beyondbrics

Jeffrey Sachs is blogging for beyondbrics from New York during the Millennium Development Goals summit, which runs from Monday to Wednesday this week.

The MDG Summit got underway with speeches, dozens of side meetings, and countless informal caucuses and exchanges on the sidewalks around UN headquarters. The message from world leaders was clear: the MDGs are at the centre of national objectives in poor countries, and remain at the centre of global cooperation of rich countries. But the rich countries were also clear: we need a new financing system to ensure the success of the MDGs. The current approach is simply not adequate.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain both emphasized the need for innovative financing, especially through a new tax on international financial transactions. This idea has been around for decades. The late Nobel Laureate James Tobin noted that such a tax could do triple duty, reducing speculative capital flows (of the kind that almost toppled the world economy), raising revenues for domestic needs and also raising revenues to pay for global public goods, such as the fight against extreme poverty, hunger and disease. More and more, it seems that Europe is ready for such a tax. It is the US and Canada that have been the foot-draggers. The White House and US Treasury, alas, have seen their job as protecting Wall Street, rather than taxing Wall Street as would be so eminently sensible given the experience of recent years (and the continuing mega-bonuses of the bankers).

There was one major round of applause this morning for a head of state interrupting a speech to the General Assembly. That rare honor was reserved for the Prime Minister of Bhutan, who had his fellow leaders in rapt attention as he called for a world economy that not only met basic needs and promoted economic growth, but also promoted happiness. Drawing on Himalayan Buddhist wisdom and Bhutan’s unique quest for Gross National Happiness, Prime Minister Jimgi Y. Thinley told the world leaders that “since happiness is the ultimate desire of every citizen, it must be the purpose of development to create the conditions for happiness.” This requires a proper balance of consumption, leisure, good governance, and attentiveness to nature, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability.

Calling for a “holistic development paradigm,” Prime Minister Thinley suggested that “we include happiness as the ninth MDG. It is a goal that stands as a separate value while representing as well, the sum total outcome of the other eight. Its relevance goes beyond the poor and developing member states to bind all of humanity, rich and poor, to a timeless common vision.” Judging from the spontaneous applause, indeed from rich and poor countries alike, the world is yearning for a bit more happiness in the midst of our current travails. For this wisdom in the halls of global power, the world community spontaneously gave its thanks.

Sachs is special adviser to the UN Secretary General on the MDGs and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.