In Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet author Jeffrey Sachs postulates that the problems of our ever more crowded planet will require new models of global government cooperation. He believes these problems have been partially addressed by treaties signed at the Rio Earth Summit, the International Conference on Population and Development Plan of Action and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Sachs feels that these "Millennium Promises" are in danger of being unfulfilled due in large part to the actions of the United States in the last decade.
Sachs, special adviser to the United Nations Secretary General, outlines five issues that countries should cooperate on: sustainability of the environment, stabilization of the world's population, the end of extreme poverty, securing adequate water supplies, and sustainable economic development. These are the matters that can move the world away from global war and disaster. Sachs asserts that moving towards these goals would cost little for individual countries compared to the gains for all mankind. He then outlines a strategy for attaining these goals with responsibilities for the public, private and non-profit sectors.
The author believes that we need to renovate global cooperation based on successes and failures from the past. Sachs presents ways in which we should rethink foreign policy and utilize nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions to reinvigorate the "Millennium Promises".
Jeffery Sachs clearly outlines the consequences of our current path with many tables and charts. This book explains the challenges of the new millennium and holds out hope for a better future based on global cooperation.
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