Viewpoint: Is It Time to Give Up on the World Bank?
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
By Mihir Sharma
For the head of the World Bank Group to quit unexpectedly would have been big news under any circumstances. But, the reason outgoing president Jim Yong Kim gave for his resignation on Monday is even more revealing. Kim said he was leaving the world’s most influential development and infrastructure-building agency to join a private-sector infrastructure investment fund because he believed “this is the path through which I will be able to make the largest impact on major global issues like climate change and the infrastructure deficit in emerging markets.” One can hardly imagine a more potent indictment of the World Bank’s role in the developing world than having its head vote with his feet.
The truth is that Kim isn’t wrong.
Photo courtesy of Antony Tran.
