The Economist's Tale

What really happens when the World Bank imposes its policies on a country? This is an insider's view of one aid-made crisis. Peter Griffiths was at the interface between government and the Bank. In this ruthlessly honest, day-by-day account of a mission he undertook in Sierra Leone in 1986, he uses his diary to tell the story of how the World Bank, obsessed with the free market, imposed a secret agreement on the government, banning all government food imports or subsidies. The collapsing economy meant that the private sector would not import. Famine loomed. No ministry, no state marketing organization, no aid organization could reverse the agreement. It had to be a top-level government decision, whether Sierra Leone could afford to annoy minor World Bank officials. This is a rare and important portrait of the aid world which insiders will recognize, but of which the general public seldom get a glimpse.

ISBN 184277185X   Pages 272 ISBN13 9781842771853 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Zed Books Ltd   Weight (grammes) 290 Imprint Zed Books Ltd   Published in London Format Paperback   Height (mm) 215 Publication date 01 May 2003   Width (mm) 135 Library of Congress HD9017.S52   Spine width (mm) 25 DEWEY 332.1532   Academic level General, Professional / Scholarly, Tertiary education DEWEY edition DC21

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