Jose Angel Gurria

“It takes collaboration across a community to develop better skills for better lives.”

“We are dealing with the greater challenges of globalisation. It is generating, in many cases, an increase in the levels of inequality in societies... that is undesirable.”

“The OECD advocates a risk-based approach to water security and is calling on governments to speed up their efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness of water management. We recommend improving water pricing to recover costs and to reflect the value of water to users and society.”

“The benefits of growth have not trickled down. Income inequalities have become one of the biggest global challenges, attracting growing attention not only in academic literature but also among policymakers globally.”

“I think there are going to be more countries joining the euro.”

“Providing investors with recourse against governments is valuable.”

“By assessing the capabilities and knowledge of students in the highest-performing and most rapidly improving education systems, the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment provides valuable options for reform and information on how to achieve it.”

“Creating a global platform for collaboration in education research and innovation has been the PISA initiative's aspiration from its conception in the late 1990s.”

“The whole banking sector in Mexico was literally bankrupt. For whatever reason, instead of intervening in the sector or supporting the banks, the government expropriated them. We went through the very laborious period of selling the failing banks to the wealthy people of Mexico.”

“Nobody in their right mind will even attempt or even think of leaving the European Union, because they will understand that it is not in their best interest.”

“It doesn't really matter who owns things so long there is enough competition, which means lower pricing, better quality goods, more variety, and an economy where the consumers are the big winners.”

“Governments need to be seriously sceptical about whether new coal provides a good deal for their citizens.”

“Unlike other essential goods, like clothing, shelter, or food, we take cheap or even free water for granted. It often takes a crisis, such as a major drought or flood, to spur investment and policy reforms in improving water security.”

“When, as an individual, you are not paying taxes, it is evasion. As a corporate, it is legal shrewdness or tax engineering.”

“Regulations for international accounting and funding will have to be examined to identify policies that inadvertently discourage institutional investors from putting their resources into longer-term, illiquid assets.”

“High levels of inequality generate high costs for society, dampening social mobility, undermining the labour market prospects of vulnerable social groups, and creating social unrest.”

“One of the greatest challenges of democracies today is the question of financing campaigns. It's a tremendous challenge. Obviously I think the solution is to have the governments pay for all the campaigns and not to have any private contributions.”

“Labour and land are always politically sensitive.”

“We need to achieve zero emissions from fossil fuel sources by the second half of the century. That doesn't mean by 2050 exactly, but it means by that time we need to be pretty much on the way to achieving it.”

“At the OECD, we stand ready to continue to help our member and partner countries to design, promote, and implement Better Policies for Better Lives.”