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In 1944 delegates from 44 countries gathered at the
Mount Washington Resort to establish the World Bank. The resort,
nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, was and is awe
inspiring. The vista is so surreal and magical one can almost expect a
princess to alight from a carriage in front of the resort at any moment.
The initial purpose of the Bank was to establish loans for the
reconstruction of countries devastated by the war inflicted on Europe
during World War II, yet went on to such loftier visions as poverty
reduction . . . in other words, the Bank was determined to save the
world. The story of the World Bank and one of its most infamous and
controversial bank presidents, James Wolfensohn, is recounted in a
stunningly engrossing narrative by Sebastian Mallaby in THE WORLD'S
BANKER: A Story of Failed States, Financial Crises, And the Wealth and
Poverty of Nations.
Jim Wolfensohn, the "prince" of this tale, was appointed to the post of
World Banker in 1995 by the then President Clinton. Taking on the task
of heading an organization of 10,000 employees would not be easy by any
stretch of the imagination, to say nothing of overseeing the lives of
billions of people in the world. Jim could be seen playing his cello in
Carnegie Hall, directing projects from Chad to China, implementing
programs determined to eradicate AIDS in Africa, and dealing with the
NGOs 'n Exxon. And so begins the tale of a behemoth organization and a
megalomaniac.
If one is unfamiliar with the history or workings of the World Bank,
this is the perfect introduction. The reader needs to keep in mind that
the author is naturally biased in his writing and this is reflected in
his lack of sympathy toward the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and
apparent sympathy toward Jim Wolfensohn. I was unexpectedly fascinated
by the ability of Mallaby to weave a tale that reads like fiction. Get
your chips out, grab a Coke, pick up a copy of this book and be prepared
for some darned good entertainment and lots of food for thought.
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