The World Bank may need a period of quiet reflection, but this was ridiculous. On September 10th 300 bankers joined Thich Nhat Hanh, an 87-year-old Vietnamese monk and founder of the Order of In-terbeing, for a day of 'mindful meditation' with Jim Kim, the bank's president and an admirer of Mr Hanh. 'It was all very Zen,' one member of staff told the Washington Post. Afterwards, Mr Hanh and 20 brown-robed brethren led a 'walking meditation' through Washington-though since the traffic police did not show up, the quiet contemplation was marred by the not-so-Zen honking of angry drivers. Mr Hanh says he believes in 'the power of aimlessness' and thinks civilisation is threatened by 'voracious' economic growth. Mr Kim (one hopes) does not. He is trying to give the bank a sharper focus. In the unlovely words of a new strategy, endorsed by the bank's governors on October 12th, the group's 'value proposition' is to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to foster income growth among the poorest 40% in every country, not just poor ones. The aim is to shake up the world's leading development body.
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