World Bank

Diamonds May Be Forever, Natural Resource Wealth Is Not

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: Natural Resources, World Bank, Natural Resources Poor Countries, Africa-Diamonds, Poor Countries Natural Resource, World News
Otaviano Canuto

As we and others have argued in the past, the misallocation and mismanagement of natural resource wealth are often associated with weak governance at the domestic level.

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World Bank to Fund Destructive Dam Through the Backdoor?

Peter Bosshard | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Rivers, Foreign Aid, Ethiopia, Kenya, World Bank, Green News, Clean Energy, World Bank Gib III Dam, World-Bank-Ethiopia, Gib III Dam, World Bank Kenya, Green News
Peter Bosshard

On June 21, the World Bank is expected to submit to its Board of Directors a credit of $684 million for a 1,000-kilometer-long transmission line from Ethiopia to Kenya. Strong evidence links this transmission line to the Gibe III Dam.

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Distorted Prices in Commodity Markets

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Commodities, Wto, Commodity Prices, Food Products, Imports, World Bank, Exports, Food Prices, World News
Otaviano Canuto

Take the case of the upsurge of export barriers in response to rising world prices of food staples. While a particular country might put in place such a barrier to keep food at home and prices low, the effects in importing countries are negative.

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New World Bank President Needs to Make Infrastructure Work for the Poor

Peter Bosshard | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Infrastructure, Foreign Aid, Dams, World Bank, Economic Development, International Rivers, Clean Energy, Global Poverty, Congo, Clean Water, World News
Peter Bosshard

The World Bank should shift its ample resources -- its lending, guarantees, technical assistance and policy advice -- from the top-down projects of the past to the bottom-up solutions of the future.

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Prey Lang: A Forest on the Brink of Destruction (PHOTOS)

Mathieu Young | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: Usaid, Global Witness, World Bank, Cambodia Forest, Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Illegal Logging, Deforestation, Slideexpand, Green News
Mathieu Young

We stayed in the forest homes of members of the Prey Lang Network, a grassroots association of villagers risking their lives to try and slow the destruction of their forest.

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World Bank Group President-Elect Jim Yong Kim: Tackling the World's Troubles

Lonna Saunders | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Jim Kim, President Kim, Dartmouth College, Jim Yong Kim, World Bank, Dick Gregory, Nick Clooney, George Clooney, Sudan, Chicago News
Lonna Saunders

As Dartmouth's outgoing president, World Bank Group President-Elect Jim Yong Kim stressed the importance of interdisciplinary research. The need for students to engage with the rest of the world. To push beyond their comfort zone.

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A Cautious Celebration for Kim

Alex Cobham | Posted 05.08.2012

Read More: Jim Yong Kim World Bank, Global Financial Crisis, Global Economy, Jim Yong Kim, World Bank, World Bank President, World News
Alex Cobham

Now the dust has settled, let's celebrate the race for the World Bank presidency. We had the highest quality field in history and a winner who just might manage to refocus the institution on the dominant challenge of development today: inequality.

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Banking With Ideas

Mahmoud Mohieldin | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Development, International Development, World Bank, Business News
Mahmoud Mohieldin

Today's world has no shortage of development challenges. The good news is that there is also no shortage of ideas for solving them.

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A Human Rights Agenda for the World Bank's New President

Jessica Evans | Posted 05.01.2012

Read More: World Bank Human Rights, Jim Yong Kim World Bank, Human Rights, Jim Yong Kim, World Bank, World Bank President, World News
Jessica Evans

As the World Bank's new president, Jim Yong Kim has the opportunity to lead the Bank into a new era by using its voice and resources to bridge the false divide between human rights and development.

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Asking the Right Questions: What Should New World Bank President Focus On?

John Sullivan | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Jim Kim, Entrepreneurship, Economics, International Development, Economic Development, World Bank President, World Bank, World News
John Sullivan

How has the unique economic history of different countries shaped them, what is it like to do business there now because of that legacy, and what lessons can they learn from other countries with a similar background?

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Less Poor but More Unequal

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Developing Countries, Income Inequality, Occupy Movement, World Bank, Occupy Wall Street, World News
Otaviano Canuto

Debates over inequality -- and the role governments should play -- have polarized political and economic debates. How much should inequality matter or weigh in policy making?

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Why Everyone Should Celebrate Jim Yong Kim's Election as President of the World Bank

Leslie Gerwin | Posted 04.27.2012

Read More: Investment in Public Health Infrastructure, Fighting Poverty, Jim Yong Kim, Partners in Health, Paul Farmer, Women's Health, Economic Development, World Bank, Public Health, Institute of Medicine, World News
Leslie Gerwin

This is a moment for Americans to recognize what Dr. Kim's work teaches us -- economic health depends upon healthy people and healthy communities.

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American Idol Fans and African Preschoolers: A Winning Team

Carolyn S. Miles | Posted 04.25.2012

Read More: Education, Early Education, Children, Pre-School, World Bank, Africa, Preschools, Mozambique, American Idol, Save the Children, HIV/AIDS, Idol Gives Back, Impact News
Carolyn S. Miles

American Idol fans can take a bow. Thanks to them, African preschoolers will be poised to step out on the stage of school and life, and shine.

