Adam Smith gacy
Management Services Winter 2012
15
“Adam Smith is a central fi gure in modern economics and his views that people were interdependent, locally and globally, is as relevant today, if not more so, than it was in his day.”
be no shortage of those wishing to attend.
The Adam Smith lecture Another highlight of the symposium was the annual Adam Smith lecture, delivered by Sir James Wolfensohn KBE AO, former President of the World Bank Group (1995-2005). Gordon Brown introduced Sir James as “The most successful president of the World Bank in its 65 year history, who had completely transformed the
organisation, to make it a force for poverty alleviation.” Sir James, who made his presentation via video link, follows a number of other eminent speakers to deliver the Adam Smith Lecture, including Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations.”
The title of Sir James’s
presentation was ‘A turbulent world.’ He praised the work of Gordon Brown, both in terms of the solutions he had advanced to resolve the global fi nancial crisis, and in raising the profi le of Adam Smith. “Adam Smith is very much a central fi gure in modern economics and his views that people were interdependent, locally and globally, is as relevant today, if not more so, than it was in his day,” he said. “The world is shrinking with the advancement in technology and global communications which is leading to a global alignment and a removal of natural identity. However, there is a need to rebalance the world and this will be the challenge for the generations to come.”
He continued: “Population growth, especially divergence between the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and third world countries needs to be addressed. This should lead to a redistribution of income and change the way we view the world.”
He said that an ageing population is another signifi cant factor which has major implications for dependence and support, and also for government policy and pensions. “There are also major shifts in the strength of economics from the West to BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, especially Asia. ‘Economic weight’ is moving to different countries.” Other signifi cant issues he
fl agged up included: l Africa – a high population, but low GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per head of that population; l The Arab world – increased democracy and all the implications this brings; l Muslim population – size and economic force; l Youth unemployment – a signifi cant factor throughout the world; l Global alignment – removal of natural identity due to the rapid changes in technology and global communications. Sir James concluded by saying that “Today is a turbulent world with a pace of change that signifi es a
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