Ernesto Zedillo '81 Ph.D., who was president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, began his Tercentennial keynote address on "Envisioning the World in the Next Century: Challenges to a Global University" by thanking Yale for giving him the opportunity to pursue graduate study at the University, where his mentors included some of the world's most noted economists.
"What you gave did make a difference in my life," he told the near-capacity crowd who listened to his talk in Woolsey Hall.
He focused the remainder of his speech on the need to equalize the opportunities for developing nations to take part in the global economy.
Zedillo called for the creation of a formal system of global economic governance and said that the stability of the world depends on it.
Today, remarked Zedillo, the "voices" of too many developing countries are not being heard on economic issues of international importance, including trade and free markets. This, he said, leads to "mounted frictions" with and a "sense of frustration" in poorer countries that are not market participants. Such polarization, he maintained, will ultimately have adverse effects on the industrial nations who are currently benefiting the most from globalization.
Half of the world's people are still living in poverty and millions of the world's citizens do not read or write, Zedillo noted, adding, "As much as there is to celebrate of our human and economic development over the past half century, there is more to deplore."
In addition, he said, while globalization has helped reduce poverty somewhat, expanded international trade and investment, and created an unprecedented "diffusion of knowledge among countries," Zedillo said the challenges of international interdependence have posed many challenges that are not being "handled adequately by a system that was largely designed for the world 50 years ago."
The existing forums that "systematically address economic issues are too restricted in membership, like the G-7," Zedillo added, referring to the group of seven wealthiest nations, which includes the United States.
Zedillo called for a reform of the "international financial architecture" to promote adherence to international standards of business practice; the establishment of international consensus to address global economic problems such as poverty, humanitarian aid and global disasters; and the launching of a new round of trade negotiations in a global summit that would be more inclusive of developing nations. Furthermore, he called for industrial countries to open their markets "more decisively to developing countries" and to provide more assistance in the form of monetary relief and other support to poorer countries.
Zedillo said that institutions such as Yale can have a part in reversing the "shameful trend of increasing polarization between the haves and the have-nots" of the world by educating its students about global challenges and by its "persistent" cultivation of ideas on how to solve them.
"The public doesn't think that poverty in the rest of the world will affect them," said Zedillo in his talk. "The challenge is to persuade politicians and the public in developed countries ... that [to help struggling nations] is an investment in building a more secure world."
-- By Susan Gonzalez
YALE 300:
MARKINGAMILESTONE
Community Celebrates Yale's 300th Year
'For God, For Country, For Yale ... Forever' --
University Celebrates History of Service on the Eve of Its Fourth Century
Convocation celebrates 'the greatness that is Yale'
Clinton assures Yale and U.S.: 'It's going to be all right'
Former President of Mexico calls for reform of 'international financial architecture'
Faculty give their perspectives on Yale in 2001 and 2101
Yale, Yale, the gang's all here . . . having fun at the festival
Scenes from Yale's Tercentennial Gala
T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Community Celebrates Yale's 300th Year
Sept. 11 attacks have put ordinary citizens on 'front line' . . .
Economist Yellen describes 'The Art and Science of Central Banking' . . .
NIH grant supports new center for biomedical computing
Brain expert to explain 'How Matter Becomes Imagination'
Governor of Washington to be Chubb Fellow
President of The New York Times to address Sept. 11
'From Biology to Ethics' is theme of Terry Lectures
'Do what's good for society at large,' urges alumnus neurosurgeon
Renowned child psychiatrist Dr. Donald J. Cohen dies
Higher education, African development are talks' focus
Challenges of ensuring quality care to be explored in forum on reproductive health
A home of their own
Yale Parents' Weekend
Famed Westminster Cathedral Choir to make an appearance in Woolsey Hall
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