Sachs Student Lecture: America’s Economic Crisis – Where Do We Go From Here?

UPDATE: Watch here for the live webcast.

Jeffrey D. Sachs will give his fifth annual student lecture on Tuesday, November 23, 4:00 to 6:00 pm in Roone Arledge Auditorium, Alfred Lerner Hall on the Columbia University Morningside campus.  This year’s lecture is entitled ‘America’s Economic Crisis – Where Do We Go From Here.’

Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, professor of health policy and management at Columbia University and special advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will discuss the current state of the American political and economic system and what this means for the future.

His annual student lecture is a highlight of the fall season and while the topic of discussion changes every year, he continues to encourage students to take action regarding global issues and applauds the efforts of passionate students across the country.

“It is work like that of so many students across the country and at Columbia that really gives us hope that that we will find a way indeed, through these problems,” he said in 2009.

Last year’s student lecture focused on making choices for America’s economy.  Sachs contented that the American political system is a broken system that is mired in paralysis.  He outlined the state of current federal spending and criticized what he felt was incorrect use of funds.  Instead, he argued for public investment in infrastructure, the promotion of exports by financing investments in low-income countries, sustainable energy and transportation, electric vehicles, the cutting of military spending, and an increase in taxes to provide more public services, like health care and early child development assistance.

In 2008, Sachs lectured on the Millennium Villages, a joint project led by science, policy, and planning teams at the Earth Institute, Millennium Promise, and the United Nations Development Programme.  He discussed the project’s progress and challenges as the second phase of development, noting that there are often very powerful and effective solutions that, despite low expenses, unfortunately fail to reach those who would benefit from them.

The importance of international peace through sustainable development was the topic of Sachs’ 2007 student lecture.  “We’re living at a time of growing risks…to basic security…because of the mindset in Washington and in other parts of the world which seem to put us on a collision course,” he said.  He stressed the importance of sustainable development in fighting social insecurity.

The Earth Institute invites you to attend the 2010 Sachs Student Lecture, free and open to the public.  Registration is encouraged. The Sachs Student Lecture will also be webcast for those who cannot attend. Please stay tuned to this blog post for more information.