementors of change are our University Extension Service Advisors. Generally, they employ education and demonstration projects working with leader/co-operators from within the ag community to introduce new farming and ranching practices. I believe this sort of thing might be applied with some limited success to the "world development" problem.

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), September 16, 1999.