Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Penguin Books (2006), Edition: Annotated, 464 pages
Description
A respected international economic advisor and the director of The Earth Institute shares a wide-spectrum theory about how to enable economic success throughout the world, identifying the different categories into which various nations fall in today's economy while posing solutions to top political, environmental, and social problems that contribute to poverty. [The author] sets the stage by drawing a ... conceptual map of the world economy and the different categories into which countries fall. Then ... he explains why, over the past two hundred years, wealth has diverged across the planet in the manner that it has and why the poorest nations have been so markedly unable to escape the cruel vortex of poverty. The groundwork laid, he explains his methods for arriving ... at a holistic diagnosis of a country's situation and the options it faces. Rather than deliver a worldview to readers from on high, [the author] leads them along the learning path he himself followed, telling the ... stories of his own work in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, India, China, and Africa as a way to bring readers to a broad-based understanding of the array of issues countries can face and the way the issues interrelate. He concludes by drawing on everything he has learned to offer an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that most frequently hold societies back. In the end, he leaves readers with an understanding, not of how daunting the world's problems are, but how solvable they are - and why making the effort is a matter both of moral obligation and strategic self-interest.… (more)
Media reviews
Sachs only ever talks about Africa in clichés about hunger, Aids, malaria and misery. The reader must deduce that the continent - and anywhere else with extremely poor people - is permanently and uniformly suffering like Malawi in a bad drought, and that poor countries can only get to the next
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stage of development with the west's help. Can Africa possibly help itself? Sadly, we are barely told. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member John5918
This is a very good thought-provoking book by an economic expert. Much of his analysis is excellent, and I particularly like the way he dispels many of the myths about poverty, particularly in Africa. I'm not so sure about his conclusions, though. He believes that poverty can be alleviated within
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the existing capitalist free market economic system. Many in the world would suggest that capitalism has failed the poor and we need some new creative thinking. Show Less
LibraryThing member ElTomaso
An expert opinion on how to help lift the third world out of poverty without giving away our wealth!
LibraryThing member Yiggy
This work begins by recounting the history of extreme proverty and by elucidating the current state of poverty in our world today. Sachs then goes on to outline a method for eliminating this situation, and takes the reader through several case studies of different countries grippling with poverty
Sachs's message is inspiring, but the caveat is in the book title. Economic possibilities of our time remain just that, possibilities, unless there is a groundswell of support for the ideas outlined in his book. Personally I felt his arguments were pretty solid, and clearly many nations are not doing their part, creditors and debtors alike. However it remains to be seen whether or not these plans reach fruition. I hope they do.
Maybe more people reading this book will help speed that along, because even if you don't agree with Sachs solution his book will definitely convince you that extreme poverty is an issue that affects us and is highly deserving of our attention. Then, finally, we can all sit down and hammer out an answer.
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on their own terms. Endorsing a method of differential diagnosis to carefully assay the needs and failures of each country, Sachs shows the kind of approach he has in mind and how he has augmented this approach with lessons from his past. Sachs's message is inspiring, but the caveat is in the book title. Economic possibilities of our time remain just that, possibilities, unless there is a groundswell of support for the ideas outlined in his book. Personally I felt his arguments were pretty solid, and clearly many nations are not doing their part, creditors and debtors alike. However it remains to be seen whether or not these plans reach fruition. I hope they do.
Maybe more people reading this book will help speed that along, because even if you don't agree with Sachs solution his book will definitely convince you that extreme poverty is an issue that affects us and is highly deserving of our attention. Then, finally, we can all sit down and hammer out an answer.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cmbeck82
This is a truly awful book. My ambitions in life revolve around designing for the developing world so I am extremely passionate about this area. In looking at design I look at many different areas. I look at anthropology, technology, geography, politics, etc. Economics alone cannot begin to
I suppose that maybe the target audience for this book is supposed to be those that are completely unaware of the economic situation involving the West and the rest. However, even in this case I think this book does a disservice to those readers because it simplifies everything. I understand some level of simplicity is needed to begin to tackle such a large issue but Sachs often misses the point.
