Around the world, 1.4 billion people live in poverty, surviving on less than $1.25 per day. They number among those affected negatively by the global financial crisis. In this audio interview, Stanford MBA student Joy Sun talks with Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and a professor at Columbia University, about how that crisis is shaping international relations and influencing countries’ paths towards economic development. Professor Sachs shares his views on the United States' place in the changing economic and political landscape of the post-crisis world, the effect of the economic slowdown on the poorest of the poor, and the need to regain a “moral compass” in business and government.

This conversation was recorded as part of the 2009-2010 Public Management Initiative (PMI) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Hosted by the Center for Social Innovation’s Public Management Program, the PMI is a yearlong, student-driven academic project focused on a specific public issue. The theme for 2010, Debating Tomorrow: The Changing World of Business, explores how business will have to change in light of the recent financial crisis and how, in turn, business might shape change in the future.