A transparent, merit-based process: key steps
Now there’s a choice of candidates, for the first time it’s possible to say we may have the basis for a merit-based process for the selection of the World Bank President. Whether that’s what we get is,...
View ArticleOcampo and Iweala hit campaign trail: but where the hell is Kim?
Has anyone heard a peep out of Jim Yong Kim? He wants to be President of the world’s most influential development institution, yet – as far as I can tell – he hasn’t given a single interview to any...
View ArticleOver 100 economists endorse Ocampo
The great and the good are weighing into the World Bank President debate – in addition to the senior Bank staffers coming out in support of Okonjo-Iweala, over one hundred well respected economists...
View ArticleKim-watch update
Felix Salmon from Reuters has picked up the Kim-watch theme, calling it a “depressing tactical silence”: Kim has actually given a handful of on-the-record interviews, which make it very clear that...
View ArticleBank reform – a thoughtful list of key issues
My former colleagues at the Bretton Woods Project have just published their bi-monthly Bretton Woods Update with a cover article summarising some of the key issues that whoever wins the Presidency will...
View ArticleIt’s all over: Dartmouth has spoken
While Bank-watchers were expecting the final decision to be made next week, we should have paid more attention to more reputable sources. I’m talking of course of Dartmouth College, the US Ivy League...
View ArticleRussia backs Kim
Yesterday Russia joined the US, Canada, Mexico, Korea, and Japan in saying they will back Kim. They have only 1.7 per cent of the votes at the Bank, but they do have one of the 25 board seats. And...
View ArticleNo transparency, no legitimacy: the backlash begins
A great op-ed in the Guardian by fellow blogger (and former colleague) Peter Chowla – he’s perhaps too modest to post if for himself, so I’ve done that for him below. Also signs that the inevitable...
View ArticlePoor process, poor legitimacy II – Mo Ibrahim speaks out
African telecoms billionaire and sponsor of prizes for good governance, Mo Ibrahim made – rather succinctly – some key arguments about why a flawed process is not in the interest of the Bank or even...
View ArticleRace over, blog bows out. Until next time
With the dust settling after the first contested World Bank Presidential selection process, this blog will be bowing out. We hope we’ve added some transparency to a pretty intransparent process, and...
View Article3 week application period – are you kidding?
So, the blog is back, now that the World Bank board has officially launched a selection process for the next World Bank President. A task this big takes a bit of time, right? Not according to the...
View ArticleTime for a woman president
Disclaimer: this blog is about the World Bank President, not Hilary Clinton It’s obviously (well past) time to end the US stranglehold on the job, but surely it’s also time to end the male stranglehold...
View ArticleSelection Criteria – déjà vu all over again
The World Bank’s board published its timeline and criteria for selection last week and it’s a cut and paste from the last time there was a proper selection process in 2012 (we won’t count 2016 as there...
View ArticleWho will the G24 back?
We know that the USA will expect their candidate to be rubber stamped – but will it be that easy? A lot depends on the G24 – the grouping of developing countries that coordinates positions in the World...
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