•/It takes tow
Outside the World Bank building, a hefty DC policeman strides up to shifty looking (and equally chunky) type stapling fliers to a lamppost, ready to do some admonishing. Yet the man is merely advising motorists to park elsewhere while the conference is on, and he backs off. “Has anyone had their car towed here,” OOTW asks the cop. “Yeah, mine, few years ago,” he replies with a grimace. “Found my car parked up outside the Treasury building six hours later.”
•/Who’s the boss?
Are the Bretton Woods Twins running short of willing moderators at this year’s conference? It was tempting to think so after seeing IMF supremo Christine Lagarde asked to hustle a seminar on technology and innovation, while a panel headed solely by World Bank bigwig Jim Yong Kim and chief economist Paul Romer had no moderator at all. Attendants found themselves in the unusual position of yearning for Richard Quest.
•/ No soup for you!
An invitation to a $1,000-a-head ‘finance-and-fintech’ event organised by the vigorous-sounding Caribbean-Central American Action arrives by email. Nine hours spent discussing Caribbean banks in a dimly lit hall, anyone? Perhaps not. But CCAA director Gwendolyn adds a kicker. Registration is free for journalists, she said, but lunch is not. OOTW turned up anyway — one of only two members of the Fourth Estate to bother — and nicked a cookie. Fight the power!
•/ Public censure.
Oxford University’s Paul Collier is often described as a ‘thoughtful economist’ who eschews sweeping statements. At an infrastructure panel, he wondered aloud why African sovereigns would indebt themselves by paying crazy yields of “10% or more”. Nigeria’s finance minister Kemi Adeosun, seated alongside the ruddy-faced academic, pointed out that Nigeria paid 6.8% for its latest Eurobond. “Whatever, whatever”, Collier replied, flapping his arms around and looking mildly alarmed.
•/ No logo/IMF ueber alles
Spotted outside the conference: a group of fortysomething tourists being photographed in front of the IMF logo: some gurning; others mid-jump. A German couple then tarry a while with their young son, who correctly identifies the flags of Russia and Belgium. “And which is the best country,” Daddy asks of his progeny. The boy pauses then lights up. “Deutschland, Deutschland, Deutschland”, he cries, while his parents hustle him away.