Unique way
In what could be a unique way to focus attention on the issue of poverty and how it could be tackled, the World Bank in its World Development Report 2014 points to the need for risk management by all economic units in an economy. Risk is associated with uncertainty of the outcome of a decision. The outcome could be a success or a failure, but it is the possible loss from failure that is most devastating and tends to limit risk taking. That risk also has opportunity for success has prompted the Bank to see risk management as a “powerful instrument for development.” It feels that risk management is a tool that is capable of helping people to build resilience, thereby “reducing the effects of adverse events [and] allowing them to take advantage of opportunities for improvement.” This human-inclusive focus is a radical departure from the standard menu of concerns that have been previously served up by the Bank in trying to address poverty and development, and brings people closer to its centre of development focus.
Allocation of resources
In past reports, the tendency of the Bank has been to determine if a country was using its resources efficiently and the debate often focused on the allocation of resources between the public and private sector. Private sector investment was seen as a panacea for economic growth and development and if public policy did not recognize freedom of private investment, it was often considered to be bad for a country. So, things like the tax structure and the tax rate which affected the allocation of resources between the public and private sector had to be dealt with first under