The paper, presented to the London International Development Centre in April 2008 [the date of 2004 on the text is wrong] by Elise van Waeyenberge of SOAS, seeks to assess the direction of World Bank research and its effect on policy and advocacy, in the light of the evaluation exercise led by Angus Deaton (2006). Section 2 sums up the essential failures of Deaton, much in line with Fine (2008). Section 3 takes a closer look at Deaton’s assessment of the Bank’s aid effectiveness research. The imperative transpires to situate the latter in the context of the broader aid literature (scholarship) and the Bank’s rhetoric and policy, and changes therein. Deaton, nevertheless, barely touches upon these. Section 4 documents the ascent of the idea of a Knowledge Bank, and section 5 proceeds to an extensive mapping of its knowledge role. This puts the remit of the Deaton exercise in perspective and highlights the much broader knowledge endeavour the Bank engages in, with significant implications for advocacy and policy. Section 6 concludes seeking to tease out implications for the specific institutional context within which this seminar series is taking place.