What We’re Reading 2/23/09

Feb 23rd, 2009 3:49 PM UTC
By Steve Wilson

Foreign Policty—5 “Don’ts” for U.S. Development Policy
Will Inboden, a former Bush administration foreign policy advisor, writes in Foreign Policy magazine about what the Obama administration’s policies and priorities on international development should be. He suggests five “don’ts” for the new administration to bear in mind: 1. Don’t neglect incentives and governance; 2. Don’t listen only to aid debates among Western experts; 3. Don’t expect aid to produce growth; 4. Don’t forget that aid can save lives; and 5. Don’t miss this chance to fix the system.

The Guardian—Britain to demand radical reform of World Bank at G20
Britain is demanding reform of the World Bank to make the anti-poverty lender better at tackling humanitarian emergencies, The Guardian reports. U.K. development secretary Douglas Alexander wants to use the political leverage created by the credit crunch to persuade members of the G20 group of leading economies, which are meeting in London in April, to sign up to radical plans to redraw the rules of the Washington-based bank. In a speech he will deliver tomorrow, will criticize the World Bank’s record, and urge it to provide “more, faster and better funding” to help vulnerable people. “In these extraordinary times, the world’s poorest people need the bank to take extraordinary measures,” he will say.

-Steve Wilson

TAGS: Policy News, What We're Reading