Though every thinking person knew that altruism was never the goal of the World Bank, it's no less astounding to learn that of a $50-billion (U.S.) budget the World Bank promised for relieving poverty, almost half went to pay consultants.

The admission by World Bank that $20-billion of aid money fed nobody but the already-fat comes just in time to help bolster findings in a report published by anti-poverty agency ActionAid International. The report states that a full two-thirds of purported aid money finds its way back into the wallets of wealthy nations, gets squandered, is never actually put toward poverty reduction or is simply never actually donated.

The Bank agrees that consultant fees, up $2-billion from last year, do "need to be addressed." However, with Paul Wolfowitz - whose past humanitarian achievements include scoffing at the Geneva Convention and pushing for the armed takeover of a sovereign nation - taking over as World Bank president this week, critics fear the corruption will only get worse.

» Scott Saxon