GLOSSARY/291so-called socialist countries - is to reach for the status of associate, or
even peripheral, member, of one of these axes. This also holds for the
new industrialised countries (NIC) of Asia, which have been
gradually integrated into the axis led by Japan, though with marked
differences from one country to another (Chesnais, 1997).
UNCTAD (UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE
AND DEVELOPMENT)
This was established in 1964, after pressure from the developing
countries, to offset the GATT.
WELFARE STATE
The term 'Welfare State' dates from 1942. It was a pun on 'Warfare
State'. Sir William Beveridge wrote two reports for the Conservative
government, the second of which, published in 1944, was entitled:
'Full Employment in a Free Society'. In it he discusses the ideas of the
economist John Maynard Keynes for combating poverty, unemploy
ment, etc. Immediately after the war, with the rise to power of the
Labour Party, the expression 'Welfare State' was applied to cover a
series of social reforms. During the 1950s, the term became
associated only with the strictly social aspects. The English term
'Welfare State' has been translated into French as I'Etat-Providence,
implying that social rights 'fall from heaven' onto 'passive' and 'irre
sponsible' citizens. It is important not to confuse the British and
European sense of 'Welfare State' with the US acceptance, where it
refers to handouts only.
THE WORLD BANK
Founded in 1944 at Bretton Woods in the context of the new inter
national monetary system, the Bank's capital is provided by
member-countries and especially borrowed from the international
capital markets. The Bank finances public or private sector projects
in the Third World and former so-called socialist countries. It is
composed of the following three subsidiaries: the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 180 members in 1997)
makes loans for large sectors of activity (agriculture, energy). The
International Development Association (or IDA, 159 members in