Easterly on Wolfowitz

William Easterly wrote an extended article on Paul Wolfowitz's troubles at the World Bank. He does a nice job placing the current "scandal" in the broader framework of Wolfie's tenure at the Bank. "Wolfowitz came to the bank determined to fight corruption and perhaps redeem himself after Iraq by offering a compassionate, conservative brand of help for the world's poor. But Wolfowitz's program never really took wing. Trying to fight the corruption that all too often saps foreign aid was noble, of course. But bank staffers bristled because some corrupt regimes seemed to bother Wolfowitz more than others. Worse, his main objective -- transforming bad governments into good governments -- was simply unworkable."