The 92nd St Y hosted George Soros and Joseph Stiglitz, moderated by Jeffrey Sachs. Here’s the highlights (also re-published on the 92 St. Y blog):
Mr. Soros has made his money by following "cycles of human thinking, so was asked what his thoughts were on the current condition of world markets. Mr. Stiglitz interrupted with a correction, "The question should be: Who are the markets working for?"
But much of the dialog focused on the U.S.’s role in the world, and general consensus was that we should be doing more. More Foreign Aid. More on Global Warming. More on Darfur. More in Free Trade. And by "More", they mean "Taking a Leading Role In". Heart-warming thoughts to be sure, but best coming from those lips.
Iraq: "We’re there, but not in charge." and "We need to be an example of peace."
Many times the economic consensus was that the U.S. should strive for what the Scandinavian countries have achieved in Health Care, Education, and Social Services. Most pointedly in Childcare: 1% of the GDP is solely earmarks those purposes so as to free people up and allow them to move forward in their careers, and thus economically. Good for them, good for the country. The State is essentially investing in their people, and their country re-invests in the State.
Being from Canada, this makes perfect sense. The health services of the U.S. compare poorly with Canada. Most notably, Canadian health care costs* are much less (71% of US costs) due to lower physician fees (42% of US costs), hospital fees (33% of US costs), and administration costs (11% of total costs, vs 24% in US).
George Soros’ reaction to health care: "The Single Payer System is the way to go; it alone will save 20-25% of admin costs, alone."
Joseph Stiglitz’s reaction to health care: "The Bush Administration has hamstrung the health care system by passing a bill that does not allow doctors to negotiate with the Drug Companies over medication costs."
Technology policies were seen by both as "essential" to move our country forward, but "it would not be any one policy that would bring change; it would be a cocktail of policies, across the board, that would bring real change."
Simply stated, "The E.U. is doing more for the global society, and are better at being global citizens for the sake of doing the right thing because it needs to be done. The U.S. needs to catch up!"
Ideas they emulated from the U.K. were their bills for taxing emissions going forward. "It makes perfect sense: Tax the rule breakers, not provide incentives that some utilize."
Mr. Soros on Philanthropy: "It’s much harder to give away money efficiently, than it is to make it. Unfortunately, there is no reliable method of measurement to gauge its effectiveness." He had found this inability to measure success "quite frustrating".
His comments brought to mind a tenet of eastern philosophy: Act without attachment to results, or Do something for the sake of doing it.
Of course, this is incredibly hard, since we are only human. But it’s very easy to see how so much suffering is caused by the very disappointment in results that originated as a pure, hopeful idea that we strove to produce.
Closing thought: "The economics of globalization has outpaced the politics of globalization."
