Author(s): Jeffrey D. Sachs

History

We have less time for the needed global transformation than many had hoped or expected. Resource scarcity is already upon us in the form of soaring oil and food prices and a cascade of climate shocks. The soaring prices are not merely cyclical or the result of financial speculation - these remarkable price hikes, considered together with the climate shocks that helped to cause them, are actually the leading edge of the ecological crises that will sink us unless we act more rapidly and decisively. It's high time - indeed in the nick of time - for us to identify what each region of the world must do to stay afloat and to prosper, while also contributing to the global solutions to climate change, food scarcity, and bulging populations. We need a new set of economic rules to analyse these issues - and we need it fast. Mainstream economics focuses on monetary and fiscal policies, trade flows, and the business environment, but these standard concerns merely scratch the surface. The new economics should be based on a holistic assessment of the economy, one which incorporates energy resources, climate change, infrastructure, population, urbanisation, migration, water and geopolitics into a dynamic framework - a tool that allows us to understand the different stresses faced by each region. The World Economy serves as a guide to action - one that goes beyond the remit of traditional economic frameworks and helps us to understand how each part of the world can best ensure its own prosperity and contribute to global sustainability.