Bald Mary's Bookshelf: The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D. Sachs

Sunday, February 12, 2006

The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D. Sachs


With the quixotic, bright-eyed optimism of a freshly college-graduated peace corp applicant, Jeffrey D. Sachs makes the end of poverty seem like a few pennies away if only we could get rid of pesky geo-politiking and greed. His last chapter rises up in an especially saccharine cresendo when he compares ending poverty to other historically critical achievements such as abolition of slavery (which still exists), antiapartheid and civil rights movements (not really closed chapters, are they?) and the end of colonialism (I just laughed out loud).

But thankfully, The End of Poverty does more than dwell on hopelessly idealistic, and hyperbolic, misguided comparisons. It also offers information, and insights into the macroeconomic underpinnings of Bolivia, Eastern Europe, China and India that were completely fascinating. Like an economist superhero, Sachs tells us his story of rushing around the globe mending economies suffering from "hyperinflation" and lack of foreign investment and aid. Despite being a book that is painfully dummed down for the general audience, it is also brimming with calculations and technical jargon that only gets the most superficial explanations.

I am not an economist so I have no real basis for arguing any of his propositions. But its difficult not to get past the sense that there is something grossly simplified and pithy about this book. This came across especially loudly when he discusses some subjects that I am familiar with--most notably PEPFAR and the Green Revolution. He seems utterly unaware of the ideologically based taint of PEPFAR's policies and the well-documented upheavels of the Green Revolution.

The back bone of his argument is that if rich countries like the US would only increase their foreign aid to the agreed upon rate of 0.7 percent of their GNP, extreme poverty can be eradicated. Another cornerstone of his plan is that reducing poverty needs to be tackled from multiple sides of infrastructure, environment, health and education--what he calls "clinical economics". Is it just me, or haven't these ideas been aired out before? In his excellent review, William Easterly points out many of the weaknesses in Sachs' vision. This new york times review by Drezner is also quite good.

It is difficult to not side with Sachs. After all, he is fighting the good fight and making some eloquent points in the process. But I still can't shake off the troubling image of this rich, priveledged white man walking around India for the first time in the 70s, and gasping, "there's poverty in the world!"

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

good review. Tommy Loves Joemon's butt

2:51 PM  

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