The global financial system is in crisis, andthat crisis is hitting developing countries hard.But the system has never served developing countries well. Those that opened their doors to global finance have seen huge increases in their vulnerability to shocks like the one we are living through now, but little more in the way of
improved human development than countries which took a more cautious approach. And the poorest countries have not got the financing they so desperately need. It is becoming increasingly clear that we need a system that actually serves development without the huge risks that are now all too apparent.

Many descriptions of the current financial crisis have drawn on the metaphor of natural disaster. Storms, earthquakes and floods have all been invoked to describe the scale and destructive power of the financial forces that have been unleashed in the last six months. But while this gets across the impact of what has happened, it is totally misleading in one respect. The financial crisis is not a natural disaster – it was made by people, and is the product of decisions made by companies and by governments – decisions that could have been made differently, and could have led to very different outcomes...

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