I'll keep this brief as per your request –
The two basic arguments against World Bank and IMF are that the loans
they make and the projects they finance actually cause a net outflow
of wealth from the very countries they purport to be helping, and that
World Bank and IMF in essence "take over" and force their policies on
their client countries.
======================
PROTESTER'S POINTS
======================
1 – Third world nations are suffering from a crushing debt servicing
position, created and exacerbated by IMF and World Bank loan policies,
and have no flexibility or bargaining position to get out from under
their debt.
2 – Nations receiving support from the World Bank and IMF must, in
effect, sell their souls in exchange for the help received. World Bank
imparts its own social policies on such countries and changes the
power structure from one where political leaders answer to their
constituents to one where leaders are accountable to World Bank which
is, in effect, the nation's stockholder.
3 – World bank programs encourage farming and production of export
cash crops rather than food crops that would sustain the farmers
directly.
4 – World Bank primarily fund and support large projects that require
hiring experts and purchasing materials from wealthy northern nations.
Thus more money goes to US / European contractors than to locals.
World Bank / IMF Questions and Answers
http://www.globalexchange.org/wbimf/faq.html
IMF Forces Water Privatization on Poor Countries
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/water.htm
IMF Crimes against humanity
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/imfcrimes.htm
IMF. WORLD BANK, AND WTO – POLICES, IMPACTS & RESISTANCE
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/
================
COUNTERPOINT
================
1 – World Bank is a world-wide economic initiative which, in 2002
boasts US$19.5 billion in loans to over 100 client countries comprised
of 4.7 billion people. The Bank uses its financial resources, its
"highly trained staff, and its extensive knowledge base to
individually help each developing country onto a path of stable,
sustainable, and equitable growth."
2 – World Bank recognizes the debt issue and in September 1996, the
World Bank and the IMF launched the Initiative for Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries (HIPC). It was endorsed by 180 governments and has been
an effective and approach to help poor, severely indebted countries
reduce debt.
HPIC
http://www.worldbank.org/hipc/faq/faq.html
3 – World Bank measures, promotes, and expands Social Capital within
and between countries. They recognize that countries and isolated
populations may not have broad enough social capital – that is lateral
trust and communications within populations. Through two programs, the
Social Capital Initiative and the Local Level Institutions Study,
World Bank is studying the "ways in which the economic actors interact
and organize themselves to generate growth and development within
countries."
Social Capital Initiative
http://www.iris.umd.edu/socat/default.htm
4 – World bank recognizes that it must focus efforts on building
efficient and accountable public sector institutions -- rather than
simply providing discrete policy advice. A main lesson from East Asia
(and to some extent Russia) is that good policies are not enough --
that the Bank cannot afford to look the other way when a country is
plagued by deeply dysfunctional public institutions that limit
accountability
4 – World Bank is more than just funding for farmers. Its programs
include –
Health Initiatives – to assist clients to improve health, nutrition,
and population outcomes of poor people and protect people from the
impoverishing effects of illness, malnutrition, and high fertility
http://www1.worldbank.org/hnp/
Education Programs
http://www1.worldbank.org/education/
Social Development - to promote local, national and global
institutions that are "responsive, accountable and inclusive and it
empowers poor and vulnerable people to participate effectively in
development processes"
http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/essd/essd.nsf/e0a6beef25793a39852567f200651c5c/b01d3e9c4c0bc7eb8525682d00609d59?OpenDocument
Evironmental Strategies
http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/essdext.nsf/41ByDocName/Environment
Private Sector Development -- to provide opportunities for the poor
through market-friendly, enterprise-led growth, and to provide better
services through efficient delivery systems and smart subsidies.
http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/privatesector/
And a global approach to poverty reduction
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/
So that should give you a quick overview of the arguments. I'm glad
you asked the question since it's been something I've puzzled over
myself. I now have a broader perspective on the topic.
Thanks!
--K~
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