Sachs recommends a department for international sustainable development.

Question: What's your advice to the next administration?

Sachs:    I think the most important thing for the next administration is to have a Department for International Sustainable Development, so we start taking seriously the fight against poverty and the fight for environmental sustainability.  Let’s be clear, we have a government that makes wars and it does not fight poverty and this is a disaster for American security.  Within that…  within increased funding, as we promised to do 0.7% of our GNP, which is what we’ve promised, compared to one-fourth of that which we actually give right now and half of the one-fourth that we give is really for the war zones.  If we had more funding devoted it to the fight against hunger, the fight against disease, the fight against poverty, a voluntary national service would play a role in that to be sure especially to help students and those after school to see the world like the Peace Corp has enabled and to contribute to solutions.  There could be a tendency to believe that this is by itself enough and it would not be enough.  We’ve got to get much more serious about this.  There are large scale financing needs that go well beyond individual action even national service programs, but national service can play a very significant role in showing the best of America and in educating a new generation of Americans about realities abroad, and helping the rest of the world to understand that America is not just about dropping bombs out of airplanes, but it’s actually about solving problems.