News

Student attends forum abroad

University of Wisconsin sophomore Robert Lincoln spent last month in Switzerland learning about poverty and debt-relief issues.

Lincoln and three other American interns heard leaders from around the world discuss strategies to solve economic struggles at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in late January.

The annual event featured top corporate, political and humanitarian leaders, including such notable figures as Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Bono, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

According to Lincoln, the top issues this year dealt with debt relief in Africa, the future of the United States in global economics, and health care for tuberculosis and other diseases in poverty-stricken regions, as well as the economic growth of China and India.

"The experience has given me a view on how things really do work in the world," Lincoln said. "The focus on global issues impacts what you do at home, and what you do at home impacts what happens in the world."

An economics major at UW, Lincoln said his father's previous participation in the forum sparked his own interest in applying for the internship.

During the forum, Lincoln said he and other interns sat in on discussions among CEOs and political leaders and wrote summaries on these sessions to post on the World Economic Forum's website.

Lincoln said the idea behind the forum is that the more dialogue there is on such issues, the more likely people are to cooperate in solving global economic problems.

UW applied economics professor Daniel Bromley agreed the forum is a showcase for ideas, but said the ideas need to be applicable in the real world.

"It's not useful for substantive answers, but it's useful for agenda-setting," Bromley said of the forum, adding he is skeptical that it will spur immediate action.

Lincoln said some solutions involved programs funded by Bill Gates to provide tuberculosis vaccines to Africans. Another involved Bono setting up credit cards where the money raised would also be donated to programs helping those in Africa, Lincoln added.

However, Bromley said that long-term strategies are often the most effective. These could include, for example, making sure that every girl in developing countries stays in school and gets an education.

Educating young women can help them become empowered and encourage them to use birth control, Bromley said. This will decrease the birth rate and, in turn, decrease population growth, he added, noting that there would then fewer people to sustain economically.

"Investing in people," Bromley said. "That's the way you fix this stuff."

Additionally, people need to learn about specific economic situations in different areas worldwide before prescribing answers or else the solutions will be unrealistic, Bromley said.

Lincoln agreed and said that if students are educated on global economic issues, they will be better suited to help fix these growing problems.

"Try to have the interest to get as educated as you can on [global economic issues], especially because we have the time," Lincoln said.