With every chapter I wanted to read on even less. I did not make it past probably page 150. The book started going downhill after I saw the tables concerning Africa's GDP over the last hundred years. Sachs measures well-being solely by economics and this is absolutely ignorant. Growth is relative. It is possible for villages, towns or even countries to subsist rather well with low GDP. The real force at work is globablization. While I take a value-neutral stance on this term, it is evident that it onslaught--while largely poorly moderated by the IMF and World Bank--has devasted the LDCs. Sachs pays little attention to this.
The book is rife with ambiguous and vague language like "some parts of the world achieved modern economic growth while others did not" (pg. 29) What is 'modern growth'? He speaks of this as an achievement which is a bold assumption. Are we to believe that every country should strive for what the West has 'achieved'? A quick look at books like "Natural Capitalism" or anything discussing over-consumption, sustainability or the various other ignored forms of capital (i.e. social, natural, manufactured...) will reveal that Sachs gives a poor standard of achievement. On the same page, Sachs states that "all regions were poor in 1820." What?! That isn't possible. How can any 'economist' make such a claim? Are we now to believe that world was simply 'poor' before the industrial revolution? Again, he ignores the relativity of poverty. Of course all regions were poor by today's standards but is that a good comparison?
This book offers nothing. If one wants to learn about what he is feabily trying to illustrate, look at other books on development, globalization, sustainability and foreign aid. This is a highly subjective and poorly researched book. I suppose if you want the Al Gore, "Inconvenient Truth" approach to poverty then this will be good for you. Littered with misinformation, useless charts, subjective analyses and broad generalizations. But, I would like to think the average person can do better than this. Don't sell yourself short.
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describe poverty. I suppose that maybe the target audience for this book is supposed to be those that are completely unaware of the economic situation involving the West and the rest. However, even in this case I think this book does a disservice to those readers because it simplifies everything. I understand some level of simplicity is needed to begin to tackle such a large issue but Sachs often misses the point.
With every chapter I wanted to read on even less. I did not make it past probably page 150. The book started going downhill after I saw the tables concerning Africa's GDP over the last hundred years. Sachs measures well-being solely by economics and this is absolutely ignorant. Growth is relative. It is possible for villages, towns or even countries to subsist rather well with low GDP. The real force at work is globablization. While I take a value-neutral stance on this term, it is evident that it onslaught--while largely poorly moderated by the IMF and World Bank--has devasted the LDCs. Sachs pays little attention to this.
The book is rife with ambiguous and vague language like "some parts of the world achieved modern economic growth while others did not" (pg. 29) What is 'modern growth'? He speaks of this as an achievement which is a bold assumption. Are we to believe that every country should strive for what the West has 'achieved'? A quick look at books like "Natural Capitalism" or anything discussing over-consumption, sustainability or the various other ignored forms of capital (i.e. social, natural, manufactured...) will reveal that Sachs gives a poor standard of achievement. On the same page, Sachs states that "all regions were poor in 1820." What?! That isn't possible. How can any 'economist' make such a claim? Are we now to believe that world was simply 'poor' before the industrial revolution? Again, he ignores the relativity of poverty. Of course all regions were poor by today's standards but is that a good comparison?
This book offers nothing. If one wants to learn about what he is feabily trying to illustrate, look at other books on development, globalization, sustainability and foreign aid. This is a highly subjective and poorly researched book. I suppose if you want the Al Gore, "Inconvenient Truth" approach to poverty then this will be good for you. Littered with misinformation, useless charts, subjective analyses and broad generalizations. But, I would like to think the average person can do better than this. Don't sell yourself short.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Brandie
Interesting, eye-opening book.
I knew the US wasn't giving much aid, but didn't realize it was sooo low ... I thought we were at about 1-2% but are not even half of that!
For me, I have to say that I already felt like the US needed to help and needed to do more. this book simply makes me feel it even
It also gives me some hope - there is a chance to make a difference, and in teh grand scheme of things, it will take relatively little to do it as well! To think, that we could see extreme poverty gone in our lifetime! That is truely amazing to me.
I knew the US wasn't giving much aid, but didn't realize it was sooo low ... I thought we were at about 1-2% but are not even half of that!
