The frequency and severity of financial and currency crises in emerging market economies since the mid-1990s have increasingly eroded confidence in the well-functioning of international capital markets. Cross-border currency transactions recorded a spectacular growth, reaching US$ 1500 billion...

In a report presented at the UN Conference on Financing for Development in March 2002, the World Bank claims that the effectiveness of its financial aid has improved substantially by targeting aid at poor developing countries pursuing sound economic policies. This paper argues that the World...