Ravi Kanbur is one of the world's top specialists in development economics. Born in India and trained in England, at Cambridge and Oxford, he has taught at a number of universities in the United Kingdom and the United States, and has held various high-ranking positions with the World Bank. In 1998, he was asked to lead the team that would prepare the 2000/2001 issue of the World Development Report, the Bank's flagship annual publication, which would focus on “Attacking Poverty.” In June 2000, before the release of the report, Kanbur resigned over disagreements on the final version. At the time, some said that the divergences were minor. The head of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, even argued that it was merely a dispute over the order of the chapters! Others suggested that much more was at stake and that the United States Treasury Secretary, Lawrence H. Summers, was himself involved in re-writing parts of the report.

Whatever the case, the matter certainly appeared important to Kanbur. At a conference he addressed later the same year, he raised the question indirectly through a discussion of the fundamental disagreements that underlie global debates on poverty and development. Inside as well as outside international organizations, Kanbur explained, there are two broad, contending views on how best to attack poverty. The first view rallies most of the economists working in finance ministries, in international financial institutions, and in universities, and the second is primarily defended by those, not usually economists, who are associated with social ministries, aid agencies, and non-governmental organizations.