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Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute for
Liberty and Democracy in Peru and a Nobel Prize finalist, appeared
at Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center on Tuesday, Sept.
26, as part of a campaign to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
College of Business.
de Soto has been recognized internationally for his economic reforms
to help poor, developing nations. Former President Bill Clinton once
said of de Soto’s institute, based in Lima, Peru: “The most
promising anti-poverty initiative in the world is that being
advanced by the (ILD).” Of de Soto, he said, “The great Peruvian
economist … is doing some of the most important work in the world
today.”
de Soto is the author of several books, including the bestseller,
“The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and
Fails Everywhere Else,” which explores why some countries succeed at
capitalism while others fail. He founded the institute in 1983 and
served as President Alberto Fujimori’s personal representative and
principal advisor, helping to modernize Peru’s economic system. He
later duplicated that effort for El Salvador at the request of its
president, and has assisted many other countries, including Russia,
Haiti, Algeria and Ghana.
He is the former governor of Peru’s Central Reserve Bank and a
member of the World Commission on the Global Dimension of
Globalization.
de Soto is the recipient of several major international awards
including the 2004 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, Cato
Institute; the CARE Humanitarian Award and the Templeton Freedom
Prize.
“His message on economics and capitalism will be significant, and I
think we’re very fortunate to have him here at Colorado State
University,” said Larry Kendall, owner of The Group Inc. and a
member of the college’s Global Leadership Council, an advisory
group. “He is a very compelling speaker. He’s one of the most
brilliant economists in the world.”
As part of those efforts, the Colleges of Business and Engineering
at Colorado State formed the Global Innovation Center for Energy,
Health and the Environment. The center helps license technological
advancements developed at Colorado State to address great global
problems, including the health and welfare of the Third World. The
Global Innovation Center focuses on the developing world's chronic
environmental needs that often do not capture the attention of
relief organizations.
The center has worked with Envirofit International Ltd., a
non-profit corporation that is selling a retrofitted two-stroke
engine to address taxi pollution in the Philippines. The next
project of the Global Innovation Center is underway, currently
targeted at Nepal and Honduras, to develop and market an improved
cookstove that reduces indoor air pollution and also generates
electricity for lights while it is being used. In the developing
world, indoor air pollution from fuels such as wood and dung is the
leading cause of death for children under age 5 and the fourth
leading cause of premature death for women.
de Soto’s visit to Colorado State University coincides with a
“50-40-30” milestone campaign underway at the college that
celebrates three anniversaries: |
