Quotes from Jose Angel Gurria

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.

Israel should share its great wealth with its neighbors, like the Palestinians, in areas like governance and investment as well as the building of institutions.

I said a vote to leave would be a Brexit tax. I couldn't think of anything stronger than that.

We need to focus much more on the bottom 40 per cent. They are losing ground, and the fact that they are losing ground blocks social mobility and brings down economic growth.

Why did we lose Brexit? Why, because 60 per cent of youth didn't believe they needed to go and vote.

More dangerous than voting for change... is that people no longer vote because they have lost trust not only in governments but in democracy.

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.

If you are trying to favor the unions by having more rigid labor market and keeping wages very high, you could be blocking people from getting new jobs.

European leaders cannot afford to be afraid. The refugee crisis is not one from which they can opt out. No magic wand will empower leaders to transport more than a million people back across the Aegean and the Bosphorus to Mosul and Aleppo, or across the Mediterranean to Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan.

Our planet is warming dangerously.

A more robust approach to global warming is needed if we are to avoid catastrophe. Unlike the recent financial crisis, there is no bailout option for the earth's climate.

Some challenges remain, but the bottom line is that low-carbon options can and should play a much greater role in energy supply.

If the world is to avoid a collision with nature - one that humanity surely cannot win - we must act boldly on every front, particularly with respect to carbon pricing and the coherence of our economic and energy policies.

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.

We cannot sustain long-term growth in our economies if we do not protect and preserve our environment.

If we can rid the world of financial centres that thrive on lack of transparency, non-cooperation, and weak regulation, an important step towards a fairer and cleaner world economy will have been achieved.

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.

Japan's future prospects depend on ensuring fiscal sustainability over the long term.

Israel has been doing very well, but there are challenges the country faces, like poverty and social integration of the Orthodox, Arab, Beduin, and Ethiopian population, which will be essential for sustaining strong growth over time.

We never tell countries that they should have a particular number in terms of a tax number, you know, if countries can make do with whatever average tax they have. The question is, do they apply it to everybody? Or do they give sweetheart deals to some companies?

In a world that places a growing premium on social skills, education systems need to do much better at fostering those skills systematically across the school curriculum.

It isn't only rich countries that suffer from the effects of tax havens. Developing countries also lose billions of dollars in tax revenues due each year because wealthy individuals and some companies use tax havens to move assets and income offshore.

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.

Water security is not just for domestic policies. International co-operation is crucial to sustainably manage trans-boundary water bodies and river basins.