Should Mayors lead the world?

Have you followed the debate in the TED Ideas Lab "Mayors get things done. Should they run the world?" Benjamin Barber argues in his new book "If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities, that big-city mayors have become the most trusted — and in many ways most effective — political leaders in the world. This is in good part because cities are the places where most of the world’s significant opportunities and looming threats are played out. If this century’s most intractable problems are to be solved, the solutions will be found at the municipal level.

As a result, Mr. Barber argues that cities and international organizations should have a much larger place in a global "parliament of mayors," an international assembly of big-city mayors that will help establish world policy on crucial issues such as climate change, spread best practices in areas such as transportation, and influence national governments to serve the world’s urban majority better." What do you think?

Click on the link below to watch the video:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/ideas-lab/should-mayors-lead-the-world/article17275044/