As the world has moved on to speculating about Paul Wolfowitz’s successor, a special article in the Economist points to the challenges ahead for the Bank and the development business more generally.

The protracted and very public end, the backroom ‘no-fault divorce’ deal struck between PW’s lawyer and three rogue EDs, and the exchange of amicable, if somewhat hollow, statements are intended to get people back to work and the Bank’s stakeholders focused on “what next?” and the business of fighting poverty. 

How quickly that happens, or whether it happens at all, depends on the United States. Continue reading →

Here is a list of the most important global candidates for the post of World Bank President. Its from the Times of London. The odds mentioned next to each name are based on those offered by Ladbrokes. Continue reading →

Here’s a letter that Wolfowitz sent to the Board today. Some choice bits: “I may make a farewell trip to Africa at the request of a number of leaders…”; “I do not plan to continue routine briefings on policy issues”; “the most important assignment I feel I have ahead is to take the time to meet individually with staff who have been so loyal and effective in fulfilling the Bank’s mission” (meaning time to pay out the bribes I’ve promised, I suppose). If he’s not going to do anything, why does he have to stick around? Must be that $400k 2 year bonus. Continue reading →

Disturbing reading from the NYT. The White House and Treasury are moving quickly to find a replacement. Some implications of the article below the fold. [update: Bloomberg chips in from Germany: Germany and Japan back U.S. prerogative. How about they relinquish their control over the IMF and MIGA respectively, as well as refusing to allow Bush to put in another of his cronies] Continue reading →

The Board said yesterday: “The Board will start the nomination process for a new president immediately.” This implies that it is open to receive candidates right now.

The UK had already publicly committed itself to pushing for a merit-based appointment process. We’re not seeing any signs of this publicly (their line at the moment is “it’s too early to talk about the next president’, but the statement from the Board above would indicate otherwise). Continue reading →