How does the World Bank work?

ON APRIL 5th the World Bank appointed a new boss: David Malpass, a former economic adviser to President Donald Trump and senior official in the Treasury Department. The bank, as always, accepted America’s nominee for its top post. And this time, it had no choice: the institution’s other members were not prepared to sponsor a rival candidate. In his previous role, Mr Malpass made it clear he is not a fan of everything the bank does. But what does it do, exactly?

Its stated mission is to fight poverty and inequality by offering money and advice to developing countries. It was conceived in 1944 at the same conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, that invented the International Monetary Fund. Whereas the fund is supposed to tackle acute crises—currency misalignments, capital flight and sudden shortages of dollars—the bank is charged with tackling chronic long-run problems of deprivation and backwardness. A big part of its original mission was to help rebuild Europe’s war-blasted infrastructure: its first loan was to France. But developing countries soon came knocking too. Chile asked for help a few months after the bank opened its doors in 1946.