President Obama's nomination of Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank is an inspired choice. The South Korean-born medical doctor and president of Dartmouth College has a stellar reputation as a global health expert, the New York Times said in an editorial. Excerpts: Still, there is a problem: Since the bank was founded, all the presidents have been American. Emerging economies, which contribute increasingly to global growth, are rightly demanding a greater say in decision-making. The World Bank job — and one at the International Monetary Fund, which traditionally goes to a European — ought to be filled on merit alone. That should not exclude qualified Americans, but neither should it guarantee them a job. The bank needs a president with experience beyond Washington's narrow political and economic circles. Washington and Europe seem determined to ensure Dr. Kim's election. The bank will almost certainly do well under his leadership. But it would do even better if the process for choosing the next president were truly competitive and fully transparent.
