Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Economy | Featured Stories — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

This article explains why . . . through omission. It certainly tells us that corruption at the World Bank is a serious problem. It does not tell us how incoming President Robert Zoellick is supposed to fight corruption--save mentioning the need not to cut off money to corrupt countries for fear of endangering programs for the poor. There is a vague comment about how "suspicious bank officials" ought to be "enlisted" in Zoellick's agenda . . . which hardly does much to satisfy the reader that those "suspicious bank officials" will be investigated or called to account for anything they may have done to justifiably raise suspicious. And there is a comment stating that "you can't make the bank into the attorney general of the world." Certainly not. But can't the Bank investigate itself? Can't it enforce standards of honesty in its own ranks?

I drew up an anti-corruption agenda for Robert Zoellick here. I think that it is a good blueprint to follow in fighting corruption. Doubtless, there are other good blueprints out there but the problem with the New York Times article linked above is that it makes no effort whatsoever to provide one. And by the way, the good people at the Times really ought to know better than to call the shenanigans that have gone on at the World Bank "minor graft." It was--and is--a tad more serious than that.