George Woods and the World Bank

PREFACE. George David Woods became the fourth president of the World Bank on January 1, 1963. John F. Kennedy, personally, urged Woods to accept. In August, 1962, Eugene Black invited Woods to the White House where Kennedy told Woods, in effect: Everything we in the United States have done since the end of the war, including the Marshall Plan, to try to build a peaceful and stable world is threatened by the growing gap between the poor and the rich countries. If that is not solved, it is going to cause the collapse of all our policies, including American foreign policy. We have to do something about this, and I think the World Bank, of the institutions available, is the most promising. This is our chosen instrument, and I want you, George Woods, to be the one to make the Bank a bridge between the poor and the rich countries. 1 Born in poverty, raised in Brooklyn by his adoring mother after the early death of his father, John Woods, and lacking a college education, George Woods, nonetheless, brought an impressive background to the task. At age 17, he became a messenger boy for Harris, Forbes and Company; at age 50, he was Chairman of the Board of the First Boston Corporation, an investment-banking firm which "was raising more money for more corporations than any other investment-banking house in the world. ,,2 As a young man in his twenties, accompanied by the young Arthur Dean who later served as chief negotiator to end the Korean War and, incidentally, was Woods's "best man", Woods won the account of the Nippon Light and Power Company. As a Broadway Angel, he made a small fortune in the theater by backing Sailor Beware, Dead End and Outward Bound. During the dark days of the depression, Woods successfully marketed the bonds of the Southern California Edison Company. He "saved" Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey and the New York Times. He had a distinguished career in Washington during World War II as a Colonel in the General Staff Corp under Generals Somervell and Clay. Through a merger with Mellon Securities Corporation after World War II, George Woods made First Boston, at that time, the largest publicly-owned investment banking firm in the United States. In 1952, First Boston, together with Morgan Stanley, began to manage the new World Bank bonds. That same year, Woods headed a World Bank mission to investigate the possibility of expanding and amalgamating two steel companies in India. Later, he helped to organize development banks in India, Pakistan and the Philippines. He played an important role in settling the compensation for the previous shareholders of the Suez Canal Company after its nationalization. Woods, in New York, was in almost daily contact with Black, in Washington. Woods knew more about the World Bank than anyone nominated to be president, with the possible exception of Eugene Black himself, who had already been the United States Executive Director for two years before becoming president. Woods was a banker. In the words of Woods's wife, Louise, "He never suffered fools gladly." He was very bright, however; his was probably the keenest intellect of any president of the World Bank, and he presided over a significant transition in the Bank's history: from Eugene Black, who firmly established the Bank and sold its bonds to the world, to Robert McNamara, who greatly expanded the Bank and increased its lending, perhaps excessively. 1. Robert W. Oliver, "A Conversation with Irving Friedman, I," Conversations About George Woods and the World Bank, Washington, D.C., March 1974, pp. 26-7. 2. "The Biggest Underwriter Finds the Big Money." Business Week, March 6,1971, p. 64. 2 Woods emphasized education and agriculture. He expanded the economics staff. He looked outward to the international organizations which could assist development. He took in the newly independent nations of Africa. He tried greatly to increase the lending of the International Development Association. In 1935, Woods married the vivacious Louise Teraldson. They were a marvelous team. Louise accompanied George as he flew hither and yon on missions for the World Bank. She didn't seek entry to Woods's world of finance, nor he to her world of assisting young people from the Institute for International Education or the World Bank's Young Professional's Program. They had no children, but they were together in the evening dining, more likely than not, at the Twenty One Club in New York or entertaining in Washington. This is the story of a remarkable man who rose from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to a position of preeminence in the investment banking business. From the pinnacle of that vantage point, he was able increasingly to turn his attention to public affairs until, in 1963, he became President of the World Bank. He succeeded because of hard work, a brilliant mind, and attention to detail. His path was not without pitfalls, but he persevered; he left the Bank with the dream of greatly increased economic assistance based on "a Grand Assize." He was the right man in the right place for his time

