US a destabilising force for global growth, says top economist

Trump administration a threat to peaceful balance of multipolarism: Jeffrey Sachs

- Annabelle Liang

Renowned economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs said he believes the United States is the “most destabilising force in the world”, as he charted challenges to the global economy up to 2050.

Speaking at an Economic Society of Singapore (ESS) event on Oct 29, Professor Sachs named the administration of US President Donald Trump as a risk to maintaining a multipolar world, where power is shared among several major countries.

Multipolarism has powered growth since the end of European imperialism in the 1950s, driving industrialisation, the proliferation of technology, and an increase in literacy in markets including Asean, Prof Sachs said.

This environment allowed Singapore to develop as an “extraordinarily well-managed economy and well-managed society”, achieving a per capita income which surpasses that of America.

Prof Sachs considers the US, Russia, China and India as “great powers” holding up multipolarism in today’s landscape.

“They're all economically dynamic. They are all technologically sophisticated. They are all nuclear powers. From a military point of view, not any of them can defeat the other in war, God forbid there should be one,” he said.

“This is a multipolarity that reflects a fundamental reality of world power, economy and technology, which is quite widespread. Talent is quite widespread in the world, and that, to my mind, is wonderful.”