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Posted: 28 May-1 June 07

Editorial: 
Cleaning up -- The row over climate change sounds all too familiar. G8 summit host Germany is trying to get world to agree on what to do when Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012. US is proposing separate negotiations bet. big emitters, Economist, 31 May 07

Editorial: 
Zoellick's clean-up duty -- The World Bank tries to silence its anti-corruption unit,  Wall Street Journal,  31 May 07

Coffee/tea break:  Sweden upstaged by Maldives in
virtual diplomacy --The Swedes trail island nation of Maldives by a week in establishing diplomatic presence in popular online community,  AP (via pr-inside/ Austria), 30 May 07 (Link to: Virtual embassy--Maldives | Sweden)

Business for development--Fostering
the private sector:  What are the ways in which private enterprise development can help econ growth and poverty reduction in poor nations?,  OECD (Overview [pdf]), 
30 May 07

Private capital flows to developing world hit $647 billion:  Period of sustained & broad-based growth 'unprecedented', but pace of finan-
cial flows is beginning to slow,  World Bank,  29 May 07 (w/ link to:  Global
Development Finance)

Moises Naim: 
What is a gongo?--How government-sponsored groups masquerade as civil society,  Foreign Policy,  May-Jun '07

White House taps former USTR Zoellick
to head World Bank:  The Bush admin. chooses one of its most trusted former lieutenants as the next WB head,  Dow Jones (via Easybourse/France),  29 May 07

Dubai exchange denies bid plan for
Scandinavian stock exchange operator:  Investment bankers in Dubai deny any knowledge of bid for OMX, though they say it is capable of one,  Gulf News,  28 May 07 (Link to: Times of London--Dubai aims to thwart Nasdaq bid)

Jeffrey Sachs: 
China's lessons for the World Bank--Even aside from Wolfowitz's failed leadership, the bank has too often forgotten the most basic lessons of development,  Project Syndicate (via Shanghai Daily), 25 May 07

Nancy Birdsall:  The World Bank--
Toward a global club: "Although the word 'club' has different nuances, it is used here in everyday N Amer sense implying open membership, eg, local Rotary Club, not country club," Brookings Inst (via CGDev), 22 May 07 [pdf]

Countries emerging
from conflict:  New research on what sustains peace,  World Bank,  8 May 07  (Related:  Fragile states - Overview | Lebanon - Economic and social impact assessment)

Martin Feldstein: 
The revolution in economic thinking/practice--Why have desirable changes in policy occurred? In a democracy,changes in policy occur only as econ profession changes its views and communi-
cates them, Bradley Found. (via Harvard site), 3 May 07 [pdf]

Charles Wolf:  Paradoxes--
Liberal�conservative�go figure:  The economic policies associated with such labels in America are mirror images of what they stand for in rest of world,  Milken Inst Rev (via Rand), 26 Mar 07
                                
Posted: 21-25 May 07

Wanted - World Bank pres.; Experience required:  Mgmt credentials emerge as key qualification for job, by P Goodman,  WP (free registr reqd), 25 May 07

Austan Goolsbee:  'The Apprentice -
Omaha Edition,' starring Warren Buffett -- For all of Buffett's reputation as ultimate nonmutual fund, he may have just fallen into one of biggest mutual fund traps, NYT (free registr reqd), 24 May 07

Slide show--Revenge of the
frontier markets:  As investment capital floods globe, it's ending up in some surprising places,  by R Farzad,  Business Week, 21 May 07  (Link to: What's most extreme emerging market on earth?)

In a game of risk, the next advance will be
to the east:  After ringing successes in Central Europe, European Bank is now turning to former Soviet Union,  Times of London,  21 May 07 (Related: Regional out-
look--
EBRD | IMF | World Bank)

China's
private equity coup:  Is there more than meets the eye to China's plan to invest $3 billion of its huge forex reserves in Black-
stone private equity group?, Australasian Investment Rev, 21 May 07

Jeffrey Garten: 
Trouble waits for Paulson--Treas. Secy Paulson and Vice Premier Wu confront forces neither can control - from deeply emotional politics at home to powerful global financial markets, Newsweek, 18 May 07 (Link to: US-China Strategic Econ Dialogue)

OECD invites five nations to membership talks, offers enhanced engagement to other big players:  Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia & Slo-
venia invited to open discussions for membership, OECD, 16 May 07

