Jeffrey D. Sachs's Blog, page 39

Middle East and Climate Change

Insuring for Disaster

NATURAL disasters like the devastating earthquake in Nepal constitute a highly uncertain but quantifiable risk. No one can say for sure when a major earthquake will strike. But the fault lines are known. We need a new global system of disaster insurance, akin to how homeowners guard against calamity. Relief teams and millions of dollars [...]

Climate Change and the Catholic Church

ROME – Pope Francis is calling on the world to take action against global warming, and many conservatives in the United States are up in arms. The pope should stick to morality, they say, and not venture into science. But, as the climate debate unfolds this year, most of humanity will find Francis’s message compelling: [...]

Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity. The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Humanity: Declaration of Religious Leaders, Political Leaders, Business Leaders, Scientists and Development Practitioners

Declaration of Religious Leaders, Political Leaders, Business Leaders, Scientists and Development Practitioners 28 April 2015 We the undersigned have assembled at the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences to address the challenges of human-induced climate change, extreme poverty, and social marginalization, including human trafficking, in the context of sustainable development.  We join together from [...]

Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity. The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Humanity: Agenda

Workshop, 28 April 2015 – Organised by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, SDSN and Religions for Peace, the goal of this summit is to help strengthen the global consensus on the importance of climate change in the context of sustainable development. Global climate change adversely affects every aspect of our [...]

The Path to Happiness: Lessons from the 2015 World Happiness Report

Getting richer but not happier: it’s a familiar story, for people and for nations. The purpose of the World Happiness Report, now in its third edition for 2015, is to remind governments, civil society, and individuals that income alone cannot secure our wellbeing. True happiness depends on social capital, not just financial capital. The evidence [...]

ExxonMobil’s Dangerous Business Strategy

NEW YORK – ExxonMobil’s current business strategy is a danger to its shareholders and the world. We were reminded of this once again in a report of the National Petroleum Council’s Arctic Committee, chaired by ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. The report calls on the US government to proceed with Arctic drilling for oil and gas [...]

Future of Economic Development – Conversations with Tyler Cowen

Robots: Curse or Blessing? A Basic Framework

Do robots raise or lower economic well-being? On the one hand, they raise output and bring more goods and services into reach. On the other hand, they eliminate jobs, shift investments away from machines that complement labor, lower wages, and immiserize workers who cannot compete. The net effect of these offsetting forces is unclear. This [...]

Krugman’s Anti-Cameron Contradiction

NEW YORK – It is truly odd to read Paul Krugman rail, time and again, against the British government. His latest screed begins with the claim that “Britain’s economic performance since the financial crisis struck has been startlingly bad.” He excoriates Prime Minister David Cameron’s government for its “poor economic record,” and wonders how he [...]