Reuters is reporting that the Board of Executive Directors will hold a “straw poll” this Friday, ahead of the formal vote on the 16th. The usually well informed, Lesley Wroughton, writes “The board meets on Friday to conduct a straw poll to see if one candidate emerges as a clear favourite. It is expected to announce its choice on April 16, in time for the IMF and World Bank meetings of global finance leaders in Washington the same week.”
Author Archives: A Bank Insider
“Skepticism Still Surrounds JYK’s World Bank Nomination”
In an opinion article today, the Executive Editor of the Dartmouth Review, J.P. Harrington, says “To put it simply, Jim Kim’s nomination smacked of arrogance. President Obama nominated a doctor and an anthropologist. Not a banker.”
He goes on to say, “Personally, Continue reading
Ocampo takes shots at the US and the staff of the World Bank
In today’s event at CGD, Jose Antonio Ocampo said “The current president was too shy in asking for a capital increase,”… “The United States “says it cannot get the money through Congress, but it does not want to lose shares in the (Bank’s) capital. So that means we’re stuck with a World Bank which is constrained by its major shareholder.” Adding “At one point, sooner rather than later, the Bank will have to negotiate a capital increase.”
He also went on to speak about what he will change Continue reading
“how did the United States wind up taking the helm of the World Bank, and not the I.M.F”
In an interesting article, Benn Steil, in the New York Times, traces the history of how a spy scandal led to the unwritten arrangement between the US and European powers to divide the leadership of the IMF and World Bank between them.
He concludes his historical account of how this came about saying “Instead of treating the World Bank presidency as a sacred American birthright, we should remember that it was never more than a consolation prize for an administration trying to dodge a spy scandal.”
CGD session today with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
If you missed the session co-hosted by the Washington Post and Center of Global Development with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, here is the video.
And here is the Washington Post’s take on the event.