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Crime Actually Does Pay

Reuters | Posted 04.24.2012

Read More: Corruption, Video, U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, Unodc, Crime, Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Reuters, United Nations, World Bank, U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Un, Gross Domestic Product, Human Trafficking, Business News

* Criminal business one of the world's largest - U.N. * Threatens international development goals * Crime groups showing...

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International Stolen Asset Recovery As a Development Issue -- A World Bank President's Legacy?

Mark V. Vlasic | Posted 04.21.2012

Read More: Corruption, Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, Libya, Robert Zoellick, Tunisia, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Georgetown University, World Bank, Mark Vlasic, Stolen Assets, World Bank Spring Meetings, Stolen Asset Recovery, World News
Mark V. Vlasic

While future commentaries will chronicle Robert B. Zoellick's acts and deeds, it is worth pausing, this weekend, as he completes his last major world forum as president, to recall the initiative he launched at his first major world forum.

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Emerging Markets Lead in Job Recovery

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Financial Crisis, Jobs, Developing Countries, China Economy, China, World Bank, World News
Otaviano Canuto

So far, from Brazil to Russia and from China to South Africa, labor markets have proven resilient to sluggish GDP growth. But there is no better ally of employment than strong, dynamic and inclusive growth. We are still far away from getting that.

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Am I the Native Under Your Magnifier? I Need a Job, Not a Dissection!

Amina Semlali | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: North Africa, Skills Development, Youth Unemployment, Middle East, World Bank, Social Protection, Mena, World News
Amina Semlali

Youth in the Middle East and North Africa need to succeed in a "double transition": first, they need to obtain relevant skills and credentials that make them employable, and second, they have to find a job in a notoriously non-meritocratic labor market.

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The New World Bank President's First Night

Carl Pope | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Environment, Argentina, Goldman Environmental Prize, Kenya, Sierra Club, World Bank, World Bank Development, Coal Power, Green News
Carl Pope

The kinds of "big" development schemes that come most easily to the World Bank often bring with them nominal increases in gross domestic product, but only do so by degrading natural and community systems on which billions of people depend.

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World Bank Taps Obama Nominee As New Leader

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 04.16.2012

Read More: Jim Yong Kim World Bank, Video, Jim Yong Kim, World Bank, Business News, Jim Yong Kim Dartmouth, Obama Jim Yong Kim, World Bank President, Business News

WASHINGTON — Jim Yong Kim, an American who is president of Dartmouth College, has been chosen to be the next president of the World Bank. His se...

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Kenyan Dam Fighter to Receive Goldman Prize

Peter Bosshard | Posted 04.16.2012

Read More: Rivers, Ethiopia, Kenya, Grassroots, World Bank, Green News, Environment, Hydropower, International Rivers, Goldman Environmental Prize, Goldman Prize, Green News
Peter Bosshard

Ikal Angelei receives the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize today. She is defending the interests of 500,000 poor indigenous people against a destructive hydropower dam, and has successfully taken on many of the world's biggest dam builders and financiers.

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The U.S. Just Got A Little Bit Closer To Getting Its Way In World Bank Race

Reuters | Posted 04.15.2012

Read More: Jim Yong Kim World Bank, Video, Jim Yong Kim, Jose Ocampo, World Bank, Reuters, Business News, Jose Antonio Ocampo World Bank, Jose-Antonio-Ocampo, World Bank President, Business News

* Colombia's Ocampo withdraws from World Bank contest * U.S. nominee Jim Yong Kim likely winner * Russia...

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Putting Women on the Agenda in Cartagena

Amanda Klasing | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Women's Rights, Summit of the Americas, Cartagena, Summit-of-the-Americas-Cartagena, Human Rights Watch, World Bank, Violence Against Women, Domestic Violence, World News
Amanda Klasing

Several weeks ago, I was in Cartagena speaking with women who have suffered unspeakable acts of violence mere miles from where the region's heads of state will gather in lavish style.

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Transformative Development: How Jim Yong Kim Might Change the World Bank

Matthew Kavanagh | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Global Economy, Global Poverty, Jim Yong Kim, Barack Obama, World Bank, World News
Matthew Kavanagh

Jim Kim represents a break from the past -- as both his supporters and detractors agree -- and would surely steer the World Bank in new directions.

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Collaborative Border Management: A New Approach to an Old Problem

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 04.06.2012

Read More: Developing Countries, Trade, World Bank, International Trade, Global Trade, Barriers to Trade, Customs, Trade Law Reform, Trade Laws, Business News
Otaviano Canuto

Tough decisions are needed on where to spend limited resources to pursue border management reform. To this end, a well defined business case -- weighing costs and benefits -- needs to be prepared.

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The Presidency of The World Bank and the Third World

José Fernando López | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: Finance, International Development, World Bank, Latino Prosperity, Latino Voices News
José Fernando López

It is difficult to imagine, given the current circumstances, a post where it is more important that the election of the candidate be based on merit. Nevertheless, it probably won't be.

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