Can't the NYT Find Someone With a Name to Talk About the World Economy?

In an article on the recent instability in financial markets and the weak world economy, the NYT turned to "a senior World Bank official" for extensive comments about the world economy. The official's comments included no inside information, nor were they qualitatively different from the views expressed by many other economists who would have no problem being on the record.

Many economists have extremely bad track records in assessing the state of the economy, including many officials at the ...