World Bank

World Bank cuts China's 2009 growth forecast

AP | JOE McDONALD | Posted 04.18.2009 | Business


BEIJING — The World Bank cut its forecast of China's 2009 growth from 7.5 percent to 6.5 percent on Wednesday due to plunging exports but expres...

Isolationist Policies On The Rise Threatening A Global Trade War: World Bank

Washington Post | Posted 04.18.2009 | World


At least 17 of the 20 major nations that vowed at a November summit to avoid protectionist steps that could spark a global trade war have violated tha...

Weekly Foreign Affairs Roundup

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet | Posted 04.13.2009 | World


Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet

The Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs: Pakistan: Yet Another Path to Failure Facts: Pakistan's government arrests hundreds of "dissidents" includi...

Poor Countries Hit By Second Wave Of Economic Downturn

The Economist | Posted 04.12.2009 | World


"POOR countries are innocent," says Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian managing director of the World Bank. They did not contribute one jot to the glob...

World Bank: the Incredible Shrinking Economy

Jacob Heilbrunn | Posted 04.09.2009 | World


Jacob Heilbrunn

More and more, the danger of a rerun of the 1930s, in which extremist movements profit from financial depression, looms as a real prospect.

World's Poor Left To Fend For Themselves As Rich Nations Cope With Budget Pressures

Al Jazeera English | Posted 04.09.2009 | World


Developing countries may face a financing gap of $270bn to $700bn this year as trade income dwindles and rich nations vie for capital to deal with a g...

World Bank Says Global Economy Will Shrink In 2009

New York Times | EDMUND L. ANDREWS | Posted 04.08.2009 | Business


In a bleaker assessment than those of most private forecasters, the World Bank also predicted that the global economy would shrink in 2009 for the fir...

For Czechs, a Far Reach to Afghanistan

Amb. Swanee Hunt | Posted 04.06.2009 | World


Amb. Swanee Hunt

As impressive as the Czech Republic's meteoric rise to a stable and thriving country has been, equally noteworthy is how, as Czechs have risen upward, they've reached outward as well.

Sons of the Mau Mau

Frankie Martin | Posted 03.22.2009 | World


Frankie Martin

Kenya must tackle the roots of its election chaos. These include poverty, tribalism, and the failure of the country to live up to the vision of its first president, Jomo Kenyatta.

Climate Change's Economic Assault On The Andes

AP | ANDREW WHALEN | Posted 03.21.2009 | Green


LIMA, Peru — Global climate change threatens the complete disappearance of the Andes' tropical glaciers within the next 20 years, putting precio...

The Hypocrisy of the West

Ben Cohen | Posted 03.08.2009 | World


Ben Cohen

The Third World exists in a precarious state of neo colonial dependency and cannot follow our path out of economic disaster because we insist they don't.

Solving the Global Food Crisis: The Case for a "Poverty Czar"

Bruce Friedrich | Posted 03.01.2009 | World


Bruce Friedrich

Addressing global poverty at its roots means recognizing that the most significant factors driving up food costs are the diversion of crops to biofuels and the growing demand for meat.

Nepal's Political Crisis Deepens

Subhash Ghimire | Posted 02.13.2009 | World


Subhash Ghimire

More than 80% of Nepalese live in villages with very little access to health, education and other modern amenities. Lands seized by Maoists during the decade long war from 1996 to 2006 have not been returned to the owners.

How Much of Your Brainpower Are You Using?

Dennis Whittle | Posted 02.05.2009 | World


Dennis Whittle

Below is a clip where I talk about how much brainpower is wasted in top-down hierarchical systems like the World Bank.

The Dirt on Ecosystem Stewardship

Megan Shank | Posted 01.27.2009 | World


Megan Shank

Filmmaker John D. Liu believes we have a solution to climate change, but it's not as simple as reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Here are excerpts from my recent telephone interview with him.

Lebanon's Economy Thriving Thanks to Arab Neighbors and Conservative Capitalism

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin | Posted 01.25.2009 | World


Ahmed Shihab-Eldin

As the rest of the world braces for a global economic dive, thousands of visitors flood into Beirut. The streets are crowded, shops are bustling and political chatter takes an unusual backseat to celebration.

Time for global civil disobedience?: Five things to Advance the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Kumi Naidoo | Posted 01.10.2009 | World


Kumi Naidoo

Today is day of celebration for the progress we have made in the 60 years since the Declaration was signed. However, the litany of abuses does not afford us a second of self-congratulation.

World Bank Chief Economist: World Faces "Worst Recession Since The Great Depression"

Financial Times | Javier Blas in London and Krishna Guha | Posted 01.09.2009 | Business


Global oil demand will collapse next year and commodities will not return to the highs they reached this summer in the foreseeable future, two authori...

World Bank Warns Gaza Banks May Collapse

AP | DALIA NAMMARI | Posted 01.06.2009 | World


RAMALLAH, West Bank — The World Bank and International Monetary Fund warned Saturday that Gaza's severe cash shortage may cause local banks to c...

Kristof: How To Raise The World's IQ With Salt

International Herald Tribune | Nicholas D. Kristof | Posted 01.04.2009 | World


RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: Travelers to Africa and Asia all have their favorite forms of foreign aid to "make a difference." One of mine is a miracle subst...

Where is Obama on Social Media and E-Government?

Ari Herzog | Posted 12.26.2008 | Politics


Ari Herzog

At a time when the World Bank describes the Obama Administration as embracing e-government themes, why does the President-elect's own tech roadmap fail to mention it by name?

South America: Recession Can Be Avoided

Mark Weisbrot | Posted 12.19.2008 | Business


Mark Weisbrot

There is good reason to believe that South America, in particular, can weather this storm with minimal damage if it adopts the right macro-economic policies.

Friday Talking Points [55] -- "Bretton Woods II"? Not Quite.

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.15.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

I have to begin here today by stomping all over a cutesy term the media has come up with for the upcoming economic "summit" George W. Bush is holding ...

G-7, G-14 and G-20: Yet Another Tardy Call

Sunil Chacko | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics


Sunil Chacko

First the years-late call on the global food crisis. Now, Robert Zoellick, current World Bank president, has done it again on the international financial crisis.

Back from the Brink: Report from Inside the World Bank Meeting

Sarah van Gelder | Posted 11.13.2008 | Business


Sarah van Gelder

The World Bank and IMF held their annual meeting in Washington, DC, this weekend, and of course the global economic meltdown was on everyone's minds.