Economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on Biotechnology

[sphinxart]

Just pause and read the last FALSE disclaimer: "Pesticides registered by the US EPA will not cause adverse effects on man and environment..." What a blatant lie.

[sphinxart]

Monsanto's seeds don't germinate, so these poor farmers will have to keep buying seeds from them. Biotech crops have often failed and bankrupted farmers, and besides, who the hell wants to eat pesticides (genetically inside the seed to be resistant). This is pure commercial propaganda.

[jacksholt]

This guy is an idiot...watch him on Morning Joe. He's a typical college professor that is clueless about the real world.

[909chuck]

WE'VE CROSSBRED SEEDS, PLANTS, TREES NATURALLY FOR MILLENIA. DOING SO HAS BROUGHT A FOOD MULTIPLIER TO FEED THE OVERPOPULATION WE ALREADY HAVE IN PLACES. FOR THE NOW-LIVING POOR, THEIR EXISTENCE IS DUE TO "SUPER CROPS" OF DECADES PAST. I DON'T WORSHIP BUSINESS, BUT IF WATCHED, BUSINESS IS THE ONLY WAY TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO KEEP UP WITH BURGEONING POPULATION GROWTH.

[newave123456]

OMG, I thought I recognized this guy.... I see him on morning joe very often.... He is a Mansantos guy.... They claim to want to help hungry and impoverished..... Poor africa... more debt and slavery...... wow... Africa, don't fall for it! Help yourselves motherland.... help yourselves....

[warwize]

@newave123456

lol, monsantos is the worst

[joir92]

Dear Mr. Sachs: I like your work and your book " The end of poverty" has inspired me. However I do not agree with your bet on technical seeds to eradicate poverty in Africa, I think is like giving poor families a super-car with most advanced electronic gadgets that off course are very good but also difficult to handle, which means that maintenance will not be done by Africans. Well I prefer local seeds already adapted to Africa conditions and improved by africans agronomist, farmers, biologist .

[mizzoulibertarian]

@joir92 go after and support heilooms and stop working at the church of Jeffrey Sachs. He is a corporate whore.

[rheechashaipu]

i'm not sure if we truly do have the means of sustaining our current population give or take a billion, but according to economic practice, there are tons upon tons of food eliminated in order to control food prices.

eliminated edible food is a waste on the input resources. what a shame.

[charbonelle]

Hybrid food sources are patented and "owned" by the patent-holders. AFRICANS ARE NOT NOR WILL THEY EVER BE "OWNERS" OF THIS TECHNOLOGY. MAKING THEM DEPENDENT IN PERPETUITY TO THE PATENT-CONTROLLERS. Many of these farmers cannot afford these seeds and will go into debt never being able to pay the principal. AFRICANS HAVE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE...PLZ DO NOT SELL CHILDREN INTO SLAVERY.

[markzjc]

one thing I have to mention. People today are not starving because there is a lack of food in the world. People today are going hungry because of world economics.

Food is created and distributed unfairly. While some countries are "stuffed" other are "starved." It really comes down to a matter of wealth and power.

[mizzoulibertarian]

everyone there is a good way to fight whores like monsanto and sachs. go to Baker Seeds. they have a awesome amount of heirloom seeds

[dinkolino2]

p.s. your "arguments" are very simplistic, my friend, you obviously have no idea what youre talking about. therefore, you wouldnt be able to understand what i have to say. and there are thousands of fools out there, i cant argue with all of them. I ll just tell you that a perpetuum mobile doesnt exist. Not in physics, not in biology. Not even in economy.. lol

[mafia67]

What does kinetics have to do with genetics? Thats like saying aneuploidy diseases are caused because f= m x a. This demonstrates that because you have sparse knowledge of disparate fields you amalgamate these random bits into an argument that you could not support on its own merit. Why bring up physics at all? Are you trying to prove to yourself that your knowledge is unshakable? That is your first of many follies. Explain to me again what is dangerous about GMOs using only genetics.