For me, I have to say that I already felt like the US needed to help and needed to do more. this book simply makes me feel it even
Show More
more stronger than I did before. It also gives me some hope - there is a chance to make a difference, and in teh grand scheme of things, it will take relatively little to do it as well! To think, that we could see extreme poverty gone in our lifetime! That is truely amazing to me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member stefano
I was rather disappointed by this book. In a nutshell you wouldn't learn from it anything you wouldn't already know from reading the Economist or the Financial Times. The level of the analysis seems rather shallow (possibly due to the author's legitimate objective of reaching a wide audience) when
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analysis is not completely replaced by anecdotes that (in my opinion rather irritatingly) paint Sachs himself as a Forrest-Gump-like character that pops up at every economically significant recent historical event. The only points that I found informative are: 1) how little Western countries actually devote to official development assistance and how manipulative they are in presenting their efforts as much more substantial than Sachs claim they are. 2) how the confidence that (self styled) statesmen often have on the 'political impossibility' or certain courses of action is often quite misguided. Show Less
LibraryThing member lukeasrodgers
Though Jeffrey Sachs is considered by some to be a paradigmatic neoliberal, I nonetheless think this is a great book, and now look forward to reading Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, as Sachs admits throughout the book to having strongly advocated for economic "shock" policies (for Bolivia, Poland,
I find his idea of "clinical economics" very interesting, though under-developed. What scares me about it is that approaching politics and society through the lens that a) is drawn from curing disease is problematic, and b) human society, action and interaction is fundamentally from the chemical/biological processes that occur in the human body.
Nonetheless, the majority of Sachs' recommendations as to how economists should reconsider their practice are quite sensible.
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etc.). I find his idea of "clinical economics" very interesting, though under-developed. What scares me about it is that approaching politics and society through the lens that a) is drawn from curing disease is problematic, and b) human society, action and interaction is fundamentally from the chemical/biological processes that occur in the human body.
Nonetheless, the majority of Sachs' recommendations as to how economists should reconsider their practice are quite sensible.
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LibraryThing member omame
i was really excited when i started reading this book. jeffery sachs clearly knows what he's talking about and has some great ideas. but i couldn't finish it. quickly, the book descends into ego and becomes a brag list of all of the economies that sachs has single-handedly saved. i'm sure the good
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(maybe even great) ideas are in there, but they're overpowered by his big head. Show Less
LibraryThing member RajivC
This is quite a brilliant book, in my opinion. Jeffrey makes the case for the end of poverty quite powerfully, and in the first half of the book, I was quite captivated by his analysis. I thought that this was quite brilliant.
I am reading the book seven years after it was published. The rich
India's problems are due to it's cranky politics, and China seems to have some systemic issues. Europe is in trouble, and can Europe now save the poor countries?
Therefore, in the second half of the book, where he proposes solutions, while I do not disagree with him, the question is - are there issues that have been glossed over? Are the proposals too simplistic? or, are they indeed so blindlingly obvious that we miss them?
I am reading the book seven years after it was published. The rich
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countries have become not so rich, and econoies like India and China seem to be losing a bit of their steam.India's problems are due to it's cranky politics, and China seems to have some systemic issues. Europe is in trouble, and can Europe now save the poor countries?
Therefore, in the second half of the book, where he proposes solutions, while I do not disagree with him, the question is - are there issues that have been glossed over? Are the proposals too simplistic? or, are they indeed so blindlingly obvious that we miss them?
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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
Read for class.
Sachs' ideas are becoming so commonplace in discussions of modern development that it would be foolhardy not to read him. His advocacy of 'shock therapy' in economics controversial at best, and I won't go into detail about it here.
I am very impressed with some of his ideas about how
Development theory is an incredibly vague term, and people are wary of donating money if it is wasted instead of used for a quantifiable and demonstrable good.
The section about persuading Western governments has some merit, and it is indeed shocking to realize that the U.S. government spends so comparatively little on aid compared to its neighbors. Private citizens and non-profit charities donate more than the government in this area.
I would have liked a section discussing The Middle East - a glaring omission.
The author also doesn't seem to lend himself to allowing his critics a voice, even if to refute them later. He merely passes over them in silence. Ah well. His ideas have some truth to them, even though they have many flaws.
Sachs' ideas are becoming so commonplace in discussions of modern development that it would be foolhardy not to read him. His advocacy of 'shock therapy' in economics controversial at best, and I won't go into detail about it here.
