Economics

Um Novo Banco de Desenvolvimento do Novo Mundo

May 1, 2013 Nicholas Stern , Amar Bhattacharya, Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Mattia Romani

NOVA IORQUE – Na conclusão da sua cimeira de Março em Durban, os líderes dos BRICS (Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul) anunciaram a sua intenção de criar um Novo Banco de Desenvolvimento destinado a “mobilizar recursos para projectos de infra-estruturas e de desenvolvimento sustentável nos BRICS e outras economias emergentes e países em vias de desenvolvimento.”

Não será demais sublinhar a importância desta decisão. Para começar, ela reflecte os enormes sucessos de desenvolvimento económico ocorridos nas últimas quatro décadas (o PIB agregado dos BRICS é agora maior que o dos países avançados, quando se fundaram as instituições de Bretton Woods) e o reequilíbrio do poder económico global que isso implica. De facto, a decisão demonstra a capacidade e o desejo de trabalhar em conjunto dos BRICS, para o seu próprio benefício e para o do mundo inteiro. Os mercados emergentes e os países em vias de desenvolvimento estão a tomar o futuro nas suas próprias mãos – numa altura em que os países ricos marcam passo, com os seus próprios problemas auto-infligidos.

Um novo banco de desenvolvimento é claramente necessário. Só as exigências infra-estruturais nas economias dos mercados emergentes e nos países de baixos rendimentos são enormes – 1.4 mil milhões de pessoas não possuem ainda acesso fiável a electricidade, 900 milhões carecem de acesso a água potável, e 2.6 mil milhões não têm acesso a saneamento adequado. Ao mesmo tempo, estima-se que 2 mil milhões de pessoas irão mudar-se para cidades durante o próximo quarto de século. E os legisladores devem garantir que os investimentos serão ambientalmente sustentáveis.

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Nicholas Stern

Writing for PS since 2009
11 Commentaries

Nicholas Stern, a former chief economist of the World Bank (2000-03) and co-chair of the international High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices, is Professor of Economics and Government and Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Amar Bhattacharya

Writing for PS since 2013
2 Commentaries

Amar Bhattacharya is a visiting professor in practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Joseph E. Stiglitz

Writing for PS since 2001
326 Commentaries

Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and University Professor at Columbia University, is a former chief economist of the World Bank (1997-2000), chair of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and co-chair of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices. He is Co-Chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation and was lead author of the 1995 IPCC Climate Assessment.

Mattia Romani

Writing for PS since 2013
1 Commentary

Mattia Romani is Deputy Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute.

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James Daniel Paul May 7, 2013

Is Bric Bank
a. Another salesman in ethnic clothing for country debt products with differential rate segment??
b. Signal the emergence of the new infrastructure cartels. (chinese teams working on Indian metros)
c. Discovering another slice of the pie left over by IMF, World Bank and RBDs
d. Are central banks are avoiding their respective sovereign debt because of corruption / external pressure?
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Robert Davies May 2, 2013

This article provides us with one hopeful and positive view from the BRICS fifth summit.

We should not forget, however, that there is another perspective which is to do with the accumulation of power. Typically, as the late Susan Strange proposed, nation states have access to two primary types of power. The first is the familiar hard-edged relational or military power. The second is structural power or the power to influence the shape of the global political economy. From these foundations we have then of course 'soft power', or the power of influence. Global architects need access to all three types of power and we should pause to think of the BRICS development bank from this perspective.

If we cast our minds back to the wording of the press release issued after the first G20 summit, then a new form of capitalism may be just over the horizon.
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Prashant Kumar May 2, 2013

Assuming the governance of this New Development Bank is similar to the governance of existing multilateral development organizations, how will it differ or protect itself from the political squabbles between countries. My worry is, like that in ADB, where China and India, when at odds with each other will try to block development projects, a bank that gives both these countries added prominence and control may lead to nothing actually being achieved. A bank as the authors have said, is clearly needed but the working of this bank will have to employ a new system that is more equitable than the current multilateral banking system. The nitty gritty of achieving an operating bank, especially in terms of, shares and control, with countries as politically egoistical as the BRICS nation, i fear, will impede the initiation of this development bank.
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Frank O'Callaghan May 2, 2013

BRICS. A grouping with very little in common other than having been included in an article designed to gain attention.

Development banks have developed their own welfare and that of their controllers at the expense of everyone else.
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Craig Hardt May 1, 2013

The authors two main conclusions -- that the significance of the New Development Bank cannot be overemphasized, and that the bank will be a driver of sustainable development and reform -- seem based primarily on conjecture. While it is certainly possible that the New Development Bank will prove a significant source of reform and a driver of sustainable development, it seems more likely that it will conflict with existing multilateral institutions and muddle the rules relating to sustainable development the existing institutions have tried to implement.

For the developing world, the primary focus is on fast economic growth to lift millions out of poverty, not on reform or sustainability. Ideally the first goal leads to the secondary outcomes, but from this perspective it would seem wise to withhold judgment until the BRICS create this new development bank and we see how it operates.
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