Archivo etiqueta «Banco Mundial»
By Thompson Ayodele, the director of the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis, an independent public policy group (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 16/10/10):
When the World Bank held its annual meeting last weekend, there was much discussion of trade imbalances and currency wars, but nothing about Nigerian palm oil. That’s a shame, because the bank’s loans for plantation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions — some $132 million of which have gone to palm oil cultivation — have been humanitarian and economic triumphs. Yet now, under misguided pressure from environmental groups, the bank is turning its back on … Seguir leyendo
By Robert Goodland (THE GUARDIAN, 23/10/07):
I worked as environmental adviser for the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, for 23 years. I joined because I believed the bank wanted to improve the lot of the poor and conserve the environment. Before going to Washington I did an environmental study for the government of Tucurui, the first big dam in Amazonia. A vast part of the forest was flooded, so I saw at first hand the huge environmental and social cost of misguided development projects.
The bank knew how impassioned I was but hired me none the less. I thought … Seguir leyendo
By Sebastian Mallaby (THE WASHINGTON POST, 15/10/07):
The presidential corner office at World Bank headquarters has undergone serial changes. Under the master networker, James Wolfensohn, it was a gallery of faces: Yard upon yard of windowsill was forested with trophy photographs. Under the ex-Pentagon man, Paul Wolfowitz, the photos gave way to an ornamental Indonesian dagger. Now comes the workaholic Robert Zoellick. Forget photographs and ornaments; the windowsill is covered with meticulously stacked files.
After the failed presidency of his predecessor, Zoellick is off to a good start. His wonkish style goes over wonderfully: In my straw poll … Seguir leyendo
By Mark Kirk, a Republican representative from Illinois and a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on state-foreign operations. He previously served on the staff of the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. (THE WASHINGTON POST, 10/08/07):
Both the U.N. Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency have found Iran in breach of its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The IAEA reports that Iran ignored the Security Council’s February deadline to stop enriching uranium and has even expanded its nuclear program.
As Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization moves toward its announced goal of operating 50,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges in … Seguir leyendo
Por Luis Martí, Técnico Comercial y Economista del Estado (REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO, 01/06/07):
Tema: La nueva estrategia anti-corrupción del Banco Mundial ha sido aprobada, pendiente sólo de que la gerencia presente un plan detallado de ejecución. Este ARI comenta las modificaciones introducidas al proyecto inicial y los problemas prácticos de conciliación de objetivos a que se enfrentará la organización.
Resumen: La definitiva estrategia anti-corrupción del Banco Mundial está basada en un enfoque más realista que el que contenía la propuesta de 2006. Hay, de hecho, semejanzas de principio con la primera estrategia anticorrupción de 1997, pero no es posible … Seguir leyendo
Por Jeffrey D. Sachs, catedrático de Economía y director del Instituto de la Tierra en la Universidad de Columbia. Traducción de María Luisa Rodríguez Tapia. © Project Syndicate, 2007 (EL PAÍS, 27/05/07):
El periódico China Daily publicó hace poco en su portada una información en la que contaba que Paul Wolfowitz empleaba amenazas y groserías para presionar al personal del Banco Mundial. Al mismo tiempo, mientras se producía el escándalo de Wolfowitz, China acogía al Banco Africano de Desarrollo (BAD), que celebró la asamblea de su junta directiva en Shanghai. Ésta es una clara metáfora del mundo de hoy: … Seguir leyendo
By Christopher B. Burnham, an acting under secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration.. He was under secretary general for management of the United Nations from 2005 to 2006 (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 21/05/07):
THE resignation of Paul D. Wolfowitz last week as president of the World Bank may have solved one problem, but it’s possible that it has created another.
When Mr. Wolfowitz took over the bank in 2005, he preached the anti-corruption gospel with a zeal that alarmed many career bank staff members and more than a few of its 185 member countries. With his … Seguir leyendo
By Sebastian Mallaby (THE WASHINGTON POST, 18/05/07):
Now that Paul Wolfowitz has agreed to resign, his successor at the World Bank will have to grapple with his signature issue: the fight against corruption. Wolfowitz mishandled this challenge so badly that it poisoned his tenure, and the bank’s next president will be tempted to avoid it. But the challenge of corruption and, more broadly, of weak institutions in developing nations must not be neglected.
