Brauchli, Marcus W. 1998. "Speak No Evil: Why the World Bank Failed to Anticipate Indonesia's Deep Crisis." Wall Street Journal (14 July): p. A 1. "Jeffrey Winters, a Northwestern University professor who was a U.S. Agency for International Development consultant in Jakarta in 1989, recalls an incident he says shows that Indonesian poverty numbers were "pulled completely out of thin air." He recalls President Suharto insisting in public that poverty had dropped to 30 million, even though the World Bank was in the middle of a three year study that showed 60 million poor. He says AID officials tried to forge a compromise between the World Bank and the Indonesian government. In the end, the bank report put the number at 30 million. "It was a huge collusive effort," says Mr. Winters. "The number has been reported over and over, but it's a lie"." -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901
