The U.S. has a sound economy. It also has a cyclical economy. It also has stock market values right now that are hard to explain on historical norms. While it's always possible that everything can be based on the new economy, it's also quite possible that we're doing a little bit of exaggeration in just how wonderful things are. |
The volatility of international capital is obviously destabilizing markets today. |
The war on terror cannot ever be won if the war on poverty isn't won, |
There is no doubt that Malawi needs 100 percent debt cancellation as soon as possible, and I will do everything possible to speed that up. |
There's a lot of strength in the U.S., but there's a lot of froth also. The froth will blow off. We're going to have to face up to some realities that we're not fully facing up to right now. |
Trade is important, but I visit places that are so cut off from world markets that they aren't really part of the local economy, let alone the world economy. |
Unfortunately, the real focus in this country has not been on the rest of the world. It's been on our own issues and our own problems. Fair enough. But it means that our simple hopes that everything will just work out abroad aren't really coming to pass. |
We give away tens of billions to Brazil, or to one place or another, without thinking. But in those days, to give even a tiny amount to Russia was viewed almost as anathema by many parts of our own society and our political leadership, whether it was the Bush administration or the Clinton administration. |
We had a booming stock market in 1929 and then went into the world's greatest depression. We have a booming stock market in 1999. Will the bubble somehow burst, and then we enter depression? Well, some things are not different. |
we took on as a project helping a village in western Kenya. It was 5,000 hungry people beset with malaria and AIDS. And we said, 'let's apply the recommendations of the Millennium Project in this village with the support of a private donor, because government donors don't seem to do such practical things.' And we helped them get improved seeds and some fertilizer for the planting season. That's all. Very low cost. They produced four times more food this year than last year. |
We were proposing, in a sense, that the rest of the world be made safe for American ideas, as they adopted intellectual property rights that gave patent protection to our very innovative economy. |
We, being the Western world, wouldn't let Russia off the hook on debt. So there were demands on debt servicing in the early days until they ran out of reserves. There was no real aid program, just a fictional aid program. |
We're fighting all the wrong wars in this country. |
We're going to have to forgive a great deal of the Soviet era debt. There's no question about that. Let's face up to that. We're going to have to put in money if Russia is really going to consolidate a democracy. |
We've taken the view that if the rest of the world would democratize and create market economies, that would spread the benefits of prosperity around the world, and that it would enhance our own prosperity, and our own stability and security, as well. |