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Club of PEP scored a major coup of arranging for Sen to answer questions from a 100-strong audience. During the hour-long session Sen discussed a variety of topics, covering areas such as South Korea, Iraq, Democracy and individualism.
In 1998 Sen won a Nobel Prize for Economics after his work in the field of Welfare Economics and more specifically, famine.
As a nine-year old he witnessed the Bengal famine of 1943 – which led to him write his 1981 paper on ‘Poverty and Famine’.
He commented that: “I had to observe, as a young child, some of that mindless violence.” http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/ Three million people perished in the famine, an unnecessary loss of life. Sen later concluded that he felt there was enough food in India at the time, but the distribution was hindered by the loss of jobs, which prevented people buying food.
It was clear throughout proceedings that Sen was enjoying being able to spend time focusing on humanitarian projects, specialising in areas such as healthcare and teaching.
Sen commented on various political issues, including that of free trade within the EU:
“There’s a lot of free trade I’d like to stop – warfare in Africa is being fed by the supply-driven sales of armaments. When I last checked, 85% of armaments are supplied by G8 members, and 82% are from the 4 permament members of the Security Council. So I’m not really surprised there’s been a debate at the Security Council on this!”
During the session, Sen took questions from a number of York students, some regarding his own theories and others on the state of the world today.
In discussing the Iraq War, Sen was asked whether he felt the failures were to do the democratic system, he said: “We can’t blame the system but we can the practitioners.”
As well as commenting on the economic position of countries such as China, and Britain’s position in the EU, in his autobiography Sen states that winning the Nobel prize allowed him:
“To do something immediate and practical about my old obsessions, including literacy, basic health care and gender equity, aimed specifically at India and Bangladesh.”
He further commented on these issues by telling the audience how the prize money was split between two trusts he had founded; one in India and one in Bangladesh, concentrating on matters close to his heart, teaching and primary healthcare. He explained:
“I arranged a meeting between the Primary Teachers Union and my trust (The Pratichi Trust), to see how Unions could help with the working conditions of teachers; so they receive the economic benefits of the country, and maintain the interests of students. If not, teachers treat low income, low class children like dirt as the teachers think they’re worth more.
On matters close to home, Sen also discussed the plight of the poor in Britain, commenting:
“They’re at something of a double handicap - they get a lower income due to being disabled, elderly or sick, and then struggle to change income into a good living.”
On a world scale, Sen said that: “Issues of equality have been on top of the agenda as they should have been.”
Sen is seen as many as a ground-breaking Economist – many believe he has changed the minds of many; from fellow Economists and development workers to the UN.
Henry Smith, Chair of PEP, the society which had organised Sen’s visit:
'I thought the night was a great success. It was a testament to Sen's intellect that he was able to answer the range of questions in such depth without any warning as to their content, especially as he had been at a conference based on conceptual theories for 4 hours beforehand. He was a pleasure to meet and took a genuine interest in what members of the Club were planning to do. In short, he was both charming and inspiring.'
'His talk was of great benefit to all students taking degrees within PEP as his work highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the subjects. However, speaking to those who attended the event afterwards, it was clear that no matter what degree you studied Sen was clear and thought provoking.'
