We’re building up a powder keg of global historic dimensions.
Jeffrey Sachs is one of the world’s leading international economists and crusaders against the scourge of global poverty. He has provided counsel to government and international agencies worldwide for more than twentyyears. His research interests include the links of health and development, economic geography, globalization, the transition to market economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, international financial markets, international macroeconomic policy coordination, emerging markets, economic development and growth, global competitiveness, and macroeconomic policies in developing and developed countries.
The author of The End of Poverty (2005) and Common Wealth (2008), both landmark books focused on enlightened, sustainable, and environmentally aware global development, Sachs considers those themes in the context of recent developments, including the 2008 American presidential election, which occurred less than a week after this lecture. A highly prized and profoundly inspiring speaker, Sachs provides a recent historical context to help us better understand the recent financial meltdown and the origins of the recession, and highlights the predictors that should have forewarned policymakers and bankers of the looming crisis. But, he cautions, we must realize that there are four even more important bubbles requiring our immediate attention—namely, those of environmental degradation, skyrocketing population, extreme poverty, and the growing underclass. He speaks of practical solutions to these problems, but we must act quickly and intelligently.
This annual lecture recognizes the significant contributions to the Chicago Humanities Festival made by its founder and chairman emeritus Richard J. Franke.