Zoellick, Paulson, and Lugar Top World Bank List
Eager to put the embarrassment of the Paul Wolfowitz brouhaha behind him, President Bush “will have a candidate to announce soon, allowing for an orderly transition that will have the World Bank refocused on its mission.” AP reports that, “Among those mentioned as a possible replacement for Wolfowitz were former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who was Bush’s former trade chief; Robert Kimmitt, the No. 2 at the Treasury Department; Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; former Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa; Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Stanley Fischer, who once worked at the International Monetary Fund and is now with the Bank of Israel.”
An interesting list. Zoellick would seem the obvious choice, given his extensive experience as a diplomat and expertise in international economics. Then again, given the way this administration seems to pick candidates for jobs, that may disqualify him.
Gonzales!
Paulson would be excellent–although I would hate to see him leave Bush’s cabinet since he is the only sensible member of the Administration.
Whatever happened to Tony Blair? His name was getting thrown about a few weeks ago.
Lugar is too valuable where he is.
Indiana has a Republican governor so the GOP wouldn’t lose a vote if Lugar took the job. Who would be in the best position to fill out Lugar’s term?
There are other considerations about Lugar than party politics. I find him a rare voice of sanity on foreign policy matters in the Senate. I’m not sure that can be replaced very readily.
How about Daniel Drezner?
And miss out on his weblogging? No way.
Paulson is just about the only person in the Bush admin who is competent (very) to do his job. Lets leave him where he is.
With Wolfowitz out, hopefully someone will be appointed who can actually get the organization back to its business of aiding development.
The time to finally end global poverty is now, and the UN’s Millennium Development Goals lay out the steps to get there. The World Bank is an essential part of this effort, and therefore it is extremely important who will be chosen to head the organization and which direction they decide to take it in.
Thank you, Bono. We should have global poverty licked in, say, about a week with a new WB prez.
Andrea, a wise God once said that their would always be the sick and the suffering, and you might want to read up on the person who will pull off such a thing, I think you can find it in Revelations. Why leave it to the world bank, i got a better idea, retroactive abortions for all who support them, that should free up a lot of food, money, and fertile living space.