ASPEN, Colo.—Former President Bill Clinton avoided partisan politics during an appearance Saturday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, focusing instead on world issues ranging from climate change to food security and AIDS.
In an hour-long conversation with his former White House aide Jane Wales, now a vice president at the Aspen Institute, Clinton said global problem-solving methods need to be rethought and reorganized. He pointed to how the Clinton Foundation was able to change the system of production and sales of HIV/AIDS drugs to reduce costs but still allow manufacturers to make money.
“It’s a simple little thing that philanthropists should be doing anywhere: change the business model,” Clinton told a crowd of about 700 which included his daughter Chelsea and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Clinton said the United States needed to start aiding farmers in the developing world instead of just giving them American-grown food. He said cash for farmers now comprises half of Canada’s foreign aid.
Clinton, who helped campaign for Hillary Clinton, didn’t mention the race between John McCain and Barack Obama or his wife’s failed bid for the Democratic nomination. He also didn’t discuss his recent conversation with Obama in which Clinton agreed to campaign for the Illinois senator.
