someone (at) yahoo.com said:

...It works for a world of free poverty and that is something that I really hate in this world. Poverty in the world is a burden to every society and it makes many people suffer. The World Bank will lend money to those developing countries that need the funds. Therefore, this bank will make this world a better place.

Except, in many cases, the World Bank's neoliberal policies have had extremely negative effects upon the countries it purports to help. The conditions of World Bank and IMF loans are often ones that force countries to open their borders completely (known as trade liberalization), allowing foreign imports to flood their markets and quash any chance of domestic industries gaining a foothold and stabilizing the country's economy. The World Bank also supports privatization, and often forces governments to privatize large parts of their public services as conditions for loans. In many cases, the transnational corporations that take over operations of public services, like providing water or power, raise rates and cut off services from those who cannot pay, which are, of course, the poorest citizens.

There's a flip side to this--the World Bank and IMF's policies have tamed inflation in many countries, which could be seen as a first step to improvement. However, the damage that has been wreaked in some of the poorest countries in the world--Bolivia, Jamaica, and many african counties--speaks volumes about the harmful policies that the World Bank holds dear.

Anyway, I just thought that was important to share.

The economist Joseph Stiglitz, who was once head economist for the World Bank, has written some excellent essays on the shortfalls of that institution and the IMF.

-JM