[dinkolino2]

This goes somewhere along "loose cellulitis by watching this video"

[SoulyMe]

This video got too many positive ratings IMO....if given the choice would you like NATURAL foods or NEW MAN MADE modified foods....which have produced havoc in the DNA,reproduction of animals....yeah videos like this make you wanna believe this is the key to the future...but there is enough food already to go around....it is ALL ABOUT MONEY--NOT about ending world hunger

[philosoraptor88]

I'd rather have natural foods, sure, but I'm rich, white, and not hungry. Given the choice, I'll take that modified food over starving, even if it causes cancer or diseases down the road. Anything is better than starving to death.

[dinkolino2]

you have no idea what you re talking about. They are not starving because their crops are bad, but because they have no land to work

[Puspanjali1]

Bon Voyage. and Bon Appetite

[mafia67]

you dont know what the hell your talking about. You have eaten nothing but *capitalize for dramatic effect* MAN MADE foods. You are ignorant of the fact that anything grown in a farm is MAN MADE by selecting the best varieties over generations. With Genetic engineering we simply cut out the time factor and in the process cut out the worst genes and keep the best. Now if you had a product that was better in everyway of course youre gonna make money so they worked hard and now theyre making money

[dinkolino2]

You are an ignorant fool

[mafia67]

thats all you can come up with? How about "you are obviously being paid off by Monsanto" or "your base knowledge of science is appalling."  I guess a paltry amount of words come from someone with a paltry argument.

[dinkolino2]

if you people cant understand facts, why waste them on you? The difference between you and me is that i KNOW, and you BELIEVE. No point in arguing with wannabe believers. If u knew ANYTHING about biology, you would know that the consequences are unpredictable, and benefits highly questionable. As far as the scientists directly involved in this thing goes, if you were a car salesman on provision, would you try to sell your car or not?

[mafia67]

I wish YOU would illustrate your knowledge of GENETICS and ENLIGHTEN me on WHY it is dangerous to use knowledge gained from reverse genetics to benefit all of mankind. Have you ever eaten a banana? Im sure you have, did you know that they can not reproduce? Why? Well mister KNOW, its because they are triploid and therfore must be cloned and "manipulated" to grow fruit. How is that not genetically engineered? To say that GMOs are dangerous is to denounce all of Darwin's hard work.

[Puspanjali1]

You don't have to clone banana to plant a Banana .Just try planting the Banana shoot or rhizome and you'll get a Banana. You can eat it raw or ripe or you can split it. Dont try to clone Banana or you will go Banana. for a change try cloning frogs they have nice legs. BRAVO Keep Up Cloning. Long Live the Clones.

[mafia67]

where the fuck do you get the shoot from? The air? You certainly dont get it from a seed. Thats like saying you dont have to eat gmo's just make genetic changes to a virus and have the virus change the plant's dna. How many people die from choking on "organic" foods vs. dying from gmo's? I smell a conspiracy by hippy farmers to kill us one by one by us choking on their bananas.

[hellofaname]

don't forget the ol saying: "for profit", "the rich gets richer". LOL

[Puspanjali1]

You dont know any thing about cutting and pasting.

[csustudent209]

I am getting my associates in biotechnology, where will I find a job? There are none!!

[DRLAPAGLIA]

Exactly!!!! I am getting a doctorate in clinical psychology!!! Same here! No jobs!

[csustudent209]

My cousin just beat you to that and she already has a job. There are many jobs in the no-brainer jobs etc, not in the real jobs like science etc. So I really don't see why you are saying that it's hard for you. But thats's just me. hah!

[DRLAPAGLIA]

Your cousin is an attorney? What does she specialize in?

[csustudent209]

DRLAPAGLIA, you don't have a chance. Rest your case and leave my court room. Seriously dude, you make me sad. That's my final ruling, bye bye.

[afgtara]

lol me too...don't tell me there are no jobs..

*glares*

[djslay34982]

I live in Florida we have a few of Biotech companies here,that are looking for workers.you might want to move to either California or Florida or maybe even Wisconsin to find work in R&D.but you might also find work at a Pharmaceutical company or sewage company.plenty of places to find a job.

