World Bank watch: Enter the Frist

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP

In what is likely a trial balloon floated by the White House, the Wall Street Journal‘s Greg Hitt reports that former Senate Majority Leader Bill First is on the shortlist to be the next president of the World Bank and “is getting especially close scrutiny for the job.” That’s not likely to make too many folks happy at the development institution, which is still seething from Paul Wolfowitz’s tenure. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Bush administration is floating Frist’s name as a courtesy, and that he’s not being seriously considered for a job that ought to require someone with the brains and experience of a Robert Zoellick or Robert Kimmitt.

A handful of countries—including Brazil, South Korea, China and Pakistan—are on record saying that the United States should no longer be selecting the Bank’s president unilaterally, but it looks like the Bush administration is moving fast enough to prevent a broader movement from developing.

If Frist doesn’t fit the bill, one possibility is for Bush to nominate someone who doesn’t sound American, such as his Harvard Business School pal Vasken Setrakian, who is of Armenian descent. But I doubt many people would be fooled by that.