How to reconcile
economics and politics:  From Argentina to Nigeria, the success or failure of economic and development policies are intrinsically related to politics,  World Bank,  16 May 07

Lawrence Summers:  We need to bring
climate idealism down to earth--The crucial question now is what should be done so as to leave our descendants w/ highest possible quality of life,  FT (via Harvard site), 30 Apr 07 (Link to: Cameron--Letter | Green revolution [Indep])

Malaysia struggles to build on
Islamic finance success:  Singapore, London, Bahrain and Dubai all covet leadership of $1 trillion market, Reuters(via Gulf Times/Qatar), 24 Apr 07 (Related: Bloomberg | AFP via Kuwait Times | AP via nwi)

Newsroom: 
Bloomberg's money machine--There's power in that name. The man runs NY City and may have even grander ambitions. The company is a prodigious success and just keeps getting stronger,  Fortune,  5 Apr 07

New intl report calls for major
exchange rate realignments:  A report from leading research groups in Asia, Europe and US concludes cor-
rection of large global current account imbalances will require major changes in policies & currency values,  Peterson Inst,  27 Mar 07 (Link to:
Policy brief | IMF Issues brief) [pdf]

Global financial association assesses
investor relations & data trans-
parency practices in emerging markets:  New assessments find Brazil, followed by Korea, as best performing among 32 nations,  Inst Intl Fin, 15 Sep 06 (Link to: IIF's
previous report)

                               
Posted: 14-18 May 07

Exit Wolfowitz:  The World Bank chief finally agrees to quit. His successor faces a double challenge,  Economist,  18 May 07 (Link to: Statements--Exec Board and Wolfowitz | Key documents)

Editorial: 
World Bank justice -- Wolfowitz's resignation offers a window into a corrupt institution,  Wall Street Journal,  18 May 07

Wolfowitz said to
push for deal to quit:  He wants to be cleared of wrongdoing before he resigns as World Bank's pres.,  by S Weisman, NYT (via IHTribune),  17 May 07  (Link to: Exec Board notice and composition)

White House says all options on table on Wolfowitz's
WB leadership:  The White House, shifting its stance, says 'all options are on the table' about who should lead Bank, AP (via canada.com), 16 May 07 (Link to: Exec Bd notice | Wolfowitz's statement & exhibits [pdf, via WP])

An Open Letter
To:  World Bank and International Monetary Fund
Executive Boards
Re:  Urgent recommendation on leadership selection reform at WB
       and IMF
From:  Over 200 senior development professionals and experts 
Date:   15 May 07

An Open Letter to the
head of Burma's ruling military junta from 59 former heads of state calling for release of world�s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate,  Oslo Center,  15 May 07

Wolfowitz is rebuked by World Bank panel as Paulson backs him:  A WB panel rebukes him for arranging pay raise for his companion. But Treas.Secy Paulson & Vice-Pres.Cheney defend his acts as mistakes, Bloomberg, 15 May 07 (Link to: WB panel report | BBC Q&A)

China in spotlight at
African Development Bank meet:  China's finan-
cial hub Shanghai hosts bank's first ever meeting in Asia in its history, Agence France-Presse, 13 May 07 (Related: Regional outlook-
OECD | IMF | World Bank)

Joseph Stiglitz:  End the
'old boy' deal to choose a World Bank pres-
ident--It's easy to see why US & Europe want to stick to business as usual, but such a deal would amount to a wasted opportunity,  Proj Syndicate (via Today's Zaman/Turkey), 12 May 07

Bank may vote no confidence in Wolfowitz:  In pursuing an expres-
sion of no confidence in place of a decisive vote, European nations avoid fresh imbroglio w/ Bush admin., by P Goodman,  WP (free registr reqd), 12 May 07

West Bank split into isolated enclaves, says World Bank:  Israeli re-
strictions have divided occupied West Bank into 10 economically isol-
ated enclaves, Reuters, 9 May 07 (Link to: WB--
Movement & access restrictions in West Bank [pdf])

Competition and
barriers to entry:  Before a firm can compete in a market, it has to be able to enter it. Entry barriers can prevent usual mechanism for checking market power - the arrival of new competi-
tors, OECD Policy Brief, Jan '07 [pdf]

Boardroom: S Greenstein--
Canaries, whips & sails: Consider 3 cliches in tech biz forecasting - dead canaries, buggy whips and sailing ships. When are they useful, & when are they not?, IEEE Micro (Inst Electr & Electro Engr)[via Northwestern site, pdf], Dec '04

