SECOND TAKE: FINANCIAL TIMES
The World Bank needs multilateralism, not Malpass
The US shows its contempt for the institution with its nomination for new president
The news that the White House is nominating David Malpass, currently a senior official at the US treasury, to be president of the World Bank is not good for the institution, nor for multilateralism in general. It is bad enough that the US insists on retaining the de facto power to appoint the president of the bank, as if by birthright – the counterpart of the duopoly that allows European governments to select the head of the IMF. It is even worse if the White House shows its contempt for the institution by nominating a president who falls well short of the outlook, judgment and experience the role demands. Nominating a candidate of sufficient stature can at least damp the legitimate complaints from other countries about the duopoly. Across the road from the World Bank at the IMF, for example, few would doubt that the leadership of Christine Lagarde as MD has been a success, whatever role her French nationality played in her initial appointment. Malpass's judgment even on economics, ...
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