[themr92]

Business is the way forward for young people, Im 16, and have my own business, and its all rolling in.

[pepsimilk]

Also GM crops are probably the best thing for them, because you can get higher crop yields without all the pesticide and fertilizer inputs that are normally required. Guess where fertilizers come from? Oil. You can argue all you want with the facts, but GM crops are better for the environment than intensive pesticide and fertilizer use.

Also, I think Monsanto is a shit company because of their practices, but I still have high hopes for GM crops and think they have the potential to help a lot.

[pepsimilk]

Say what you want about GM seeds, this guy is right. By the way, terminator genes were forced on the GM seed companies by the environmentalist lobby, because they were afraid of "genetic pollution" and the GM crops growing out of control and eating people or something.

If you don't like the idea of terminator genes, start your own biotech company and sell your own GM seeds to Africa. Besides, people usually buy seeds every year from a stock source anyways.

[SelfPort]

Yes, and in a larger sense investment in development will return value and circulate value through the world.

[nestorkraken]

fucking fake, monsanto charges agricultors for the seeds and makes them dependable upon it. Monsaand other agri firms are producing GM seeds. these can be used only once.its not like a regular seed that can be re used. it means farmers have to pay primes to monsanto whenever they want to get involved in any platation. seeds cant be of priovateproperty they are universal no ones is allowed to patent a seed

[Gammaclipper]

You mean the terminator gene? Hasn't been introduced in any commerical crop.

Biotech is saving lives and organic harms the environment and people. Get over it and start moving forward.

[kestaha]

May I congratulate you nestorkraken ? I'm so glad that there are a few people in the world who understand what's really going on.

Are you from another galaxy? In your constellation are there guys like Master Rexanglorum, Professor Gammaclipper, Marabout sampamog or this lovely easy-to-impress baby riseabove17 (17 months ?) ?

Is monsanto already over there?

[sampamog]

I support his idea about agriculture bcos it's africa's comparative advantage.

[riseabove17]

This is a great video. Prof. Sachs is top notch.

[interartearthconnect]

This is an old view, a colonialist view, a conservative view. This is STILL the promotion of a MONOCULTURE SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE, BUSINESS, CORPORATION BASED INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE, where the rich economically developed countries and multinational corporations have CONTROL and profit from SELLING GM SEEDS to market based economically "underdeveloped" (according to the global economy) countries.

[Rexanglorum]

If GM seeds were sold on an open market, no one is controlling anyone else, no more than Japan or Germany "control the US" by selling us their automobiles. My biggest worry is that politics will muck everything up and greedy political leaders will give nation monopoly prileges to a single GM seed seller, at which point GM seed makers would have a colonial style of control over poor countries.

[LaLakrs]

Your views entirely neglect the fact that there must be external stimulus to develop internal development. The fact that multinational corporations can benefit is entirely ignorant of the fact that Europe and the United States currently invest in almost 80 percent of GM foods. Sachs is suggesting a more focused utilization of G8 funding, and not a forcible program here.

[7Micha]

If plant biotechnology is to survive, it must be 'socially responsible' and 'transparent'. GMO based foods should be labeled - we all have the right to know what we are eating. Otherwise it may appear to people that Monsanto and other biotechs are trying to 'hide' something - to use us as guinea pigs.

[Amiduffer]

Gee, maybe causing so much poverty, gives him the expertese to solve it too.

[vonPeterhof]

Are you implying that bringing capitalism to Bolivia, Poland and Russia means "causing much poverty"?

[Amiduffer]

Looting is looting. Slavery is slavery. The hell with whatever name they give it. Its still the old British Empire game of economic rape, just under a sophist term like "democratization".

[vonPeterhof]

Public ownership is looting. Collectivism is slavery. Capitalism is freedom.

[Amiduffer]

Those are meaningless Ivory Tower words. Try something that reflects reality instead. Globalization seems to be killing and enslaving more people than Hitler and Stalin combined.

[vonPeterhof]

What is your definition of slavery? In my definition slavery is forced labour at wages either below the market rate or at none whatsoever. As for killing, I don't quite understand what you mean here. Could you give some examples of the globalisation killing people?

