17 March 2005
Wolfowitz Nomination
President Bush’s nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as President of the World Bank is either thoughtless or willfully malignant. One may analogize his candidacy to the tenure of Robert McNamara following the latter’s tenure as Defense Secretary during the war in Vietnam. There was an element of atonement by the U.S. for a universally reviled American policy in the devotion of McNamara’s widely recognized management skills to improving the effectiveness of contributions by wealthy nations’ to the welfare of “less developed countries.”
Mr. Wolfowitz does not have the experience and accomplishments under his belt that McNamara had at Ford Motor Co. (Nor does he have the admirable financial background of the most recent World Bank president, James Wolfensohn.) His commitment to freedom in “emerging markets” is purely a political conviction. It is not based on practical knowledge of private commerce. Mr. Wolfowitz has not engaged in creating wealth, a skill needed in the poorer regions of the world. He has ultimately most famously been involved in attempting to control the international consequences of economic activity.
The World Bank’s biggest challenge is to help increase the prospects of individuals in emerging markets without appearing to limit their self-determination. The appointment of Wolfowitz would achieve the opposite result.
President Bush’s nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as President of the World Bank is either thoughtless or willfully malignant. One may analogize his candidacy to the tenure of Robert McNamara following the latter’s tenure as Defense Secretary during the war in Vietnam. There was an element of atonement by the U.S. for a universally reviled American policy in the devotion of McNamara’s widely recognized management skills to improving the effectiveness of contributions by wealthy nations’ to the welfare of “less developed countries.”
Mr. Wolfowitz does not have the experience and accomplishments under his belt that McNamara had at Ford Motor Co. (Nor does he have the admirable financial background of the most recent World Bank president, James Wolfensohn.) His commitment to freedom in “emerging markets” is purely a political conviction. It is not based on practical knowledge of private commerce. Mr. Wolfowitz has not engaged in creating wealth, a skill needed in the poorer regions of the world. He has ultimately most famously been involved in attempting to control the international consequences of economic activity.
The World Bank’s biggest challenge is to help increase the prospects of individuals in emerging markets without appearing to limit their self-determination. The appointment of Wolfowitz would achieve the opposite result.
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