Debt and development

The external indebtedness of many developing countries -Mexico, Brazil and Argentina in particular -- has been of considerable international concern. The debts arose partly because of changes in international banking practices and partly because of unwise short-term borrowing by governments accustomed to continuing international inflation. The problem has been made worse by high world-wide interest rates caused in part by the historically high domestic deficits of the United States government. There are signs that the crisis may be easing, however, and that moderate growth may Boon resume in Latin America

The Proper Scope of Government: Theory and an Application to Prisons

When should a government provide a service inhouse and when should it contract out provision? We develop a model in which the provider can invest in improving the quality of service or reducing cost. If contracts are incomplete, the private provider has a stronger incentive to engage in both quality improvement and cost reduction than a government employee. However, the private contractor's incentive to engage in cost reduction is typically too strong because he ignores the adverse effect on non-contractible quality. The model is applied to understanding the costs and benefits of prison privatization.

Bretton Woods: a retrospective essay

Forty years ago, the Articles of Agreement of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were negotiated at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The Bank and the Fund were parts of an overall American program designed, by redressing the mistakes of the twenties and thirties, to stimulate international trade and investment so as to raise living standards throughout the world. It was a program based on the dreams of economists and brought to fruition in the One World atmosphere of the administration of Franklin Roosevelt. While their mode of operating has changed, the Fund and the Bank have maintained their international approach and are now able for this reason to intervene in the economies of member countries so as to improve the economy of the world

Effect of Tryptophan Analogs on Derepression of the \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e Tryptophan Operon by Indole-3-Propionic Acid

The abilities of 14 tryptophan analogs to repress the tryptophan (trp) operon have been studied in Escherichia coli cells derepressed by incubation with 0.25 mM indole-3-propionic acid (IPA). trp operon expression was monitored by measuring the specific activities of anthranilate synthase (EC 4.1.3.27) and the tryptophan synthase (EC 4.2.1.20) β subunit. Analogs characterized by modification or removal of the α-amino group or the α-carboxyl group did not repress the trp operon. The only analogs among this group that appeared to interact with the trp aporepressor were IPA, which derepressed the trp operon, and d-tryptophan. Analogs with modifications of the indole ring repressed the trp operon to various degrees. 7-Methyl-tryptophan inhibited anthranilate synthase activity and consequently derepressed the trp operon. Additionally, 7-methyltryptophan prevented IPA-mediated derepression but, unlike tryptophan, did so in a non-coordinate manner, with the later enzymes of the operon being relatively more repressed than the early enzymes. The effect of 7-methyltryptophan on IPA-mediated derepression was likely not due to the interaction of IPA with the allosteric site of anthranilate synthase, even though feedback-resistant mutants of anthranilate synthase were partially resistant to derepression by IPA. The effect of 7-methyltryptophan on derepression by IPA was probably due to the effect of the analog-aporepressor complex on trp operon expression

