Wolfowitz Deathwatch: What Comes Next
Although mostly this was an excellent opportunity to type the words "Wolfowitz Deathwatch," I am also sincerely interested in spreading Nancy Birdsall's gospel of what comes after Paul Wolfowitz leaves the bank. Her big idea? Put the research, knowledge and expertise of the World Bank on offer as a service worth paying for:
Bank staff bring to governments in the developing world -- many incompetent and some ridden at all levels with the curse of corruption -- solid expertise on how to foster poverty-reducing growth. Even China , India and Russia, which are flush with private capital and borrow little from the Bank, value its advice--be it on education, agriculture, debt management, or pension reform. They see the Bank as an imperfect but essentially honest broker, with staff who have worldwide, practical experience. Unfortunately for the Bank, guidance for less-than-perfect government bureaucracies is not easily sold. Programs that help people "on the ground," like vaccinating children and providing small loans to poor village women, are more popular with taxpayers: results are visible and there seems less risk that the money will end up in Swiss bank accounts. In a popularity context, "charity" will always trump advice on banking supervision, tax reform, and electricity distribution, even though sound banks, fair taxes and village electricity are also crucial for development.The Bank 's record is solid in these technical and policy areas. What it badly needs is more effective leadership in deploying this knowledge better. A first step is for the Bank to finally set a price for its advice, so that demand for its expertise rather than the supply of cheap loans defines its mission and guides its future.
We are huge fans of the idea that such advice is worth money. When a commodity is given away for free, the perception of that commodity's value drops.
Nancy goes on to outline a vision for a dynamic, flexible World Bank working to harness the funds and expertise of its donor nations. Such an entity would be "the best-armed institution to address urgent 21st century challenges that are beyond the scope of any single nation state: fostering an overdue green revolution in Africa; creating incentives for development of an AIDS vaccine and new solar energy and biofuel technologies; helping poor countries to adapt to accelerating climate change; and combating money laundering, cross-border bribery and other international corruption."