Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of the United Nations Millennium Project, spoke to the Hopkins community on Tuesday, pushing for a shift in the nation's focus toward ending extreme poverty.
Sachs was brought to campus by the 2007 Foreign Affairs Symposium as a part of their series entitled "Shifts in the Global Tides."
He criticized the Bush Administration, while calling for the United States to shift its foreign policy focus to ending extreme global poverty and disease, emphasizing that he believes issues such as climate change and extreme poverty are not only solvable, but at a relatively low cost.
"The idea that you can leave a billion people to their misery is really a serious mistake," Sachs said. "We need to search together for a sane foreign policy which we don't have but desperately need."
Sachs cited the war in Iraq as one of the most significant failures of the Bush Administration and attributed the United States' worldwide unpopularity to the government's foreign policy decisions.
"There was a time when the U.S. wasn't hated around the world," he said.
"There's a huge misunderstanding that
the U.S. is the sole superpower. We must put aside the notion that we, as 5 percent of the world's population, can call all of the shots," Sachs said.
According to Sachs, the world has entered a period of globalizing economic trends, which he dubbed as the "Age of Convergence," which he believes is resulting in tremendous economic growth in countries such as India and China.
"The parts of the world that are poor now have a chance to narrow the gap," he said.
Sachs noted that the intercontinental spread of literacy, technology and political ideology through globalization was not all-encompassing, as conditions in certain parts of the world continue to deteriorate, he said. With millions of people dying each year from poverty, he advocated for the American government to act on behalf of those in critical need.
"In an interconnected world, the consequences rebound on you. There is no single place on this planet where we are not directly connected to their fate," Sachs said.
On a comedic note, Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, assigned "homework" to the students who attended the event, requiring them to work together to "end extreme poverty by 2025." Sachs recently wrote The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, which outlines a plan to end extreme poverty by 2025 through the implementation of development aid and other recommendations.
Student reactions after the speech were by and large positive.
"Dr. Sachs' message was both refreshing and inspiring in its take on global poverty and the challenges that face the world today," freshman Sara Li said.
"I'm impressed that [the Symposium] was able to secure Dr. Jeffrey Sachs to come speak at Hopkins. What he had to say was not only interesting but much needed for our usually apathetic student body," freshman Jack Zhang said.
Considered to be one of the Symposium's speaker highlights for 2007, Sachs is widely held as one of the most influential economists today. Apart from serving on Columbia's faculty of Health Policy and Management, Sachs is also the director of Columbia's Earth Institute, which conducts research on issues such as sustainable development.
Sachs has served as an economic advisor to the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization and to governments around the world.
In recent years, Sachs has achieved celebrity appeal not only for his economic work but also for his enthusiasm and readiness to team with celebrities on the overarching mission to end world poverty and AIDS. Sachs has made frequent public appearances with U2's Bono and actress Angelina Jolie on this campaign effort.
Speaking next at the Foreign Affairs Symposium is Rajiv Chandrasekaran, assistant managing editor for The Washington Post and author of the critically acclaimed book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone. Chandrasekaran was formerly stationed in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 as The Post's Baghdad bureau chief and recounts his Baghdad experiences in his book.
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