Bono in Davos: “Extreme poverty is stupid”

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Bono participated in the ‘The G-8 and Africa: Rhetoric or Action?’ panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

Bono, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Thabo Mbeki (the president of South Africa) and Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria) discussed poverty reduction, moderated by the French journalist Christine Ockrent. (CNN report) Praising Gates and Blair, Bono summed up the issues as follows: “Extreme poverty is stupid”.

Earlier in the day Tony Blair, Bill Gates and Bono gave a joint press conference on reducing poverty in Africa. Bono spoke highly of the Microsoft boss:

“No single man on the planet has done more to impact poverty”.

(And let’s not forget his impact on PC-users’ sanity. Ed.)


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Bono ended the panel discussion with his by now familiar analogy of the world standing by as people are put on the trains:

“This time, we’re going to lie in front of the trains!.”

28 thoughts on “Bono in Davos: “Extreme poverty is stupid”

  1. “Rocker BONO is releasing a book (PRE-ORDER) of ‘conversations'”

    You’re just evil 😉 Thanks for the post though. It’s good to see a subject change. U2gate is getting boring 😉

  2. “Rocker BONO is releasing a book (PRE-ORDER) of ‘conversations'”

    You’re just evil 😉 Thanks for the post though. It’s good to see a subject change. U2gate is getting boring 😉

  3. Just you wait for the U2log.com/Apple deal: I’m sure our readers are just dying to get that iPod signed by all the U2log.com editors – even the ones on walkabout! Plus a magnificent 50 dollar rebate on all U2log.com’s archived articles. 🙂

  4. Just you wait for the U2log.com/Apple deal: I’m sure our readers are just dying to get that iPod signed by all the U2log.com editors – even the ones on walkabout! Plus a magnificent 50 dollar rebate on all U2log.com’s archived articles. 🙂

  5. I was trying to get tickest for the GA-comment-section on U2log.com, but I couldn’t get through…

    Luckily I found one for $520 on ebay! 😉

    Last week Dutch TV-program RTL-boulevard announced that Bono will be having dinner with Dutch prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima in Davos…..

  6. I was trying to get tickest for the GA-comment-section on U2log.com, but I couldn’t get through…

    Luckily I found one for $520 on ebay! 😉

    Last week Dutch TV-program RTL-boulevard announced that Bono will be having dinner with Dutch prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima in Davos…..

  7. OH! Let me go practice my signature right now! Or I could just do a Larry and settle for “E.”

    (having said that, I did manage to sign my creditcard upside down, woops)

    But while we’re at it, can we sell our souls to Clear Channel too? Aw, gowon, please?! I’ve just been dying to know what the attraction is to being milked like a price winning cow. MOO!

    Oh oh oh! And maybe Paul McG will manage us! Then well never have to worry about bandwidth costs again… wouldn’t that be swank?

  8. OH! Let me go practice my signature right now! Or I could just do a Larry and settle for “E.”

    (having said that, I did manage to sign my creditcard upside down, woops)

    But while we’re at it, can we sell our souls to Clear Channel too? Aw, gowon, please?! I’ve just been dying to know what the attraction is to being milked like a price winning cow. MOO!

    Oh oh oh! And maybe Paul McG will manage us! Then well never have to worry about bandwidth costs again… wouldn’t that be swank?

  9. Sod Willem Alexander and Maxima, Bono will have lunch of beans on toast with Minima; the U2log editors 😉

  10. Sod Willem Alexander and Maxima, Bono will have lunch of beans on toast with Minima; the U2log editors 😉

  11. Wonder if he’ll feed Alex sausages sambos & red sauce, like he did with Clinton.

    Alexander was always rumoured to be a U2 fan when he was a kid, perhaps he still is.

  12. Wonder if he’ll feed Alex sausages sambos & red sauce, like he did with Clinton.

    Alexander was always rumoured to be a U2 fan when he was a kid, perhaps he still is.

  13. oh lord, conversations like the one above, is one of the many reasons why i love thi splace so much ;_) LOL.

    just watching WEF on cnn europe, bono just outlined his thoughts in a truly remarkable way, very inspiring….

  14. oh lord, conversations like the one above, is one of the many reasons why i love thi splace so much ;_) LOL.

    just watching WEF on cnn europe, bono just outlined his thoughts in a truly remarkable way, very inspiring….

  15. I missed Bono’s bit. Clinton spoke passionately: “People who say the money won’t reach the people who need it because of corruption SHOULD BE PUT IN A CLOSET!”

  16. I missed Bono’s bit. Clinton spoke passionately: “People who say the money won’t reach the people who need it because of corruption SHOULD BE PUT IN A CLOSET!”

  17. Oh, I was just about to say something bitter to that, but I’ve decided I’m over the whole ticket thing, so I won’t.

  18. Oh, I was just about to say something bitter to that, but I’ve decided I’m over the whole ticket thing, so I won’t.

  19. Moderator: “Imagine you’d be prime-minister of England”

    Bono: “The Irish have been working on that for years….”

    And as soon as the moderator came to senses: “…but I won’t move to a smaller house…”

  20. Moderator: “Imagine you’d be prime-minister of England”

    Bono: “The Irish have been working on that for years….”

    And as soon as the moderator came to senses: “…but I won’t move to a smaller house…”

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