Dear Timo,
Thanks for this. But, do we really want the World Bank to have as much as 14-16% of its lending portfolio on social protection? The kind of programmes they lend for are mainly conditional and not good for the majority of those living in poverty (in fact, WB insiders admit that they've been told they can only lend for conditional schemes). They won't lend for the type of universal programmes that you're advocating for. In fact, as I point out in the blog in the link below, the workfare programmes that they lend for - which have been bizarrely renamed as productive safety nets - may well harm people, including children.
http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/resource-centre/blog/post/117-from-oliver-twist-to-ethiopias-psnp-how-did-workfare-become-so-productive
By the way, have you seen the new paper by the IMF that argues that high inequality is bad for economic growth and there is no trade-off between redistribution and growth? It's a bit of a blow for our neoliberal, austerity friends. You can read about it in the article below.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/26/imf-inequality-economic-growth
Best,
Stephen Kidd
Senior Social Policy Specialist
Development Pathways
Bloxham Mill, Barford Road
Bloxham , Banbury
Oxfordshire OX15 4FF
Office: +44 (0) 1295724118
Mobile: +44 (0) 7850537485
Thanks for this. But, do we really want the World Bank to have as much as 14-16% of its lending portfolio on social protection? The kind of programmes they lend for are mainly conditional and not good for the majority of those living in poverty (in fact, WB insiders admit that they've been told they can only lend for conditional schemes). They won't lend for the type of universal programmes that you're advocating for. In fact, as I point out in the blog in the link below, the workfare programmes that they lend for - which have been bizarrely renamed as productive safety nets - may well harm people, including children.
http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/resource-centre/blog/post/117-from-oliver-twist-to-ethiopias-psnp-how-did-workfare-become-so-productive
By the way, have you seen the new paper by the IMF that argues that high inequality is bad for economic growth and there is no trade-off between redistribution and growth? It's a bit of a blow for our neoliberal, austerity friends. You can read about it in the article below.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/26/imf-inequality-economic-growth
Best,
Stephen Kidd
Senior Social Policy Specialist
Development Pathways
Bloxham Mill, Barford Road
Bloxham , Banbury
Oxfordshire OX15 4FF
Office: +44 (0) 1295724118
Mobile: +44 (0) 7850537485
