COMMENT From Prof Lawrence G. Franko.
Sir, I am perplexed by the continuing kerfuffle over Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank. Back in my days as a consultant to that organisation, and to others such as the United Nations, everyone knew that one of the major objectives of multilateral bureaucracies was to provide highly remunerative employment and eternal job security for the boyfriends, girlfriends, pals, protégés, allies, not-too-noxious rivals, relatives and hangers-on of the political classes of all nations. The Bank was an especially good resting place for would-be academics who could not obtain tenure at a competitive academic institution. Academics would recommend their protégés to the Bank, and the Bank "managers" would then in turn reach out to their less well remunerated academic brethren and hire them as consultants to do much of the heavy lifting.