Technical Cooperation

The Role of Science and Engineering in Promoting Economic Development

Goodwin Wharton

by J. Kent Clar

Coastal water source of short‐lived halocarbons in New England

Short‐lived halocarbon tracers were used to investigate marine influences on air quality in a coastal region of New England. Atmospheric measurements made at the University of New Hampshire\u27s Observing Station at Thompson Farm (TF) in Durham, New Hampshire, indicate that relatively large amounts of halocarbons are emitted from local estuarine and coastal oceanic regions. Bromine‐containing halocarbons of interest in this work include bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2). The mean mixing ratios of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 from 11 January to 5 March 2002 were 2.6 pptv and 1.6 pptv, and from 1 June to 31 August 2002 mean mixing ratios were 5.9 pptv and 1.4 pptv, respectively. The mean mixing ratio of CHBr3 was not only highest during summer, but both CHBr3 and CH2Br2 exhibited large variability in their atmospheric mixing ratios during this season. We attribute the greater variability to increased production combined with faster atmospheric removal rates. Other seasonal characteristics of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 in the atmosphere, as well as the impact of local meteorology on their distributions at this coastal site, are discussed. Tetrachloroethene (C2Cl4) and trichloroethene (C2HCl3) were used to identify time periods influenced by urban emissions. Additionally, measurements of CHBr3, CH2Br2, C2Cl4, methyl iodide (CH3I), and ethyl iodide (C2H5I) were made at TF and five sites throughout the nearby Great Bay estuarine area between 18 and 19 August 2003. These measurements were used to elucidate the effect of the tidal cycle on the distributions of these gases. The mean mixing ratios of CHBr3, CH2Br2, CH3I, and C2H5I were ∼82%, 46%, 14%, and 17% higher, respectively, near the coast compared to inland sites, providing evidence for a marine source of short‐lived halocarbons at TF. Correlation between the tidal cycle and atmospheric concentrations of marine tracers on the night of 18 August 2003 showed that the highest values for the brominated species occurred ∼2–3 hours after high tide. Emission fluxes of CHBr3, CH2Br2, CH3I, and C2H5I on this night were estimated to be 26 ± 57, 4.7 ± 5.4, 5.9 ± 4.6, and 0.065 ± 0.20 nmol m−2 h−1, respectively. Finally, the anthropogenic source strength of CHBr3 was calculated to determine its impact on atmospheric levels observed in this region. Although our results indicate that anthropogenic contributions could potentially range from 15 to 60% of the total dissolved CHBr3 in the Great Bay, based on the observed ratio of CH2Br2/CHBr3 and surface seawater measurements in the Gulf of Maine, it appears unlikely that anthropogenic activities are a significant source of CHBr3 in the region

Controls on atmospheric chloroiodomethane (CH2ClI) in marine environments

Mixing ratios of chloroiodomethane (CH2ClI) in ambient air were quantified in the coastal North Atlantic region (Thompson Farm, Durham, New Hampshire, and Appledore Island, Maine) and two remote Pacific areas (Christmas Island, Kiribati, and Oahu, Hawaii). Average mixing ratios were 0.15 ± 0.18 and 0.68 ± 0.66 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) at Thompson Farm and Appledore Island, respectively, compared to 0.10 ± 0.05 pptv at Christmas Island and 0.04 ± 0.02 pptv in Hawaii. Photolysis constrained the daytime mixing ratios of CH2ClI at all locations with the minimum occurring at 1600 local time. Daily average fluxes to the atmosphere were estimated from mixing ratios and loss due to photolysis at Appledore Island, Christmas Island and Hawaii, and were 58 ± 9, 19 ± 3, and 5.8 ± 1.0 nmol CH2ClI m−2 d−1, respectively. The measured sea‐to‐air flux from seawater equilibrator samples obtained near Appledore Island was 6.4 ± 2.9 nmol CH2ClI m−2 d−1. Mixing ratios of CH2ClI at Appledore Island increased with increasing wind speed. The maximum mixing ratios observed at Thompson Farm (1.6 pptv) and Appledore Island (3.4 pptv) are the highest reported values to date, and coincided with high winds associated with the passage of Tropical Storm Bonnie. We estimate that high winds during the 2004 hurricane season increased the flux of CH2ClI from the North Atlantic Ocean by 8 ± 2%

Transport of Mars-Crossing Asteroids from the Quasi-Hilda Region

We employ set oriented methods in combination with graph partitioning algorithms to identify key dynamical regions in the Sun-Jupiter-particle three-body system. Transport rates from a region near the 3:2 Hilda resonance into the realm of orbits crossing Mars' orbit are computed. In contrast to common numerical approaches, our technique does not depend on single long term simulations of the underlying model. Thus, our statistical results are particularly reliable since they are not affected by a dynamical behavior which is almost nonergodic (i.e., dominated by strongly almost invariant sets)