Today was my first day of classes in the city of London. While I only had one class so far, International Economics, there was so much jammed into that one three-hour period that it both inspired and bored me, an interesting combination of excitement and misery that I suspect will become the norm. The section of today’s course that inspired me, however, was the realization that London is maybe the first city I have been to that is globally connected. Now you could argue that New York City or Philadelphia, locations that I’ve been to many times, are equally dynamic and worldly. I would counter with the fact that I have never lived in either of those cities for more than a week tops and that I was only ever a tourist in either place. Here in London, I am living, working, and playing for over three months in a city of 8.5 million people, where three hundred different languages are spoken and which is the number one financial center in the world. So while New York and Philly were great places to visit, the multi-cultural atmosphere and the gravity of what I do with my time here are so much more important than it was in America.
Which brings us back to the section of my International Economics course that spoke to me today. Our professor showed us a video of Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund and quite possibly the most important woman in the world, giving a speech entitled “A New Multilateralism for the 21st Century” in February of 2014 in which she addressed a number of important economic and cultural issues. While the speech was given in London almost two years ago, the shocking statistics and heartfelt messages are still relevant, if not more shocking and heartfelt, today. I realized that I will have the opportunity to experience and learn about some of the topics that Ms. Lagarde touched on, including income inequality, gender inequity, climate change, and international trade, not just through the class itself but also because I am living in the epicenter of a cultural and economic epicenter where these discussions are still on going, where action is being taken, and where the results are free and clear for everyone to see. More than ever, London is taking a commanding presence on the world stage, with the most foreign direct investment projects of all cities in the world and strong growth among all sections of its economy. There are important changes being implemented and issues being argued here that will affect the whole country like raising the minimum wage to the American equivalent of twelve dollars an hour and the eventual referendum to split from the European Union. I’ll see the impact directly in a city as multi-lateral and highly diverse as London is, and I’m so excited to learn about its role on the world stage.
If you have some time to spare, you can watch Christine Lagarde’s intellectually inspiring speech here: Christine Lagarde: A New Multilateralism in the 21st Century.
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