The World Bank’s Trail of Sorrows

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As congress looks for ways to reduce the federal budget, it should start by cutting htose programs with the largest gap between the program's stated objectives and the actual outcomes. Under this criterion the World bank is a prime candidate for elimination. The World Bank, officially called the Internal Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), began operations in 1947. Its stated objectives were the reconstruction of war-torn Europe and the economic development of the less developed countries (LDCs). Instead the World Bank has been the source of human rights abuses, environmental disaster and economic stagnation.