Mugur Isărescu: The power of the mind
Opening address by Mr Mugur Isărescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania and
President of the Romanian Association for the Club of Rome, at the Annual Conference of
the Club of Rome "The Power of the Mind", organized by the Club of Rome, the Romanian
Association for the Club of Rome (ARCoR) and the National Bank of Romania, Bucharest,
2 October 2012.
* * *
Dear colleagues of the Club of Rome,
Honoured guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure and a privilege for the Romanian Association for the Club of Rome and for
the National Bank of Romania to be the host of the International Conference of the Club
of Rome, here in Bucharest, with such a challenging topic: "The Power of the Mind".
As we all know, 2012 is an anniversary year for the Club of Rome, since we are celebrating
the 40th anniversary of the first Report to the Club, which was entitled "The Limits to
Growth". When this Report was published, it created shockwaves all over the world,
including the communist countries. I can testify this, because I addressed comments
concerning this issue when I was a young research fellow, after graduating the University.
Actually, I confessed to my colleagues that my first public appearance in 1973 was related
to the Club's first Report. But the debates were not limited to Romania or to Europe. They
were manifest all over the world, and are still continuing today.
I dare to sustain that nowadays, with the global economic crisis still ongoing and this fight
for resources, the above-mentioned issues appear to be highlighted even more now than
in 1972. Of course, today, being in recession, particularly we in Europe are in recession,
we dislike considering limits to growth, except perhaps putting some limit to money supply
growth.
Not all the predictions of the Club of Rome came true. Nevertheless, it has initiated not only
debates, but also radical changes in human behaviour, many of them still ongoing today
- for example the environmental movement that started early in the '70s with the first
Report to the Club of Rome; or the need to increase the efficiency of energy consumption
(just recall how big and low efficient American cars were 40 years ago). But, above all,
these debates have changed our way of thinking. Like Albert Einstein used to say, "The
world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing
our thinking".
Related to this issue, one of the central themes addressed by the Report to the Club
looking to the future is education. Professor Mircea Maliţa, a Romanian veteran of the
Club of Rome, identified the potential of education in his 1979 Report "No Limits to
Learning", which was like a mirror to the first Report. It is him who will reiterate today the
topic of education, together with Richard Ernst, who will present an interesting paper, "An
Inseparable Pair: Education and Ethics".
We will equally have the opportunity to listen today to Mr. Roberto Peccei's "The
Significance of Limits to Growth for the Work of the Club of
Rome", as well as to the
co-authors of the first Report, Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers, who will look at the
lessons of the first Report nowadays. In the new Report, "2052 - A Global Forecast for the
Next Forty
Years", Jorgen Randers underlines the need to use the values or the lessons of
the first Report for the future. And actually looking back 40 years, he will look to the next
40 years. We are eager to listen to him to see what the prospects are for the next 40 years.
Looking at today's agenda, I would like to mention the relationship between humankind
and nature. We'll have a special session, where Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker will discuss
about "Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy" and Anders Wijkman about
"Bankrupting Nature". I will also address the topic of transforming the financial and
monetary system.
I am sure that today's debate will bring light to our faces and we will find together the best
answers to the future of the humankind. I invite the panellists to start the first session. Thank
you very much!