I am very impressed with some of his ideas about how
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geography impacts development (similar to some of the ideas mentioned in Guns Germs and Steel) and how each government should increase aid with simple technological solutions, but again, some are dreck. Development theory is an incredibly vague term, and people are wary of donating money if it is wasted instead of used for a quantifiable and demonstrable good.
The section about persuading Western governments has some merit, and it is indeed shocking to realize that the U.S. government spends so comparatively little on aid compared to its neighbors. Private citizens and non-profit charities donate more than the government in this area.
I would have liked a section discussing The Middle East - a glaring omission.
The author also doesn't seem to lend himself to allowing his critics a voice, even if to refute them later. He merely passes over them in silence. Ah well. His ideas have some truth to them, even though they have many flaws.
Show Less
LibraryThing member palaverofbirds
I liked this book for getting fairly straight to the point, clearly and with plenty of credibility. The causes of poverty can be solved, according to Sachs, who brings in his own experience in solving seemingly hopeless problems with sound economic solutions. He shows how things have improved, how
It's on that last point though that I think, I'm afraid, the author's solution may be a long time coming (if it ever does.) Sachs sees liberal markets as a solution to poverty, but doesn't even bring up the possibility that such markets are also a hinderance to charity. It's to the point of being obvious now that financially supporting development in places like Africa is an *investment* as it creates new trading partners in the long run, but no one wants to pay the initial cost. It's the same reason stifling the environmentalist movement, everyone agrees that there's an ethical necessity but being ethical bears a cost, and individuals and companies tread water because they don't want to be the only ones taking a hit by being good (ethics are good, but not as good as profits, we know.)
Which is why I much preferred and recommend How to Spend $50 Billion..., which carries a very similar message, but makes a sharper argument on how to pull a realistic economic development plan off.
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things could improve, and I think best of all, Sachs gives his opinion as to why developed nations are deadlocked in acting charitably.It's on that last point though that I think, I'm afraid, the author's solution may be a long time coming (if it ever does.) Sachs sees liberal markets as a solution to poverty, but doesn't even bring up the possibility that such markets are also a hinderance to charity. It's to the point of being obvious now that financially supporting development in places like Africa is an *investment* as it creates new trading partners in the long run, but no one wants to pay the initial cost. It's the same reason stifling the environmentalist movement, everyone agrees that there's an ethical necessity but being ethical bears a cost, and individuals and companies tread water because they don't want to be the only ones taking a hit by being good (ethics are good, but not as good as profits, we know.)
Which is why I much preferred and recommend How to Spend $50 Billion..., which carries a very similar message, but makes a sharper argument on how to pull a realistic economic development plan off.
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LibraryThing member LDVoorberg
I finally finished it! Only took me 4 months or more.
As readable as it is, it's a tough-going book. A lot of stats and number-crunching, which is challenging for me.
The book provides a comprehensive perspective of poverty causes and solutions around the world. Heavy on the economics, of course
As readable as it is, it's a tough-going book. A lot of stats and number-crunching, which is challenging for me.
The book provides a comprehensive perspective of poverty causes and solutions around the world. Heavy on the economics, of course
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because it is written by an economist. Despairing and yet hopeful. Poverty can be ended. We currently have all the resources necessary; we just have to use them properly. Show Less
LibraryThing member dele2451
US economist proposes specific spending plans to lift the world's poorest 20% out of extreme poverty in 10 years while simultaneously improving US national security.
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Sachs has a few good, very basic ideas. Mostly what I got from this book was that he agrees with me that paying so little (~0.2% of our GNP) in foreign aid, and tying it to so many requirements and paperwork, is false economy. Unfortunately, it's a very dull book. Most of it is spent detailing
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every little talk and piece of advice he's given, and naming every important or famous person he's ever met. What little conceptual work is tainted by A)his seething hatred for communism and B)a complete lack of sources. He doesn't cite a damn thing, his stats have no error bars or confidence intervals or anything of the sort, and he's so vicious about communism that I just didn't feel like I could rely on anything he said. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Lionel Gelber Prize (Shortlist — 2006)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2005
Physical description
8.39 inches
ISBN
0143036580 / 9780143036586