The Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development is a body that frequently feels as cumbersome as its name. It contains an eclectic mix of data collection, research and economic forecasting, and serves as a forum for international policy making.
Much of its work is valuable, some elements more than others. Yet it requires renewed impetus. The OECD needs not just to increase its impact but to bring more emerging market governments into what was set up as — and still feels like — a club of rich countries.
Angel Gurría, the former Mexican finance minister and current OECD secretary-general, is in his second term of office, which expires next year. Although the institute has made some important progress recently, it needs new blood to speed up its development. The OECD needs a leader with both the intellectual firepower to lead policy debates and the political heft to broker international deals over policy with sensitive implications for its members.