I listened to Jeffrey Sachs (Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University) the other day (on YouTube) speaking at the T20 Summit in Berlin: Global Solutions. Mercifully, it was only 22 minutes long. The first 14 minutes were gloomy stuff, and, if I'd taken it totally seriously, I'd have popped outside and slit my wrists in desperation. He also mentioned "Trump" and "Danger" far too often, and failed to rise above being an American talking about the problems of America, especially the problems of Trump. It was a tedious nostra-culpa. The last part was better when he turned to the issues we ought to be thinking about, and there was no mention of Trump or China or the Kochs or the Republicans for at least a minute, although he did at the end say we ought really to stop thinking about Trump. Indeed, I thought; you might lead the way on this.
I asked myself what was new in what he said. It was that Think Tanks ought to Think and engage with the important questions. Well, Huzzah! to that.
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