The Sustainable State: Future of Government, Economy and Society

Is free economy the answer to sustainable development? Meet Chandran Nair, Founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow and author of The Sustainable State, who shares a different opinion.

Agenda:

Drinks Reception 6:30pm
Presentation 7:00pm
Close 8:00pm
Asia Society members $200 | Non=members $350

The developing world faces the dilemma of improving living standards for hundreds of millions of people with finite resources. Chandran Nair asserts the only path out for large developing nations is a system of strong state governance which can consistently intervene in the economy to protect common resources, resolve persistent externalities and support access to the basic rights of life for the poor majority. He examines the environmental and socio-economic after-effects brought by the Western free-market model, for instance, the United States with less than 5 percent of the world's population consumes nearly a quarter of its resources. Mr. Nair will compare the performance of the two largest developing nations – China and India – to indicate how a strong state is the best chance to achieve the goals of sustainable development.