Development, Economics, International Relations: 60 Seconds With Jeffrey Sachs

Fast Company: What are our biggest problems?

SACHS: I'm focusing on a world divided between rich and poor, and a world that doesn't seem to be able to manage the natural base of our lives: air, oceans, or biodiversity. It's a mistake to think that globalization is automatically beneficent and should run its due course--but also to think that it ought to be shut down.

FC: What have you learned about the very poor?

SACHS: That there are different problems in different places. Development can really work everywhere. But most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Andean region, and Central Asia face obstacles [of disease and isolation]. These are not cases of whether government cares or doesn't care, or is corrupt or uncorrupt. The haphazardness of life and death is absolutely shocking.

"FC: So if a bunch of CEOs walked in and said they wanted to help, what would you tell them?

SACHS: Let's say you had ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil saying, We're investing in West Africa, what do we do? Well, the model of the past 20 years--protecting staff from malaria while ignoring the dying among you--is no longer workable. You have to engage with what business does best. Set real targets. Have quantifiable goals. I would tell these businesspeople that if they took up ending malaria in Nigeria or deforestation in Ghana, they would find a lot of partners. You don't have to start in the hardest places: I'll take you to governments that are ready and empowered to act. But don't believe it can happen without you."

Source: 60 Seconds With Jeffrey Sachs