Truth limps while falsehood flies


We live in an age in which truth and falsehood sometimes appear indistinguishable and can be disseminated with the speed of light.[1] They can also be amplified a million-fold in the global echo chamber created by the Internet and the use of social media. This is at once a blessing and a curse: a blessing when the information flow carries with it knowledge with the capacity to improve people’s lives, uplift human spirits, convey truth and beauty; a curse when it is used to spread falsehoods, to fan hate and division, or to engage in personal vendettas.

Depending on which of these tendencies prevails, we will either live in a world of facts where governments, the business community, and civil society might interact with each other on the basis of an agreed body of knowledge and truth.  Or we will slide into a world of fiction, an alternative reality of make-believe, where information technologies are misused for nefarious ends, whether to boost the repressive inclinations of the state in many corners of the world or simply and more prosaically to spread lies about a colleague, a neighbor, an estranged spouse.

Indeed, the stakes go beyond the purely personal. It matters for the future of democracy which we choose. For the basis of democracy is surely legitimacy which, in turn, is built on a foundation of transparency, accountability, and the rule of law, all of which rest on the bedrock respect for facts and truth.  These are realities we must face if we do not wish to be swept up in a fog of falsehoods and find ourselves living in a world where the search for justice and the pursuit of truth are regarded, to paraphrase Jonathan Schell, as mirages that appeal to the well-meaning, delusions of those who have refused to face the “harsh realities” of contemporary life. And, of course, it matters for human prosperity as well, the fight against poverty and many of the noble aspirations which motivate the vast majority of my colleagues at the World Bank and that fundamentally have to do with “equipping people and institutions with the means through which they can achieve the real purpose of development: that is, laying foundations for a new social order that can cultivate the limitless potentialities latent in human consciousness."

As many of you know, six months ago I was accused of leading an effort at the World Bank to manipulate the Chilean data for one of the Bank’s flagship publications, the Doing Business Report. It was alleged that I had political aims and wanted to insert myself and the organization I work for in a country’s internal domestic affairs. Although the accusation was outlandish, I responded immediately and am now pleased to share with you the results of the independent audit which was commissioned by the Bank and released to the public today. Truth comes limping after, but perhaps there is a chance that it remains in the room long after falsehood has fled.

Further Statement Regarding World Bank Doing Business Staff
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2018—The World Bank today issued the following statement regarding a staff member: 

“Following the World Bank’s statement of January 18 regarding Augusto Lopez-Claros, a valued member of the World Bank’s staff, we have now received the final independent audit report on the Ease of Doing Business indicators. The audit clearly shows that Mr. Lopez-Claros and all other Doing Business staff, acted with integrity and professionalism. It also proves that any contrary allegations reported in the media are entirely unfounded and without merit.

It is deeply unfortunate that a highly regarded staff member's ethics were in any way questioned in these circumstances, and we are gratified that the audit has demonstrated the facts clearly and unequivocally." 

[1] Jonathan Swift wrote: "Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect: like a ... physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead."

Popular posts from this blog

Overcoming gender inequalities: why is it so important?

Image
Across the world, gender inequalities are large and persistent. We have inequalities in basic human rights, in control over economic resources (land, finance, information, earnings and employment, to name a few) and, of course, in power in the public and private spheres. There other forms of inequality which are more difficult to measure, such as access to joint income and assets within the household and those associated with the widespread prevalence of various forms of violence against women. Amartya Sen is surely right in stating that reducing these gender inequalities would go a long way toward empowering women and enhancing her well-being.   We should take some encouragement from two noticeable trends over the past several decades. One is greater recognition that the subjugation of women has led to a whole range of social ills and dysfunctions. The other is that moving toward greater gender equality need not be seen as a zero-sum game, implying loss for men. Rather, gender
Read more

Responding to COVID-19: Priorities Now and Preparing for the Future

Image
What have we done so far and what are some of the early lessons? Some thoughts on these two vital questions follow. The crisis now The COVID-19 crisis is the largest shock to the global economy since the 2008–09 global financial crisis, maybe since the Great Depression of the early 1930s. To avoid overwhelming their health care systems, governments have sought to slow down the spread of the virus by implementing various suppression policies. They have made the case that social distancing measures are central to these efforts, as shown by the recent experience of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, where various combinations of lockdowns, testing and contact tracing appear to have slowed down the rate of infections. The shocks to the economy have been multiple and mutually reinforcing. Business closures, travel bans and other transportation disruptions have undermined consumer spending and business confidence and could lead to a sharp increase in bankruptcies. Dismissals, layoffs,
Read more

Nationalism as an infantile disease

Image
I was a young economist at the International Monetary Fund in the mid-1980s, working on the IMF’s Spanish economic team. A group of us would travel to Madrid periodically to consult with the government on their economic policies and to issue reports that identified the main economic challenges facing the authorities and to take a thorough look at what was being done to address them. The early part of that decade had not been an easy period for Spain. Major sectors of the economy (e.g. steel, shipbuilding) were in crisis due to the emergence of lower cost producers in other parts of the world. Economic growth had been anemic and the rate of unemployment was one of the highest in Europe. By the time I joined the Spanish team in 1985 there was a serious program of economic reforms underway that sought to prepare the Spanish economy for its forthcoming entry into the European Community, as it was then called. What impressed me the most during these visits was the extent to which the
Read more