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Global Crises, Global
Solutions THIS literature on development economics addresses the 10 most serious development issues facing the global community and offers a policy framework on allocating the acute scarce resources, prioritising our response most effectively. An expert who defines its scale has taken each problem separately. The issue is debated through two "alternative perspectives" papers, again authored by international experts. The policy proposals have been ranked by eight of the world’s top economists—Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Robert W. Fogel (Nobel Laureate), Bruno S. Frey, Justin Yifu Lin, Dougless C. North (Nobel Laureate), Thomas C. Schelling, Vernom L. Smith and Nancy L. (Nobel Laureate). The rich material is product of an International Seminar held at Copenhagen (Denmark) in March 2004 that attracted attention world over. The Copenhagen Consensus identified Communicable Diseases as challenge number one. This is the first attempt at economic prioritisation (it being seen as a bad thing to do). Climate Change by William R. Cline is part of the Copenhangen Consensus initiative of National Environmental Assessment Institute (NEAI) Denmark. The paper has applied an adapted version of the climate-economic model developed by Nordhaus and Boyer to examine the costs and benefits of alternative strategies for dealing with global warming. Communicalble Diseases by Anne Mills and Sam Shillcut discusses the challenge of malaria and HIV/AIDS control. From the 1950s to the 1990s, the world experienced enormous improvements in health standards, but the gains were unevenly distributed. Tools and approaches now exist to address these diseases, but the masses do not have access to prevention and treatment. The alternatives perspective papers iterate the need for a public policy for enhanced public expenditure to prevent and treat these diseases. Conflicts by Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler says that conflict has several facets, namely the international (which has tended to become less common) and civil war (that has become more common). Civil wars last longer (seven years, on an average) than the international wars (that last approximately six months), so the challenge is to reduce the global incidence of civil war. Access to Education by Lant Pritchett describes the scope of the universal "lack of education" and provides us with an analytical framework for assessing the opportunities and review the existing literature on the topic. The most prominent intervention on the international, particularly donor agenda is the Education For All (EFA)/Fast Track Initiative (FTI). The proposals are based upon the Dhakar "commitments" to EFA and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Financial Instability by Barry Eichengreen gives estimates of annual average output per year from currency and banking crises. Since 1975, financial instability has reduced the incomes of developing countries by roughly 25 per cent. Underdeveloped countries are the worst hit. Governance and Corruption describes the relationship between private wealth and public power. Private individuals and firms pay to get routine services and to get to the head of the bureaucratic queue with an avowed objective of avoiding taxes and costly regulations and to obtain inflated contracts. Corruption, in the sense of bribes, is only one type of government failure. Attempts aiming at "good governance" should be broader, as a weak state with high levels of corruption would not be able to manage the aid well. Malnutrition and Hunger, authored by Jere R. Behrman, Harold Alderman and John Hoddinott, states that the problem is more prevalent in developing countries. Migration by Philip Martin explains that in an ideal world, there would be no barriers and unwanted migration. However, it was often limited to institutions and rules from slavery to serfdom. There is significant international migration from poorer to richer nation states: about 175 million people. Sanitation and Access to Clean Water by Frank Rijsberman says, in spite of massive investments in water resource development in the 20th century, the water use grew six-fold compared to tripled world population. The provision of water supply and sanitation is related to providing reliable and affordable "water services" for all. The focus should be on service delivery rather than on infrastructure, and that sanitation should receive at least as much attention as water supply. Subsidies and Trade Barriers by K. Y. M. Anderson argues that putting effort into phasing out wasteful subsidies and trade barriers should be ranked higher. Seizing the opportunity for reform to be provided by the continuing Doha Development Agenda of the WTO could reduce public spending and allow the citizens to spend on other pressing problems. Prioritising the main challenges would guide the public policy planners to allocate the scarce resources. However, the basic approach of the works is "conformist". |
