helping the poor?
News of the day: Paul Wolfowitz resigned as president of the World Bank.
Wolfowitz has been dogged by scandal and hounded by the media since they caught wind of the promotion of Wolfowitz’ sweetheart, Shaha Riza, a couple of months ago. Wolfowitz’ media nightmare is second only to that of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
Given that scandal is the bread and butter of journalism today, I admit to giving the Wolfowitz drama only half an ear. Perhaps I was dreaming, then, when I heard President Bush’s comment regarding the pending announcement. Bush was expressing sadness and said, “I admire Paul Wolfowitz. I admire his heart, and I particularly admire his focus on helping the poor.”
Focus on helping the poor? The suggestion that Wolfowitz’ career was motivated by concern for the poor threw a curve ball into my stereotypes. Banks are about money and power, big salaries and favors for the haves. Wolfowitz’ behavior wasn’t nearly as surprising to me as the suggestion that the World Bank’s mission is to alleviate poverty. Given that concern for the poor is a central theme in Jesus’ ministry and for the prophets before him, I found myself taking a closer look.
Indeed the mission of the World Bank is, “global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards”. My sermon prep time on Friday quickly dissipated into an unscheduled crash course in the history and mission of the World Bank. The original goals, at least as they were publicized, were indeed laudable. In 1944, when the World Bank was founded, the networks of capital (cash) needed to rebuild in the wake of World War II were not internationally accessible. The establishment of the World Bank served a particular need, infusing capital in ravaged areas to enable nations to re-enter the industrialized markets. Having achieved their original mission, the World Bank expanded its’ mission with the goal of investing capital to alleviate poverty throughout the world.
My first real awareness of the World Bank was not quite so laudable. It was during the infamous Seattle WTO meeting of 1999 in which a groundswell of international youth challenged the policies of the World Bank, the IMF (International Monetary Fund), and the real life effects of globalization. There was enough violence to catch the cameras’ interest and we were treated to a brief introduction of the ways in which capital is, and isn’t, shared around the globe.
Joseph Stiglitz was then the Chief Economist for the World Bank. During Stiglitz’ brief tenure at the World Bank, he found himself confronted with the tragic consequences of misguided economic policies used by both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In an all too familiar tale, the rich were getting richer at the expense of the poor. Although himself a classic academic, Stiglitz found himself appreciative of the challenge brought by today’s youth to the WTO in Seattle and later in Prague. He resigned the World Bank. He also won the Nobel Prize in economics.
The stated mission of the World Bank continues to be laudable, the question is whether the institution will adopt policies which benefit the investors at the expense of those it’s pledged to serve, namely the poor. Time will tell. And the odds would be better if the world kept watching. Would that the news of the day was concern for the poor!
One thing is sure, following the trail of scandal won’t allow us to celebrate the successes of the World Bank or any other institution. Stay tuned to commercial media outlets for the next chapter of scandal ala Washington. For news in the struggle to reduce world poverty, we’ll have to look beyond the headlines.