Rodrik and Joe
Stiglitz have both come out today in support of Kemal Derviş,
the current head of the United
Nations Development Programme, as a replacement for Paul Wolfowitz
at the World Bank.
Derviş would be great for many reasons, not least because he would be
the first president of the World Bank not to be a US citizen. If the deal being
on the front page of the New York Times today comes to pass, then – Wolfowitz
leaves quietly, in return for the US nominating his successor – then Derviş
doesn’t have much of a chance. But if the board ousts him without US acquiescence,
we could have the beginning of a glorious new era at the Bank.