Development Economics and the World Bank's Identity Crisis

In: Review of international political economy: RIPE, Band 2, Heft 2, S. 211-247

Abstract

An analysis of the World Bank's (WB) identity crisis shows how it is trapped in a power system as: economic & political environment changes; economic theories & ideologies rise & fall; & the internal dynamics of the WB, its capital structure & organization change over time. The WB's original objectives of industrialization & development economics faced an intellectual crisis with the emergence of neoliberalism. The debt crisis forced the WB to give up its former development strategy due to theoretical, ideological, & political reasons, as well as the poor performance of many projected loans. To resolve its identity crisis, the WB will need a better assessment of the neoliberal approach, & a realization of the limits of unilateral conditionality & its own financial means. 2 Tables, 1 Figure, 105 References. L. Nguyen