Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet“Lucid, quietly urgent, and relentlessly logical . . . this is Bigthink with a capital B.” —The New York Times Book Review “Common Wealth explains the most basic economic reckoning that the world faces.” —Al Gore, winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and former vice president of the United States In Common Wealth, Jeffrey D. Sachs-one of the world's most respected economists and the author of The New York Times bestseller The End of Poverty- offers an urgent assessment of the environmental degradation, rapid population growth, and extreme poverty that threaten global peace and prosperity. Through crystalline examination of hard facts, Sachs predicts the cascade of crises that awaits this crowded planet-and presents a program of sustainable development and international cooperation that will correct this dangerous course. Few luminaries anywhere on the planet are as schooled in this daunting subject as Sachs, and this is the vital product of his experience and wisdom. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 56
Page 26
... farm family basically feeds itself , with only a small surplus to trade with urban dwellers — most of the population must be engaged in food production in order to subsist . It is only when agricultural produc- tivity is very high - so ...
... farm family basically feeds itself , with only a small surplus to trade with urban dwellers — most of the population must be engaged in food production in order to subsist . It is only when agricultural produc- tivity is very high - so ...
Page 27
... farm productivity or the lure of urban jobs but out of desperation and hunger in the countryside . Urban slums then complement rural desperation . Hunger itself is urbanized , and young , unemployed men on the prowl may create urban ...
... farm productivity or the lure of urban jobs but out of desperation and hunger in the countryside . Urban slums then complement rural desperation . Hunger itself is urbanized , and young , unemployed men on the prowl may create urban ...
Page 30
... farming , drip irrigation to maximize the crop output per unit of water input , and improved seed va- rieties that produce higher agricultural output on a given amount of farm- land . In ways such as these , the world can sustain a ...
... farming , drip irrigation to maximize the crop output per unit of water input , and improved seed va- rieties that produce higher agricultural output on a given amount of farm- land . In ways such as these , the world can sustain a ...
Page 31
... farm- land to absorb a rising population . The poverty trap is self - reinforcing , not self - correcting . Therefore , over- coming the poverty trap requires special policies and global efforts . There is nothing inevitable about ...
... farm- land to absorb a rising population . The poverty trap is self - reinforcing , not self - correcting . Therefore , over- coming the poverty trap requires special policies and global efforts . There is nothing inevitable about ...
Page 33
... farming , vaccines for tropical diseases , improved remote monitoring and conservation of biodiversity , and much more . To every dimension of sustainable development there is a crucial tech- nological need , which must be underpinned ...
... farming , vaccines for tropical diseases , improved remote monitoring and conservation of biodiversity , and much more . To every dimension of sustainable development there is a crucial tech- nological need , which must be underpinned ...
Contents
The Anthropocene | 57 |
Global Solutions to Climate Change | 83 |
Securing Our Water Needs ྡྲ | 115 |
A Home for All Species | 139 |
Global Population Dynamics | 159 |
The Strategy of Economic Development | 205 |
Ending Poverty Traps | 227 |
Economic Security in a Changing World | 255 |
Rethinking Foreign Policy | 271 |
Achieving Global Goals | 291 |
The Power of One | 313 |
Acknowledgments | 341 |
List of Acronyms | 347 |
References | 361 |
Index | 371 |
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Common terms and phrases
achieve action activity Africa agriculture areas average basic become billion carbon cause century challenges climate change cooperation costs countries crop Darfur decline disease Earth's economic ecosystems effect efforts emissions energy environment environmental example extreme face farm fertility fertility rates Figure financing fish forces fuels funding global goals growing growth households human important improved income increase India industrial institutions investments land lead less living major means Millennium mortality natural ocean organizations percent planet planning political poor poorest population poverty problem production programs Project reach recent reduce regions require result rich rise rivers role roughly scale scientific sector share social society Source species success sustainable technologies tion United University villages