World Bank – An organization established in 1944 to help finance reconstruction after WWII.
WWII 1939 – 1945
Germany, Japan vs. U.S., England, France
Three ways to end the war
-
Kill the entire opposing army
-
Make civilians tired of war
-
Destroy the ability to create war ( Blow up factories)
Why should we help other countries?
Good economies trade. If you can’t manufacture, than you can’t trade. After WWII the US was the
only country with a strong economy. It was in our best interest to help other countries trade.
Financial aid and technical assistance
Two questions (no matter what the project is)
1.
Is it needed?
2.
Will it work?
World Bank
-
Is not an actual bank.
-
Consists of 184 members.
o Each one is represented
by a board of governors.
o They meet once
a year.
-
24 executive directors do the day-to-day business.
o The
5 largest members are France, Germany, UK,
US, and Japan. Theses are the 5 permanent members. The other 179 members rotate
on the executive board.
-
Two goals ( missions )
o Global poverty
reduction
o Improvement of
living standards
-
Two parts
o IBRD – International
bank for reconstruction and development.
§ Focuses on middle income countries. Gives loans
to countries like the ones in South America.
o TDA - International
Development Association.
§ Focuses on middle income countries like Ethiopia. IDA gives money to countries.
-
July 1944
o At Bretton Woods,
New Hampshire a conference of 45 governments set up the World Bank.
-
May 1947
o France gets first
loan of $250 million dollars.
-
August 9th, 2005
o The World Bank
raises the maximum amount it would lend to a country by $1 billion dollars to $14.5 billion dollars.
