Author: Bjorn Lomborg
Every four years since 2004, the Copenhagen Consensus Center has organized and hosted a high profile thought experiment about how a hypothetical extra $75 billion of development assistance money might best be spent to solve twelve of the major crises facing the world today. Collated in this specially commissioned book, a group of more than 50 experts make their cases for investment, discussing how to combat problems ranging from armed conflicts, corruption and trade barriers, to natural disasters, hunger, education and climate change. For each case, 'Alternative Perspectives' are also included to provide a critique and make other suggestions for investment. In addition, a panel of senior economists, including four Nobel Laureates, rank the attractiveness of each policy proposal in terms of its anticipated cost-benefit ratio. This thought-provoking book opens up debate, encouraging readers to come up with their own rankings and decide which solutions are smarter than others.
DCP3 editors Dean Jamison and Ramanan Laxminarayan, along with DCP3 Advisory Committee member Toby Ord, co-authored the chapter on "Infectious disease, injury and reproductive health" for Global Problems, Smart Solutions: Costs and Benefits.
DCP3 editors Rachel Nugent and Prabhat Jha, along with DCP3 senior health economist Stephane Verguet and colleagues David Bloom and Ryan Hum co-authored the chapter on "chronic disease prevention and control." Read more
Lomborg, B. (ed). 2013. Global Problems, Smart Solutions: Costs and Benefits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for the Copenhagen Consensus Center.