[vonPeterhof]

And as for my "meaningless Ivory Tower words", those are scientific facts, proven by the economists Murray Rothbard, Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises, respectively. I have no intention of explaining all that to you. If you are open-minded enough, you could look at their thories yourself.

[Amiduffer]

The asian monetary crisis is a great example of globalization killing a lot of people. The collapse of living standard in Africa, and the de-industrialization of the US and Europe are all consequences of globalization.

[vonPeterhof]

The Asian crisis would not have happened if the governments of the countries did not have the power to devalue their currencies at will - if the gold standard was reinstated. Globalisation was an essential condition for the crisis, but its reason lies in too much government control, not too few. De-industrialisation of the West brings more good than evil -- it allows less developed countries to industrialise with fewer competition while the Western countries develop hi-tech more efficiently.

[vonPeterhof]

(continued)Of course some people lose jobs, but the taxpayers, both rich and poor, no longer have to pay to protect inefficient industries, whose products they will either buy for inflated prices or not buy at all. The workers who lose jobs can find a new job with a new qualification, a lower qualified job or their old job but in another country. But don't you think that the welfare of a part of the society which works inefficiently is not worth the burden for the whole society?

[Amiduffer]

Those gentlemen were pushing the economic equivalent of alchemy and their theories are just about as "scientific". I've read enough Hamilton, Carey, & List to know frauds when I see them.

[vonPeterhof]

So you think that the Austrian School of economics is "alchemy"? That's hardly surprising to hear from someone who still believes Alex Hamilton! Ever heard of the comparative advantage theory? It shows that Old Alex's beloved protectionism in general (with a few arguable exceptions) makes the society worse off. That theory is not even university economics, that's high school stuff! I wonder who else you believe. Myrdal? Keynes? Engels? Marx? ROTFLMAO!

[Amiduffer]

Your theory would be nice, if the British empire never existed and the financial oligarchy that exists there didn't exert every means of destroying all nations means of producing for the benefit of its population. Hamilton is how the US bacame so powerful economically. Free trade and Ayn Rand has turned us into a junk heap.

[vonPeterhof]

It is possible that Hamilton's protectionism helped the US survive, but it was turning away from protectionism when it was no longer necessary that made the US an economic power. The only short-run beneficiaries of protectionism are the industrialists and the elite, while the long-run benefits of protectionism and economic isolationism do not last forever - look at China in the XIX century, USSR in the 1970s, modern Cuba. Prolonged isolation only perpetuates stagnation.

[Amiduffer]

Spoken like a true Anglophile. Bravo. Yes his policies worked but, you can't separate the economics from the fight over national sovereignty vs. colonialism. The elites have always pushed free trade. Don't leave out national banking, and infrastructure development, they went along with protectionism.

[Amiduffer]

Don't laugh at Hamilton, List used him to industrialize Germany, and Witte in Russia transformed your backward country. Without Hamilton, the US would have been re-colonized. National banking, protective tarriffs, and industrialization were the three reports he wrote. You should read them.

[vonPeterhof]

There are three things I disagree with in this statement

1. Witte did begin to industrialise Russia, but he actually curbed some powers of the Russian government to attract foreign investors, which is not very protectionist. Anyway his policy did not make Russia a leader in any heavy industry, while the agricultural reform of his rival Stolypin made Russia the leading producer of wheat, perfectly fitting the absolute and comparative advantage theories.

[vonPeterhof]

2. Calling Russia (or any country) a backward country makes no sense because the country is just the land. Calling the Russian state and economy backward would be more correct while calling the Russian nation backward would be linguistically valid, albeit offensive and simplistic. The problem with both the far-left and far-right is that no distinction is made between the words State, Nation and Country. I think this is one of the main reasons why there's so much prejudice and hatred in the world

[vonPeterhof]

3. Why do you expect me to read Hamilton while you don't want to read the economists I recommended? Are you not open-minded enough or are you afraid that they might be right and you'd have to change your views? As for Hamilton, when I have the time I will read his works and make counter-arguments for his arguments. I did that once with a book of the anti-globalist Kevin Danaher, it was very easy. I suggest you do the same with Friedman's "Free to Choose" and Rothbard's "For a New Liberty".