When Wolfowitz took the helm of the World Bank in 2005, everyone agreed that institution-building was essential. The “Washington Consensus” phase of development thinking, which held that … Seguir leyendo
By Sebastian Mallaby (THE WASHINGTON POST, 14/05/07):
If the World Bank were a company, its share price would have fallen 25 percent amid the current leadership scandal. The board of directors wouldn’t care about the scandal’s details; it would have replaced the beleaguered CEO with someone who could lead effectively. Justice for the boss would matter less than restoring the company to good health.
After all, the company has thousands of customers, shareholders and employees. The boss is just one person, and he can find another job.
The World Bank’s customers are the poor; and their interests ought to trump … Seguir leyendo
By George F. Will (THE WASHINGTON POST, 10/05/07):
The kerfuffle over whether Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank’s president, behaved badly regarding the contract for his companion to facilitate her departure from the bank involves no large issue. The bank’s existence does. The bank’s rationale, never strong, has evaporated.
Born in 1944, at the apogee of confidence in governments and international governmental organizations, the bank has a mission is “to fight poverty with passion and professionalism.” The great prerequisite for curing poverty is, however, economic growth, and the world has learned, during a 63-year retreat from statism, that the prerequisite for … Seguir leyendo
Por Kenneth Rogoff, catedrático de Economía y Política Pública en la Universidad de Harvard. Fue economista principal en el FMI. Traducción de María Luisa Rodríguez Tapia (EL PAÍS, 04/05/07):
¿Servirán los problemas del presidente del Banco Mundial, Paul Wolfowitz, como catalizador para que, por fin, cambien verdaderamente las cosas en el Banco? ¿Acabará por fin la arcaica costumbre de que el presidente de Estados Unidos nombre de forma unilateral al jefe del organismo de desarrollo más importante del mundo?
Wolfowitz, que se enfrenta a una extraordinaria reprimenda del comité de supervisión ministerial del Banco y a la franca rebelión … Seguir leyendo
Por Naomi Klein, autora de No logo: taking aim at the brand bullies; Fences and windows: dispatches from the front lines of the globalization debate. © Naomi Klein 2007. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate (LA VANGUARDIA, 04/05/07):
No es el acto en sí mismo, sino la hipocresía. Ésa es la frase en relación con Paul Wolfowitz, que proviene de páginas editoriales de todo el mundo. Pero no se trata de ninguna de ambas. No se trata del acto (hacer caso omiso de las normas para aumentar el sueldo de su novia) ni de la hipocresía … Seguir leyendo
By Nuhu Ribadu, the chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 01/05/07):
FOR the past few weeks, the world has been riveted by the difficulties of Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, regarding a potential conflict of interest involving the salary of his partner, also a senior official there. With the bank’s board deliberating this week over how to handle the charges, the controversy now needlessly and regrettably threatens Mr. Wolfowitz’s presidency, which has been largely defined by his energetic support for a new Africa that is struggling to emerge.
Over the last … Seguir leyendo
By Andrew Young. He has served as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, as mayor of Atlanta and as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He is co-chairman of Good Works International, a consulting firm offering advice in emerging markets in the Caribbean and Africa (THE WASHINGTON POST, 30/04/07):
“Daddy King” — the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. — was always reminding us that “hate is too great a burden to bear.” Even after a childhood of racist oppression and the cruel assassination of both his son Martin by white men and his wife by a … Seguir leyendo
By Colbert I. King (THE WASHINGTON POST, 28/04/07):
As the U.S. representative on the World Bank’s board of executive directors, I formally nominated Alden Winship (“Tom”) Clausen in 1980 to be the bank’s sixth president. The outcome was never in doubt. Clausen was elected by acclamation. It has always been thus.
Since the World Bank was created at the end of World War II, the election of an American as president has never been seriously challenged. However, 51 years of unbroken American service at the helm of the largest international financial institution are in jeopardy, thanks to the ill-fated presidency … Seguir leyendo