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Created: 22 December 2015

Illicit flows tend to take stronger root in countries experiencing non-inclusive growth. Not only do illicit flows exacerbate income inequality, they also undermine a nation’s fiscal capacity, the degree to which the government can credibly enact revenue, expenditure, and monetary policies to achieve socially desirable outcomes. As a result, nations find it more difficult to stem, if not reverse, the vicious cycle of illicit financial flows and inequality.

Illicit flows also represent a major drain on the resources of African countries. Global Financial Integrity carried out a joint study with the African Development Bank and found that Africa was a net creditor to the world to the tune of up to $1.4 trillion over the period from 1980 through 2009, with the most conservative estimate of the capital loss being around $600 billion. Thus, despite the inflow of international aid into every region of Sub-Saharan Africa, outflows of illicit capital continue to result in a net loss of resources that overwhelms any salutary economic effects of recorded capital inflows.

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Created: 20 December 2015

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Created: 21 December 2015

As top leaders met at a lush Bali resort in October 2013, President Xi Jinping of China described his vision for a new multinational, multibillion-dollar bank to finance roads, rails and power grids across Asia. Under Chinese stewardship, the bank would tackle the slow development in poor countries that was holding the region back from becoming the wealth center of the world.

Afterward, the United States secretary of state, John Kerry, caught up with Mr. Xi in the corridor. “That’s a great idea,” Mr. Kerry said of the bank, according to Chinese and American aides briefed on the encounter.

The enthusiasm didn’t last long, as the Obama administration began a rear-guard battle to minimize the bank’s influence.

Read more: China creates a World Bank of its own

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Created: 18 December 2015

Agricultural development is central to addressing some of the biggest challenges today: climate change, hunger, poverty, need for rural employment, and managing access to land and natural resources. According to the World Bank, climate change could push 100 million people into poverty in the next 15 years. Farmers will be the primary victims, affected by reduced rainfall, crop failure, heat waves, and floods. Yet, instead of investing in small-scale farmers, who produce over 70 percent of the food consumed in the world and practice sustainable agriculture, the World Bank’s programs push for a wide adoption of industrial agriculture techniques involving fossil-based chemical inputs, modified seeds etc.

Read more: Why the World Bank is Missing the Point on Agricultural Development