|
Washington, DC - Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, offered the following statement regarding the release of the World Bank’s 5th edition of its widely used "Doing Business" report this evening. The report, which ranks countries on the basis of business-friendly policies, is used by private investors and the Bank itself to evaluate candidates for investment, thus encouraging them to compete for higher ratings. Frank expressed his disappointment with the report’s direction, which he said has the effect of encouraging countries to adopt policies that exacerbate the global trend toward increasing inequality:
"Unfortunately, one way for a government to improve its rating is by adopting policies that reduce worker protections and rights, which, ironically, encourages violation of the core conventions of the Bank's sister agency the International Labor Organization.
"Despite the fact that China bans independent labor unions, it scores considerably higher than India or Brazil, which do not.
“If the World Bank hopes to garner support in Congress for next year’s replenishment of its soft-loan arm, the International Development Association, it should reconsider the way in which it constructs and uses its Doing Business report.”
The Bank gives more favorable 'employing workers' ratings to Saudi Arabia and Georgia than to Finland or Sweden – high-productivity economies with exemplary worker protections. Saudi Arabia systematically discriminates against women, and Georgia earned a nearly perfect score despite continued repression of union.
|
