The nomination of Jim Yong Kim by President Barack Obama to be the next President of the World Bank is generating plenty of controversy.
Lant Pritchett categorically stated that his nomination was a “terrible idea”.
William Easterly has already accused him of being anti-growth (see also here).
Perhaps all of Mr. Kim’s critics prefer the status quo where the World Bank is run by ex-warmongers (Robert McNamara), bankers (James Wolfensohn) or career civil servants (Robert Zoelick). Wait wasn’t that the World Bank that they loved to criticize?
Now President Obama came up with a radical idea: why not appoint someone with a track record in solving the problems of poor people in developing countries? Before turning to any of Mr. Kim’s theoretical books (quotes from which can be easily taken out of context), you should first check out Partners in Health, the extraordinary organization he started in 1987 with Paul Farmer, Todd McCormack, Thomas J. White and Ophelia Dahl.
via Why Nations Fail – Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson.
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