Jeffery Sachs thinks so. He ran some numbers for the World Bank and came up the solution.

Quoted in the Financial Times of London, he said, “There are 950 billionaires whose wealth is estimated at $3.5 trillion [$3,500bn]. An annual 5 per cent ‘foundation’ payout would be $175bn per year – that would do it. Then we don’t need the G8 but 950 people on the Forbes list.” He continued, “Maybe private philanthropists will champion solutions to individual problems rather than the G8.”

Mr. Sachs failed to notice that the same $175 Billion/year would also cover costs of the ongoing Iraq War. Maybe the U.S. government could ask the world’s billionaires for help.