U2's Bono Should Head World Bank

[paineinthearse]

Sorry if this is a repost, heard this on the radio, had not seen it here...

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=peopleNews&storyID=7746559


U2's Bono Should Head World Bank, Paper Urges
Fri Feb 25, 2005 11:11 PM ET

By Kevin Krolicki
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Could the only person ever nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe and the Nobel Peace Prize now take over at the World Bank? On Friday, the Los Angeles Times devoted its lead editorial to the proposition that Bono, the Irish frontman of rock band U2, "should be named the next president of the World Bank."
Outgoing World Bank president James Wolfensohn's term ends in May and the United States, which has traditionally reserved the post for an American with experience on Wall Street or in government has said it wants to see a successor named before then.

"Don't be fooled by the wraparound sunglasses and the excess hipness," the Los Angeles Times said. "Bono is deeply versed in the issues afflicting the least-developed nations of the world."
A spokeswoman for Bono in Los Angeles and his manager in New York could not be immediately reached for comment. Bono, 44, who appeared at the Grammy awards this month wearing a "Make Poverty History" armband, has been a passionate advocate for Third World debt relief in recent years.

He has also toured Africa with former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and enlisted allies including Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates to support development efforts on the continent. Los Angeles Times Editorial Page Editor Andres Martinez said the suggestion of Bono to head the World Bank was entirely serious, although he said the newspaper was also making an effort to "take chances" and be "less predictable" on its opinion page in recent months. Bono, the rock star and celebrity, Martinez said, might be able to shame the rich nations into meeting their development aid goals, he told Reuters.

Wolfensohn, 71, has lead the World Bank for a decade. He is a naturalized American who worked as a Wall Street banker. Others mentioned as candidates that would break the tradition of naming an American to head the World Bank include Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.

[paineinthearse]

1. LA Times editorial

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-bono25feb25,0,215296.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

February 25, 2005

EDITORIAL
Bono for the World Bank

Bono, the U2 rock star, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he is a credible candidate. But we have a better idea on how best to recognize his effective lobbying on behalf of African development — Bono should be named the next president of the World Bank. Don't be fooled by the wraparound sunglasses and the excess hipness. Bono is deeply versed in the issues afflicting the least-developed nations of the world, as former Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill learned when he traveled the continent with the musician.

O'Neill, an uber-wonk, came back singing Bono's praises. Bono even brought ultra-conservative Sen. Jesse Helms to tears by relating poverty in Africa to passages in the Bible. Bono may not have a PhD in economics, but he'd have plenty of real economists around the bank to consult. Bono is the most eloquent and passionate spokesman for African aid in the Western world. And given that both ex-President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have in recent years made Africa one of their focuses, that's saying something.

Bono led the Drop the Debt campaign in 2000, seeking to forgive billions in loans to the Third World, and in 2002 he co-founded Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa, a serious group that seeks to raise awareness of Africa's problems and lobby governments to help solve them. It could hardly ask for a better spokesman than its founder, whose fame has helped open doors that other lobbyists spend decades trying to crack.

Bono could enhance the World Bank's image and sell its poverty-reduction mission far more effectively than the other deserving candidates being mentioned for the job, which traditionally goes to an American — a tradition that deserves to be broken, even if not in favor of the Irish rock star. For one thing, Bono could mobilize public opinion in favor of getting rich nations to abide by their commitments to development aid, which they rarely meet.

more......

[Dookus]

2. nah

advocates make lousy bureaucrats, and bureaucrats make lousy advocates.

Let Bono do what he does. Let's get somebody else who knows how to run the World Bank run it.

[paineinthearse]

4. Like Wolfowicz?

See LBN.

[Dookus]

5. ugh

yeah, I saw that. Horrible.

Still, I don't think Bono needs a bureaucratic position to continue his good work.

[lonestarnot]

6. Run the World Bank outta town! That's how to run it, but by whom don't

know!

[WindRavenX]

3. Bono has really given a lot of publicity to the issue of...

...debt in developing countries and HIV awareness. It'd be selfish of me to say I'd prefer him to stick to making music because I'm such a U2 fanatic, but I have doubts that he may not be taken seriously.
Bono is a true humanitarian though and I respect him tremendously.