The End of PovertyEconomic Possibilities for Our time

A modest proposal that will likely never come to pass.
If anybody’s earned bragging rights in the world of international economics it’s Jeffrey Sachs. That’s because he’s put theory into practice: Bolivia, Poland and Russia all hired him to pull them out of debt and destructive policies, and Kofi Annan kept him on retainer for the U.N. So, when Sachs announces a plan to eliminate poverty around the world in under 20 years, it’s worth a listen.

Surprisingly, he’s not strictly a cold-hearted numbers guy. Rather, he comes up with the numbers that prove a humanitarian stance will actually help everybody — not just the countries getting their debts forgiven. There are moments in the End of Poverty when Sachs seems so driven by compassion and optimism, you have to wonder if he’s forgotten how easily the rich countries let the poor ones slip into poverty in the first place. All he’s asking is for countries to start carrying each other and to admit success in the international market is not a zero sum game. You may be tempted to call him naïve, but c’mon — this isn’t some armchair hippie crackpot. It’s Sachs. Dude was in the shit.