[Amiduffer]

Why should I should read dirivitives of the old saw "buy cheap - sell dear". I can see for myself how consumerism has driven the West insane. The issue for economics is, how are nations going to be developed to bring everyones living standards up to a European level, not the wretched arguement about how to get a Britney Spears video the cheapest.

[vonPeterhof]

And why should I read derivatives of the old "everything for the society - nothing for the individual"? Your unwillingness to put your views to a test implies that you are either so confident in your views that you do not consider people who disagree humans anymore and think they all need to be slaughtered; or not very confident in your views and fearful that a simple argument can prove them wrong. I've passed through both phases, but now I'm up to an ideological challenge anytime

[Amiduffer]

Your views are very bizarre. Maybe living in the USSR has badly warped your thinking. Our constitution (based on Leibniz) states that our government is dedicated to the general welfare and posterity of the people, and luckily, have had leaders like FDR to use Hamiltons principles and uplift the greatest number of people possible.

[vonPeterhof]

Living in the USSR couldn't have shaped my views, because I lived there for less than two years before it broke up. I grew up in post-Soviet Russia and Kazakhstan. Actually two years ago I would have agreed with everything you said. That was before I read Friedman and Rothbard and studied economics at college in England. Now it all makes such perfect sense that I am not afraid to read opposing theories (unlike you)

[vonPeterhof]

Ah, FDR, probably the most over-rated US president in history. The Great Depression was triggered by the fact that the government had too much control over the monetary issues. FDR's solution was not less, but even more government control. Many people prospered in the short run, but his Keynesian policies set the US on a collision course that culminated in the crisis of the seventies and its complications.

[Amiduffer]

What a crappy British lie. You wasted your money and you should go back and get a refund. The banking system was un-regulated, like it is today. Thats why there was a bubble then and today. His policies were Hamiltonian especially in the national credit for all the infrastructure he built. At least we have a constitutional government. What do you have?

[vonPeterhof]

That's not a British lie, it's an American fact (surprise!) Type "Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve" in the search bar on YouTube and then watch the video with that title, posted by either pinglehop or misesmedia. There you will see how "unregulated" the banking system was back then.

[kestaha]

How naive you are vonPeterhof (your real name I guess) ! your argument is a reference to a Youtube video !!! And as long as they washed your brain - and they make it so easily with guys like you - you will be convinced to understand the OPACITY of the banking system or another financial system !

Internet is fake! Any attendee is fake! Any subject if vain! Except sensuality! Human brain is a parasite not the source of knowledge! Knowing that, you can move forward. I do like naive persons.

[Rexanglorum]

I'm glad that there are a few people in the world who understand that the Great Depression was a government failure and not a "market failure." The government turned recession into a depression and the public works projects that "saved" us were basically government's indirect ways of preventing people from starving as a result of a crisis of its own making to begin with.

[kestaha]

Rexanglorum, OMG, you are an archetype of an individual the brain of whom has this kind of secretions. I mean your brain relays fake "TRUTH" and against all odds you pretend to "UNDERSTAND", of course among a tiny number of a circle of elite, a kind of Gotha or whatsoever. Once again, human brain is a parasite and it tends to relay any noise its secondary sensors bring to it. You are an ECHO so don't even try to appropriate any other's mental agitation! You are more than a simple loud speaker.

[jeanpaulfelix]

lo, you just cited the greatest failure of an idea in this century. 'libertarian' warriors who created this imaginary atavism caled 'private property' and combatting 'socialism' all the while coopting the best ideas from the very 'socialism' they were fighting. You like to throw these archaic names around coz they suddenly give substance to your useless argument about 'collectivism'. Your intellectual high horse is unshatterable, is it Mr. vonpeterhoff?

[jeanpaulfelix]

couldn't have said better myself,Amiduffer

[snuffydoug]

Jeffrey Sachs was in the Comanding Height Videos!