                             
Posted: 7-11 May 07

Economic
forecasting survey:  US economy is clawing back, but not much--The worst has passed in econ slowdown, but growth in '07 is still on track to be the weakest since '02,  Wall Street J,  10 May 07

The big shakeup in
world competitiveness--The race is on to catch up w/ US:  Of the 55 nations ranked, US is still No. 1, followed by Sing-
apore & Hong Kong,  IMD,  10 May 07 [pdf] (Link to: Rankings for '06 & '07 in
overall scoreboard)

Some leeway for Wolfowitz, who gets a good word from Rice:  The World Bank board agrees to give its president more time to defend himself,  by S Weisman,  NYTimes (via IHTribune),  10 May 07

Wolfowitz
seeks more time to reply to panel:  The Treasury's insist-
ence that he receive due process reflects broader concern in US legal circles that the board process looks hurried,  FT (via Onet/ Poland),  9 May 07

Wolfowitz's tenure grows more tenuous:  A top aide quits as a panel faults the World Bank chief over his companion's job and salary,  Los Angeles Times,  8 May 07  (Link to:  WB statement on top aide)

Ernesto Zedillo:  Save the WTO from
the Doha Round -- It will soon become crystal clear that the round's reform ambitions have been irreversibly scaled down. What happens then?,  Forbes,  7 May 07

A Nobel winner's
Rx for China:  Robert Mundell thinks China must fix its gaping trade balance on its own terms, but faces a serious backlash if it waits too long, by F Balfour,  Business Week, 7 May 07

Coffee/tea break:  Touring
troubled lands -- Many people are rediscovering beauty of strife-torn regions that are only now moving toward peace,  by G Brownell,  Newsweek,  6 May 07

Editorial: 
The battle for Turkey's soul -- If Turks have to choose, democracy is more important than secularism,  Economist,  3 May 07

Sarkozy
sees Africa as first overseas trip if he wins:  He says his first trip outside Europe would be to Africa,source of massive immigration to France,  AP (via IHT), 16 Apr 07  (Related: Africast--France urged to change policy towards Africa)

Competitive cities in the global economy:  Successful cities attract talented workers, are centers of innovation/entrepreneurship, and are competitive locations for global/regional HQs. However, cities can falter, OECD (Exec sum [pdf] | t-o-contents), Nov '06

Peter Lindert: 
Equality and efficiency--What history teaches us about the trade-offs:  To promote growth, must a developing country adopt policies that make incomes more unequal?,  Development Outreach,  Feb '06
                             
Posted: 30 Apr-4 May 07

Boardroom:  What might
business leaders learn from the MacArthur Fellows Program?--The MacArthur is a generous prize: Recipients get half a million dollars with no strings attached,  Harvard Business Rev, May '07

Wolfowitz says
he acted within World Bank guidance: In letter sent to committee probing his case, WB pres. denies he went beyond ethics cmte guidance,  Reuters,  3 May 07 (Link to:  WB pres.'s letter [pdf, via WP] & FAQ)

The Time 100: Who are the people making a difference? Time makes its annual picks of the 100 most influential men and women shaping our world,  3 May 07

Fmr World Bank officials
detail discord over Wolfowitz: The commit-tee looking into case is winding up testimony and will draft report this week, NYT (free registr reqd), 2 May 07  (Link to: Statements--Exec Board | Wolfowitz and lawyer [pdf, via WP] | Fmr ethics cmte chmn)

Mouse & wo/man:  Rupert Murdoch--
Mixed media: 'Traditional com-
panies are feeling threatened. I say, bring on the changes,'  Forbes, 
30 Apr 07

Supachai Panitchpakdi & L Summers: 
Banking on Asia's future--The Eminent Persons Group recommends ADB must change radically &
adopt new paradigm for development banking, Wall St J (via Harvard site), 25 Apr 07(Related:
Eminent Persons report | World Bank | IMF)

United Arab Emirates is the most competitive economy in
the Arab world:  Tunisia and Egypt are the most competitive Arab countries in their peer groups,  World Economic Forum,  10 Apr 07

Coffee/tea break: World tourism indicators--
Top 25 destinations | Top emerging destinations | Intl tourist arrivals by nation, UN World Tour-
ism Organization (latest comparative stats available),  Jan '07 [pdf]

                           
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