Krugman: The Ugly American Bank

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/opinion/18krugman.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

You can say this about Paul Wolfowitz's qualifications to lead the World Bank: He has been closely associated with America's largest foreign aid and economic development project since the Marshall Plan.

I'm talking, of course, about reconstruction in Iraq. Unfortunately, what happened there is likely to make countries distrust any economic advice Mr. Wolfowitz might give.

Let's not focus on mismanagement. Instead, let's talk about ideology.

Before the Iraq war, Pentagon hawks shut the State Department out of planning. This excluded anyone with development experience. As a result, the administration went into Iraq determined to demonstrate the virtues of radical free-market economics, with nobody warning about the likely problems.

Journalists who spoke to Paul Bremer when he was running Iraq remarked on his passion when he spoke about privatizing state enterprises. They didn't note a comparable passion for a rapid democratization.

The United States has an image problem, and a CREDIBILITY problem. Putting faces like Wolfowitz & Bolton center stage is an in-your-face gesture that belies purported efforts to improve international relations.

Every time I think this regime can't get any more unbelievable, they do something like nominating the fiscally handicapped Wolfowitz for WB president.

By the way, this also stuck out for me:

"Journalists who spoke to Paul Bremer when he was running Iraq remarked on his passion when he spoke about privatizing state enterprises. They didn't note a comparable passion for a rapid democratization."

I just read a similar quote in the book "Fraud" about how nothing animates GWB more than touting his tax cuts (for the wealthy) - not about legislation that may help the poor or even the middle class.

All of that is quite telling, isn't it?

another snip>

Not long ago, the growing alienation of Latin America from the United States would have been considered a major foreign policy setback. So much has gone wrong lately that we've defined disaster down, but it's still not a good thing.

Where does Mr. Wolfowitz fit into all this? The advice that the World Bank gives is as important as the money it lends - but only if governments take that advice. And given the ideological rigidity the Pentagon showed in Iraq, they probably won't. If Mr. Wolfowitz says that some free-market policy will help economic growth, he'll be greeted with as much skepticism as if he declared that some country has weapons of mass destruction.

snip>

And glad to see Latin America giving the big FU to globalization and privatization. The one positive side effect of our administration's total focus on the Middle East is that they are letting Latin America slip though their fingers. I only hope it can become a shining example of an alternative to Wall Street's vision of the world.