

Copenhagen Consensus: ranked solutions to the world's biggest problems - mmettler
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Home.aspx

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asdlfj2sd33
1-13 are about treating the symptoms of failed states. How about we treat the
disease itself instead? Politics and state building sure are a whole lot more
complex and difficult, and don't make you feel nearly as good, as feeding
children. But unlike food, and all kinds of other aid, they would actually
solve the problem once and for all.

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marze
That sounds like a worthy approach. Any practical ideas on how to actually do
it?

One possibility would be to allow a section of a country to secede if 60% of
the population votes to do so. That might eliminate a popular reason for war
in some situations.

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asciilifeform
> Any practical ideas on how to actually do it?

The (forbidden) answer has been staring everyone in the face for half a
century: bring back colonialism.

[http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2009/08/from-
cr...](http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2009/08/from-cromer-to-
romer-and-back-again.html)

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JacobAldridge
The linked page doesn't really explain the purpose or methodology for arriving
at the list. Put simply, "top economists" were asked where the world would get
maximum bang for its buck, and this is the list they arrived at.

Yes, there are some source issues that might solve a number of the problems
(as asdlfj2sd33 noted earlier). But sometimes it's quicker to deal with
symptoms first, and when millions of lives are on the line I'm happy with that
kind of shortcut.

That Global Warming ranks so low warrants attention. What sacrifices are we in
the developed world causing by focusing on Global Warming and overlooking the
other issues?

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catzaa
> That Global Warming ranks so low warrants attention. What sacrifices are we
> in the developed world causing by focusing on Global Warming and overlooking
> the other issues?

If you look at the numbers, global warming are not nearly one of the biggest
challenges.

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netsp
I think that this is more of a result of the way this particular study was
structured then anything else. The study doesn't rank challenges, it ranks
solutions.

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davepeck
The Gates Foundation pays close attention to this consensus when it is
released. Expect Gates' priorities to align well with this list.

The methodology is complex, but the concept isn't: for each issue, how many
lives can we save per dollar spent? Rank those higher.

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eru
I take it they also discount the future somewhat?

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Tichy
It's not a consensus.

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mixmax
No it's politics. That's why it's called a consensus :-)

