World Development Report Gets It Seriously Wrong on Inequality and Labor Markets

The World Bank’s annual World Development Report (WDR) is viewed as the Bank’s official statement on best practices in development policy. It is important both because it often serves as a basis for project loans and I.M.F. programs, and also because it is viewed as an authoritative document by many people in policy positions throughout the world.

For this reason, it is disconcerting that the draft report gets some very big things wrong. First and foremost, the overview dismisses concerns ove...