Zen and the art of poverty reduction
Calm and confusion at the world’s biggest development institution
![Take me to your infrastructure practice](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/sites/default/files/images/print-edition/20131019_FNP002_0.jpg)
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 Interbeing, 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.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Zen and the art of poverty reduction”
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