Sebastian Mallaby's The World's Banker: A Story of Failed States, Financial Crises, and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations (2004) (The World's Banker) is a financial biography book. British journalist Mallaby is a highly ranked member of the Council on Foreign Relations, working in international economics.
Summary
Mallaby follows a formula in his books, using each chapter to focus on a different geographic concern related to the world bank during the tenure of J.D. Wolfensohn.
Preface: The Prisoner of Lilliput
Chapter One: A Tale of Two Ambitions - concerns the outlook of U.S. president after the attacks.
Afterword: regarding the appointment of successor Paul Wolfowitz
Reception
"Mallaby gives us a sophisticated, evenhanded take on the bank's last decade of development efforts."
"Mallaby, a Washington Post editorial writer, provides a sympathetic yet critical assessment of the World Bank under Wolfensohn's leadership, crediting him for bringing the bank much closer to its developing-country clients but faulting him for trying to take on too wide a scope of activity without a clear and manageable set of priorities."
Editions
The World's Banker: A Story of Failed States, Financial Crises, and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Penguin Press, October, 2004. Hardcover USA. ISBN15942002381st ed. pages: 432.
The World's Banker: A Story of Failed States, Financial Crises, and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Penguin Press, April 25, 2006. Hardcover USA. ISBN978-01430367912nd ed. pages: 496.
This edition features a new afterword by the author that analyzes the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz as Wolfensohn's successor at the World bank.
