Ruchir Agarwal: Chimpanzee Politics and Climate Change
The animal kingdom can teach us important lessons about ourselves and increase cooperation to fight climate change. (photo: Ruchir Agarwal )
In This Episode
When it comes to cooperation, humans and chimpanzees still have much in common. Perhaps that's not surprising given humans share over 98 percent of our DNA with chimps. But in a recent article in Finance and Development, economist Ruchir Agarwal argues the 2 percent genetic difference propels humanity’s success, but also its potential for disaster. In this podcast, Agarwal asks whether humans have evolved enough to escape “chimpanzee politics” and confront the greatest risk our species is facing—climate change.
Read the article at IMF.org/fandd
RUCHIR AGARWAL is a cofounder of the Global Talent Fund and the director of the Raj Center at Columbia University.
