These are: Macroeconomic stability is essential for achieving development; growth does not trickle down; there is no magic bullet--no one policy will spur development; and sustained development must be socially inclusive and flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. The document analyses the twin forces of globalisation and localisation and says that managing these processes is crucial to economies.

In many ways, the report follows the direction given by chief economist Joseph Stiglitz in his Raul Prebisch lecture last year, in which he candidly admitted the "one size fits all" metanarratives presribed by the World Bank so far, pointing instead to the myriad factors on which successful developmentdepends, and the unique characteristics of each development experience. Stiglitz has been preaching a post-Washington consensus for some time now, and the WDR 1999/2000 reflects that thinking.

The World Bank now admits that development cannot be imposed from above, and needs the willing participation of the local people if it is to be effective and sustainable. Towards that end, it advocates decentralisation. Yet the Bank cautions against seeing it as a magic mantra, pointing to instances where the strategy has failed. But, taken together with the World Bank's admission that the trickle down theory of economic growth does not work, it is clear that there is no alternative to decentralisation. Economic empowerment is merely the counterpart of political democracy, and politicians are slowly realising that it pays.