Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Peter Bakvis
The World Bank’s deregulation guide goes down in flames—18 years too late - NationofChange
Image Credit: Mike Theiler/Reuters The Washington-based World Bank, which has long presented itself as the foremost multilateral development agency, announced last week that it was discontinuing Doing Business, an annual report that for the past 18 years graded and ranked countries according to whether their regulatory or tax regimes were sufficiently pro-business.
The World Bank’s Deregulation Guide Goes Down in Flames ... 18 Years Too Late
The Washington-based World Bank, which has long presented itself as the foremost multilateral development agency, announced last week that it was discontinuing Doing Business, an annual report that for the past 18 years graded and ranked countries according to whether their regulatory or tax regimes were sufficiently pro-business.
The World Bank’s Deregulation Guide Goes Down in Flames — 18 Years Too Late - Inequality.org
The Washington-based World Bank, which has long presented itself as the foremost multilateral development agency, announced last week that it was discontinuing Doing Business, an annual report that for the past 18 years graded and ranked countries according to whether their regulatory or tax regimes were sufficiently pro-business.
Billionaires Made More Money in 2017 Than Any Other Year in History
During a year in which so much of the world faced deep poverty, the corrosive effects of austerity, and extreme weather caused by the worsening human-caused climate crisis — from devastating hurricanes to deadly wildfires and floods — one class of individuals raked in more money in 2017 than any other year in recorded history: the world’s billionaires.
Inequality: A Feature and Driver of Bolsonaro's Rise in Brazil
In less than a week, Brazil will vote to elect its next president in what’s widely considered the most consequential election in Brazil’s history. On one side is Fernando Haddad — a soft-spoken academic, former Minister of Education for the Workers Party (PT), and recent mayor of São Paulo most remembered for painting bike lanes across Brazil’s economic capital. Haddad faces Jair Bolsonaro — a former military man and long-time member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies representing Rio de Janeiro.
The World Bank's Fuzzy Math on Inequality and the Future of Work
Even more absurd is the World Bank report’s touting of data from Russia showing that the top 10 percent of income earners’ share of national income fell from 52 to 46 percent between 2008 and 2015. There’s an easy explanation for this decline which has nothing to do with progress on the inequality front. The price of oil fell by 58 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2008 (a 28-year peak for real oil prices) and 2015, shrinking the fossil fuel-dependent fortunes of Russian oligarchs.
Virginians Show the Real Face of Poverty
On a recent night in Richmond, Virginia, speaker after speaker came forward to talk about the multidimensional reality of poverty. The setting was a hearing held by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. “I’ve been working for years as a professional and I don’t earn a living wage,” said Joyce Barnes, a home health care worker based in Richmond. “It hurts.
Missed target: IMF policy paper on fiscal policy and inequality
An “IMF Policy Paper: Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality” was launched Thursday at the Peterson Institute think-tank in Washington by the Fund’s second-in-command, David Lipton. The IMF has issued several research papers on the theme of inequality in recent years, but this is the first that has the status of a “Policy Paper”, meaning that it was discussed by the board of directors before finalisation and publication.
The World Bank's Inequality Omissions
The development finance institution aims to track global progress towards reducing inequality, but its first annual analysis comes flawed. The World Bank’s new report on inequality contains several inexplicable omissions. Poverty and Shared Prosperity is the first in a series of annual reports tracking progress towards two key “Sustainable Development Goals,” or SDGs, developed through a global process spearheaded by the United Nations.
The World Bank has a troubling vision for the future of work
Last year, the World Bank decided to devote the 2019 edition of its flagship annual policy review publication, the World Development Report (WDR), to the theme of the future of work. Preparation of the 2019 WDR encountered some delay after the ouster in late January of the report’s first director, the Bank’s chief economist Paul Romer.
The World Bank's Troubling Vision for the Future of Work
The World Bank decided last year to devote the 2019 edition of its flagship annual policy review publication, the World Development Report, to the theme of the future of work. Preparation of the WDR 2019 encountered some delay after the ouster in late January of the report's first director, the Bank's chief economist Paul Romer. Romer lost his job after severely criticizing another major annual World Bank report, Doing Business, for ideologically driven data manipulation.
One Hundred Years of Servitude in Brazil
The debt economy was introduced to Rio Negro communities during the rubber boom of the 19th century. In Malalahá, bondage has created a situation that is unusual to say the least. Twenty-eight-year-old piassava worker Olânio dos Santos Bento says that his 88-year-old father Olavo, himself a former piassava worker, is his boss. Olânio’s debt was R$800 (US$253) but when he caught leishmaniasis, a disease caused by parasites, the pain prevented him from working and his debt accumulated.
It's Time to End the World Bank's Biased Business Regulation Ratings
Bachelet is calling for a full investigation of the World Bank’s ratings system, noting that such a financial monitoring apparatus “should be trustworthy, since they impact investment and countries’ development.” Chilean Economy Minister Jorge Rodriguez Grossi said in a statement that “it is rare to see action this immoral.” Some Chilean officials have suggested that the country’s poor Doing Business ranking might have been a factor in the conservative Piñera’s successful campaign to regain...
The World Bank’s Simplistic Claims on Business Regulations and Inequality
In 2009, when millions of workers were losing their jobs at the height of the Great Recession, Bank management decided to suspend an earlier Doing Business indicator on labor flexibility because of one-sided assertions about the benefits of labor market deregulation.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Peter
Contact Peter, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack