Wolfowitz to run World Bank

[Filuwaúrdjan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4354839.stm

[Richard]

WOW.  What an improvement over that nut Bono.  I would prefer to see the World Bank go belly up, but this is better than nothing.  I love Wolfowitz.

[skybridge]

There go our enemies chances of receiving economic aid. How long is his term?

[DanielX]

I'm wondering if Bush's recent appointments are positioned mainly to drive the left nuts.

Rice as Secretary of State, Bolton at UN (now that was sheer art!), Wolfowitz at World Bank,...

[ThePrezMex]

Ok.. if you have read all my previous posts you can all see that in general I've always been pretty supportive of the administration foreign policy, despite my red avatar.
If you have read my fights with BRTD about Hugo Chavez you can see that I'm pretty hawkish against those kind of dictators. That I'm a huge believer in free-markets and free-trade (but as an economist, I understand  the complexities of the economy and I'm not as unsophisticated as many libertarians). And I like Bush personally.
Having said all that, I can say the following:
THIS IS ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS I'VE SEEN!

How come can Bush nominate Wolfowitz for the World Bank?? I simply can't believe it yet.
What qualifications has Wolfowitz to head the World Bank? And don't even pretend to compare him to McNamara, who had a lot of private sector experience before going into Defense. Wolfowitz does not have the expertise to run an organization like the World Bank and clearly has shown not to be a competent person. He has proved to be one of the greatest failures of the Bush administration in the actual planning (or lack of) the post war Iraq. Given his past, it could be somewhat safe to assume that he has no idea of what the WB even does.
After a lot of criticism, the retiring President, Wolfensohn really engaged in structural reform inside the WB. Now is a more efficient organization, much more focused and really helping in important ways, especially in Africa. The job is not finished though, a lot needs still to be done, and precisely because of that, it was required to have another kind of leadership.
I offer two possible explanations (not necessarily mutually exclusive):
1) Bush was prepared to nominate another candidate, but after the decision of Europe to go ahead and lift the ban to sell weapons to China he decides to nominate the guy that they most hate (Europe acts stupidly and irresponsibly and Bush responds in the same way).
2) Bush just thinks that Wolfowitz is a competent and good guy for the job (scary) and didn't even think about the consequences (scarier).

There were many others better qualified for this job.

[Richard]

The guy has a PhD.  What do you have?  He is a lot smarter than most people, and it isn't hard to pick up the basics of banking and finance.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Wolfowitz? You've got to be kidding me.

[J. J.]

I am somewhat troubled by the lack of any banking experience on Wolfowitz's part, but diplomatically, he has substantially more experience than the incumbent.

[ThePrezMex]

The guy has a PhD.  What do you have?  He is a lot smarter than most people, and it isn't hard to pick up the basics of banking and finance.

Yes, he has a PhD, as basically all of the other names that have been mentioned (with the exception of one) have. Having a PhD does not make him qualified for the job automatically, that's like a requirement.
I don't have a PhD, I'm about to have a Master's Degree, but I'm not applying for that job, so that makes it irrelevant in this discussion.

The problem is not picking the basics of banking and finance (the President of the World Bank should have more than 'basics' though), but to know what the World Bank is for and the possible lack of understanding of the projects it is involved.

His diplomatic experience doesn't look very bright either, does it?

[J. J.]

His diplomatic experience doesn't look very bright either, does it?

Do either of us have any idea how much banking goes on at the World Bank.  Wolfowitz does have an exceptionally good amount of diplomatic experience, and that is part of the job.  I wouldn't venture to guess how much of the job is banking and how much is diplomatic.

[Bono]

[skybridge]

Well, Wolfowitz is Jewish after all, so he's got to be good with finances

That aside, it's Bush placing more of his ideological mates in critical leadership positions. He'll have Rice, Bolton and Wolfowitz to help push the neoconservative agenda on a larger foreign political scale than he could before.

What's weird about this one is that it started out as a joke! Wolfensohn jokingly suggested that Wolfowitz--who apparently shares his name--succeed him on March 1st, 2005. However, the suggestion was soon rejected on March 3rd, 2005. Then on March 16, 2005, Bush seems to have been let in on the joke and nominated Wolfy.

[Cashcow]

Great! The administration's biggest criminal is now running the World Bank...

[phk]

The guy has a PhD.  What do you have?  He is a lot smarter than most people, and it isn't hard to pick up the basics of banking and finance.

The "deflection" lie.

Great

[WalterMitty]

what is that old saying?  fox in charge of the hen house?

otherwise, great choice!

[phk]

Paul Wolfowitz was a meber of the Social Democrats, USA, a trotskyist group!

Apparently the roots of neo-conservatism ("spreading freedom throughout the world") comes from Trotskyism!

I don't mind him anymore considering he was a former communist, but I disagree with him in that a Democratic revolution is needed before a Socialist Revolution.

Kind of hilarious as how former Socialists and Communists dominate the foreign-policy bitch-fights on the right.

[skybridge]

Paul Wolfowitz was a meber of the Social Democrats, USA, a trotskyist group!

Apparently the roots of neo-conservatism ("spreading freedom throughout the world") comes from Trotskyism!

I don't mind him anymore considering he was a former communist, but I disagree with him in that a Democratic revolution is needed before a Socialist Revolution.

Kind of hilarious as how former Socialists and Communists dominate the foreign-policy bitch-fights on the right.

Well, you said it yourself. The only remnants of the American Trotskyist refugees' ideology is their desire to spread a global revolution. Whether it's left or right doesn't seem to matter.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Paul Wolfowitz was a meber of the Social Democrats, USA, a trotskyist group!

Apparently the roots of neo-conservatism ("spreading freedom throughout the world") comes from Trotskyism!

I don't mind him anymore considering he was a former communist, but I disagree with him in that a Democratic revolution is needed before a Socialist Revolution.

Kind of hilarious as how former Socialists and Communists dominate the foreign-policy bitch-fights on the right.

It does not reflect well on Trotskyists if Wolfowitz was a member.

[Citizen James]

I'm wondering if Bush's recent appointments are positioned mainly to drive the left nuts.

Rice as Secretary of State, Bolton at UN (now that was sheer art!), Wolfowitz at World Bank,...

Next up, Keith Richards at the DEA. 

[12th Doctor]

Before you go one slamming Wolfowitz, it would be good for you all to remember that one of the major things Wolfowitz wants to do is help struggling countries develop into strong democracies.  Regardless of what you think of his ideas on military power and the advancment of democratic goals, if you support democracy at all you would realize the Wolfowitz is perfect for this post.

[The Duke]

Wolfowitz is VERY qualified for this job.  His origins are not in defense policy and warfare, they are in diplmacy and political theory.

Ambassador to Indonesia and Under Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs in the 1980s put him in first hand contact with develping nations that were actually succeeding in developing, like the Asian Tigers.  He has written a lot about develoment and has clear ideas on how countries should go about development.  Its based on practical experience of what works.

Its true he's not a banker, but that's a good thing.  The World bank was not created to be a supranational Goldman Sachs, it was supposed to be a tool for develoment.  A series of bankers at the head of the agency have left it thinkng and acting like a bank, more worried about collecting their interest payments than in fostering develoment.  The last person we need there is another banker.  We need someone whose background is development, not someone whose background is jamming kids on student loans.

Bankers do not understand what Wolfie does- developement is tied to the establishment of democratic government, independent judiciaries, property rights, fighting corruption, and investment in infrastructure, it is not based on floating currencies, high taxes, or gashing social services.  The bankers have given us 5 decades of failed developement, unable to adapt their theories to changing conditions or discard them in the face of overwhelming evidence that their ideas are wrong.

Why in the world would I want another professional banker?

[opebo]

Before you go one slamming Wolfowitz, it would be good for you all to remember that one of the major things Wolfowitz wants to do is help struggling countries develop into strong democracies. 

That's what he and the neo-cons claim they want to do, but obviously that is not their real intention.

Even if it were, what a horrible idea!

[skybridge]

Before you go one slamming Wolfowitz, it would be good for you all to remember that one of the major things Wolfowitz wants to do is help struggling countries develop into strong democracies.  Regardless of what you think of his ideas on military power and the advancment of democratic goals, if you support democracy at all you would realize the Wolfowitz is perfect for this post.

There goes the right-wing trying to monopolize on values again.

[DanielX]

Before you go one slamming Wolfowitz, it would be good for you all to remember that one of the major things Wolfowitz wants to do is help struggling countries develop into strong democracies.

That's what he and the neo-cons claim they want to do, but obviously that is not their real intention.

Even if it were, what a horrible idea!

You got something against strong democracies?

[opebo]

Before you go one slamming Wolfowitz, it would be good for you all to remember that one of the major things Wolfowitz wants to do is help struggling countries develop into strong democracies.

That's what he and the neo-cons claim they want to do, but obviously that is not their real intention.

Even if it were, what a horrible idea!

You got something against strong democracies?

No, I'm fairly indifferent to them.  But I definitely am against invading other States for the ostensible reason of forcing them to be democratic.