Several years ago I handled an international arbitration governed by a division of the World Bank (ICSID). I got to know the bureaucrats at the World Bank fairly well and got a sense of their culture. It is a very internationally diverse group. The sense I got was that they were a very dedicated bunch. Dedicated not so much to the politics (although there is some of that), but to the stated purpose of the organization. As such I noticed that they seem to yield considerable "power" much like a union, to make sure the organization stays pretty much on task. My impression was that typically the staff is young and mobile, and there is enough turn over to keep anyone from becoming too territorial. The revolt against Wolfowitz may have been an example of that. So even though Zoellick is a Republican, he may sense there is some restraining influence on him in his current role. We'll see, eh?

How does one extract profit forever from differences in wealth when doing so reduces the differences?

The wreckage left by the Bush Administration has yet to be fully disclosed, I fear.

On an almost daily basis we read about yet another failure caused by Bush and his pet idiots.

Someone, somwhere must be compiling a list of the failures caused by the stupidity, arrogance, lack of regulation and oversight, twisted facts, and outright lies of this Administration and an enabling Republican Congress.

This list should be carved on the gravestone of the Republican Party.

Harry Dent Jr., in his forthcoming book, describes with all seriousness the path to the next Great Depression in 2010-2014. That phrase again. But the emerging market "bubble" collapse triggers it in his scenario.

Dent, a demographer and economic analyst, is well known as the author of various books on booms, bubbles, and high Dow targets. Shockingly, he is also the son of the perpetrator of Nixon's Southern Strategy. With Lehman Brothers top director, a decendant of a former British alied American President, teemed with, and funding Al Gore's new Presidential bid, Dent doesn't have to carry on the legacy in the same way his father did, but I wonder if he has a vested interest in the fulfillment of his own prognostications.

Rob from the middle class and poor to line the pockets of the rich and well connected. This is the meaning of "an inclusive and sustainable globalization."