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Global |
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Press Release |
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Review by The Economist |
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Come together, if you can In nature, life is poor, nasty,
brutish and short. So noted an English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, 300 years ago. Today, many lives are shortened by disease, pollution and war-but who takes account? This question is tackled by the two dozen authors of
a report, "Global Public Goods", by the United Nations Development Programme, due to be published on May 10th by the Oxford University Press. Armed with better information, "structures" could then be designed to boost
co-operation. A "knowledge bank" to give developing countries better access to new ideas and technology could be set up. All those who benefit from forest preservation, for example, could be asked to shoulder some of
the cost. The G7 group of rich countries could be expanded to include a number of developing countries. Is this all a pipe dream? Maybe. But like the UNDP's human development index, which tracks the quality of life in
most countries, such suggestions could one day be useful for policymakers. Do they add up to a demand for some sort of world government or a more powerful UN? Not necessarily. Many common benefits such as law
enforcement depend on the co-opearion of national governments, not on supernational bodies, observes Jeffrey Sachs, one of the report's contributors. And the huge number of existing aid, health and environmental
charities can be relied on to help transfer cost and benefits, says Amartya Sen, last year's winner of the Nobel prize for economics, and a moving spirit behind the report |
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