Commission On Growth And Development Created By The World Bank

The World Bank has announced the creation of an independent, high-level Commission on Growth and Development comprised of leading practitioners from government, business and the policy-making arena. The Commission, over a two-year period, is intended to deepen the understanding of economic growth for development and poverty reduction. The Commission is independent and its conclusions will reflect the views of the Commission members. It will be chaired by Nobel laureate Michael Spence, former Dean of the Stanford Graduate Business School. Danny Leipziger, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, will act as the Commission's Vice-Chair.

The Commission has been charges to:

* take stock of the current state of knowledge and understanding of economic growth, review the salient features of successful growth experiences,
* identify new and developing trends that are relevant to future growth strategies, and
* assess the most effective approaches for developing countries.

This exercise is to look at the coming ten years and beyond, recognizing the economic uncertainties that affect the international environment. The Commission is expected to shed light on the long-run forces underlying growth experiences, and highlight the actions--at the national and international level--most likely to improve developing countries’ growth prospects. The aim is to foster well designed policies for shared and sustained growth that leads to improvements in the well being of the poor.

The final report will be released by the end of 2007.

The formation of the Commission is mentioned in an "Economics Focus" column of The Economist (May 18, 2006). The column also gives a favorable review of David Warsh's new book, Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations.