World Bank President really will step down
Well, so much for my observation yesterday that World Bank president James Wolfensohn was being coy with his intentions, today’s report could not be clearer:
The Bush administration said yesterday that it was searching for a successor to World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, after Wolfensohn officially informed the bank’s board and the U.S. Treasury that he will leave the post when his term expires in June.
Now the race to be his successor will heat up in earnest. It won’t be outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell:
Speculation earlier this year that outgoing Secretary of State Colin L. Powell might be tapped has faded since Powell stated flatly after his resignation that he is not interested.
It might be U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, “regarded by some administration insiders as the front-runner,” or:
other possible choices include John B. Taylor, the undersecretary of the treasury for international affairs; Randall L. Tobias, the administration’s global AIDS coordinator; Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Carla A. Hills, a former U.S. trade representative.
And while the Washington Post mentions former New Jersey governor and EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitmen, she may not be high on the Administration’s guest list after
violating the omerta of Bush alumni with a memoir that touts the importance of moderates to the future of the Republican Party and flays Bush and his team for ignoring the country’s middle.
The truth is, we have no idea who will get the job. We hope it is someone who understands not only macro and microeconomics, but also the critical importance of public-private partnership and harnessing the private sector’s innovative capacity.
