system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is the world bank, how was it founded, and what authority does it wield internationally?
gpt
The World Bank was founded after WWII, as part of a larger reshaping of the global economy under US leadership.

As its name suggests, it is a bank. Like all banks, it is in the business of lending money. But unlike a normal bank, which lends money to people and companies, the World Bank (and the International Monetary Fund\*) lends money to countries.

Sometimes these loans are for specific projects that a country needs to finance. Sometimes they're emergency bailouts to countries that are having financial issues. In recent years, the World Bank and IMF have concentrated on loans to developing countries to reduce poverty.

&#x200B;

> **what authority does it wield internationally?**

The same as any other bank. It doesn't have a direct way to force countries to pay back loans, it relies on its members to exert pressure individually

&#x200B;

\**The World Bank and IMF are sister institutions that do the same job. The difference is that the World Bank is traditionally led by an American and the IMF by a European.*