[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2157-E2158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AMARTYA SEN CHANGES THE WORLD'S THINKING ABOUT HUNGER AND POVERTY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 14, 1998

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I don't often speak on the floor of 
the House about economic theory--that being a topic that's usually best 
left to our colleague, the Majority Leader and former economic 
professor from Texas.
  However, today is not an ordinary day in the field of economics--or 
for the poor and hungry people I am more familiar with. Today, one of 
the world's most dedicated and innovative scholars has been named as 
the 1998 recipient of the Nobel prize for economics--and his 
contributions are worth our attention and gratitude.
  A year ago, the world lost one of its pre-eminent leaders when Mother 
Teresa died. Today, another Nobel laureate has been named who is as 
dedicated as she was to helping the poor of India and the world.
  Amartya Sen is best known for his efforts to expose food shortages as 
a symptom--and not the cause--of famines. Having seen many of the 
places he studied, I am particularly grateful for his contribution to 
changing the world's thinking about hunger and poverty.
  Hunger is the most devastating form of poverty, and too often it has 
little relation to the

[[Page E2158]]

supply of food. Our world produces more than enough to feed every man, 
woman, and child alive--and yet today, and every day after that, 24,000 
people will die of hunger and the diseases it spawns. Nor is the 
problem one of getting the food to the people in need.
  No, the cause of hunger almost always turns out to be a lack of 
political will to ease poverty just enough to ensure people can sustain 
their own lives. Mr. Sen's work has exposed that, and it informs the 
debate of the many governments, charities, and individuals who devote 
their efforts to fighting hunger.
  The decision of the Nobel committee to make its award to Mr. Sen 
could not have come at a better time. All around the world, countries 
whose memory of hunger was fading into the past are facing it again. In 
Indonesia, the world's fourth-largest country, one-half of its people 
are in poverty. In Russia, the figure was one-third--but is likely to 
increase because key crops have failed. Throughout Asia, poverty 
vanquished through hard work is back, and people are facing conditions 
not seen since 30 years of intensive development initiatives began.
  In addition to this alarming back-slide, full-blown famines now 
threaten Sudan and North Korea. Two million have died in Sudan during 
its latest cycle of war and famine; more than a million North Koreans 
are widely believed to have died since its economic collapse. Africa's 
prospects for peace--one of the best guarantees against famine--have 
evaporated, as wars engulf one-third of Africa and threaten to ignite 
the entire continent.
  The people involved in fighting hunger are among the most dedicated, 
savvy, and exceptional people I have had the honor to know. But not 
many of them are economists.
  Amartya Sen is an exception. He is a pragmatist cut from different 
cloth than most of his contemporaries. His scholarship is at least as 
solid as that of pure theorists, but it is remarkable for its focus on 
practical issues that dominate the lives of vast numbers of the poor 
who still account for the majority of our world's people.
  The name of Amartya Sen is as familiar to students of development 
economics as Milton Friedman is to earlier economics disciplines. He is 
the first significant economist to focus on people as more than just 
the labor side of the capitalist equation. His work brings an ethical 
component to his discipline that makes it especially relevant for 
policy makers. And his receipt of the Nobel prize will encourage a wide 
range of others to continue his efforts.
  Mother Teresa said ``we can do no great things--only small things 
with great love.'' From his humble reaction to the news of his award, 
it seems that Amartya Sen shares her sentiment. There is no question 
that both did their work with great love for the poor to whom they 
devoted their lives.
  We all know that Mother Teresa's legacy refutes her humility. Today, 
the world knows, by the announcement of the Nobel committee's award, 
that Amartya Sen too has done great things. I am honored to have this 
opportunity to thank him for it, and to congratulate him on an honor 
none deserves more.

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