Globalization is a complex issue, partly because economic globalization is only one part of it. Globalization is greater global closeness, and that is cultural, social, political, as well as economic.
Development requires major source of unfreedom: poverty as well as tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social deprivation, neglect of public facilities as well as intolerance or overactivity of repressive states.
Economics, as it has emerged, can be made more productive by paying greater and more explicit attention to the ethical considerations that shape human behaviour and judgment.
You have to be interested in inequality. The issue of inequality and that of poverty are not separable.
The best hope for peace in the world lies in the simple but far-reaching recognition that we all have many different associations and affiliations, and we need not see ourselves as being rigidly divided by a single categorization of hardened groups, which confront each other.
A defeated argument that refuses to be obliterated can remain very alive.
Anything that increases the voice of young women tends therefore to reduce the fertility rate.
Violence is fomented by the imposition of singular and belligerent identities on gullible people, championed by proficient artisans of terror.
No substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press.
While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.
Unceasing change turns the wheel of life, and so reality is shown in all it’s many forms. Dwell peacefully as change itself liberates all suffering sentient beings and brings them great joy.
There are few subjects that match the social significance of women’s education in the contemporary world.
The exchange between different cultures can not possibly be seen as a threat, when it is friendly. But I believe that the dissatisfaction with the overall architecture often depends on the quality of leadership.
No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.
Famines occur under a colonial administration, like the British Raj in India or for that matter in Ireland, or under military dictators in one country after another, like Somalia and Ethiopia, or in one-party states like the Soviet Union and China.
It is important to reclaim for humanity the ground that has been taken from it by various arbitrarily narrow formulations of the demands of rationality.
If a theory of justice is to guide reasoned choice of policies, strategies or institutions, then the identification of fully just social arrangements is neither necessary nor sufficient.
The governments and the hard-headed military establishment and the general conservative part of America have never taken much interest in democracy, anyway.
Development cannot really be so centered only on those in power.
It is also very engaging – and a delight – to go back to Bangladesh as often as I can, which is not only my old home, but also where some of my closest friends and collaborators live and work.