ABSTRACT
In this chapter I intend to briefly assess the changing role of the World Bank as a purveyor of capital, a generator of ideas, and an instrument for changing policy in aid recipient countries. While the Bank has shown a good deal of flexibility in recent years in addressing some of the issues cited below, in my view the picture presented here is still more or less accurate, even though, for effect, it may be slightly exaggerated at times. I will then proceed to recommend changes and departures from the present situation which may enhance the impact of the World Bank’s actions on its proclaimed objectives in the Third World.
