NEVER mind the downturn, a green economic revolution must be launched within months, one of the world鈥檚 top economists has told New 杏吧原创.
鈥淵ou do hear voices saying now is not the moment,鈥� says Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank and economic adviser to the UK government. 鈥淣ow is precisely the moment to make the change.鈥�
Stern believes that low-carbon technologies have the potential to fuel economic growth in a much more sustainable manner than previous booms based on the dot com and housing bubbles. With public money and incentives for private investment, low-carbon technologies could transform 21st-century society in the way that railways and information technologies did in previous centuries, he says.
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鈥淟ow-carbon technologies could transform society in the way that railways did in the 19th century鈥�
There may be no better time. To reverse the slowdown, politicians have already been discussing some of the biggest cash injections in decades, Stern points out. What鈥檚 more, banks are dropping interest rates, which means investors can borrow at a lower cost.
鈥淚t has got to be fast,鈥� Stern warns. 鈥淭he fiscal expansion has got to be put in place, the policy decisions have got to be taken in the next three to four months. They take time to kick in. The urgency of decision-making should be very clear to everybody.鈥�
