Overview

The World Bank is a controversial organisation. It is widely viewed with suspicion, as the international economic arm of the US, in thrall to the President who is responsible for appointing the head of the Bank. Eric Toussaint gives a highly readable account of just why the World Bank has become so powerful. In short, clear chapters he shows how the bank operates, who funds it, and what it sets out to promote. The Bank's main purpose is to grant loans to all the newly independent states of the developing world, to help them on their journey to recovery after colonial occupation. In reality, the conditions imposed on these states - including enforced privatisation of all public services, and enforced neo-liberal rules on trade - mean that the Bank has become the new colonial authority in everything but name.

Full Product Details

9780745327143

Table of Contents

Reviews

Eric Toussaint studies the evolution of the debt of Southern countries with painstaking precision and patience. Thanks to his efforts and those of the young men and women assisting him, the CADTM has established itself as an authentic counter-power to the Bretton Woods institutions and the Paris Club. -- Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Author of numerous books, including La'empire de la honte (The Empire of Shame), 2005. Toussaint's book is an indictment of the World Bank and he is clear that any financial institutions that take its place 'must be subservient to a social movement totally opposed to capitalism and neoliberalism'. -- Michael McDonnell, Socialist Review Eric Toussaint has once again provided absolutely critical information. Anyone concerned with how excessive Northern wealth flows from sustained Southern poverty needs this analysis. -- Patrick Bond, Director, University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South Africa Eric Toussaint studies the evolution of the debt of Southern countries with painstaking precision and patience. -- Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Eric Toussaint has once again provided absolutely critical information. Anyone concerned with how excessive Northern wealth flows from sustained Southern poverty needs this analysis. -- Patrick Bond, Director, University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South Africa

Eric Toussaint studies the evolution of the debt of Southern countries with painstaking precision and patience. Thanks to his efforts and those of the young men and women assisting him, the CADTM has established itself as an authentic counter-power to the Bretton Woods institutions and the Paris Club. -- Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Author of numerous books, including L,empire de la honte (The Empire of Shame), 2005. Toussaint's book is an indictment of the World Bank and he is clear that any financial institutions that take its place 'must be subservient to a social movement totally opposed to capitalism and neoliberalism'. -- Michael McDonnell, Socialist Review Eric Toussaint has once again provided absolutely critical information. Anyone concerned with how excessive Northern wealth flows from sustained Southern poverty needs this analysis. -- Patrick Bond, Director, University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South Africa Eric Toussaint studies the evolution of the debt of Southern countries with painstaking precision and patience. -- Jean Ziegler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Eric Toussaint has once again provided absolutely critical information. Anyone concerned with how excessive Northern wealth flows from sustained Southern poverty needs this analysis. -- Patrick Bond, Director, University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South Africa

Author Information

Éric Toussaint is a historian and political scientist with a PhD from the Universities of Paris VIII and Liège. He is spokesperson for the CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt) of which he is one of the founding members. He took part in the process that launched the World Social Forum in 2001. He is the author of numerous books, including The Debt System; Bankocracy, and Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank: Sixty Questions, Sixty Answers.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available