Irving Friedman served as the Economic Adviser to the President from 1964 until he left the Bank in 1970. Reporting directly to the President, he commented on virtually all the significant economic issues that confronted the Bank. The series, which Friedman called his Presidential chron files consists principally of Friedman's correspondence with Bank President Robert McNamara, but it also includes some correspondence with other Bank managers and one file on a memorandum from Friedman to President George Woods.
Friedman's 1964 memorandum to Woods is a commentary on an analysis by John C. Bullitt, U.S. Executive Director, of the impact on other funders of an accelerated development assistance effort by the United States Government. The files from 1968-1970 cover topics including the Grand Assize and the Pearson Commission, which were convened to help formulate a new development strategy; population planning; the second IDA replenishment negotiations; supplementary finance and debt rescheduling, among others. Also included are analyses of economic news; some reports of the Economic Committee, which Friedman chaired; reports from program studies units in the Bank; and status reports and briefs on Bank economic activities. The file on McNamara's interview consists of background information assembled for him and suggested answer to questions, particularly on financing for the Bank, borrower indebtedness and the Bank as a development institution. In addition there is one file on a commodity study and one file of minutes and matters outstanding from meetings of the Economics Group Directors, chaired by Friedman, between September 1969 and August 1970.
