Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey D Sachs - Book Report/Review Example

? THE END OF POVERTY: ECONOMIC POSSIBILITIES FOR OUR TIME Insert Affiliation A book review for the End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey D. Sachs The book is partly an autobiography that documents consulting done by Sachs in countries facing economic crises. It depicts the passionate attachment that the author has on a program he believes would eliminate extreme poverty from the world. The book examines Sachs’ crisis consulting in many countries around the globe that started in mid 1980s in Bolivia, then he worked with Poland in the late 1980s, Russia in the early 1990s and then with other countless countries. The economic experience that Sachs acquired on the ground in fighting poverty led to his occasional confrontations with the International Monetary Fund whose policies on poverty eradication he considered unsuitable for the problems they were intended to solve (Cabral, 2006). The main focus of the book however, is on the time Sachs spent in the sub-Saharan Africa where he encountered extreme poverty, disease and malnutrition on a scale that he had never seen previously and was appalled by the little concern shown by the international community in helping Africans get out of the state of poverty and destitution. In the last third of the book, Sachs makes a practical case of well funded and globally coordinated program that targets improvement in infrastructure, education and health in order to eliminate all cases of extreme poverty from the world by the year 2025. The program is a logical projection from the Millennium Development Goals, in which the United Nations intended to reduce extreme poverty by half come the year 2015. The proposal by Sachs is ambitious, bold and worthy. However, according to Cooper (2006), the book pays little attention to the obstacles that have been brought by civil disorder and which plague most of the poor countries in the world and especially in the African continent. The end of Poverty is a powerful, innovative and visionary book on ending extreme poverty in the world. The book is written in such a way that it approaches life with an egalitarian attitude that only focuses on the lowest rung in the development agenda. It is therefore misleading to consider the book as fostering the theme of social equality as claimed by Bono in the forward to the book. Of course, eradication of extreme poverty can be quite an accomplishment and relatively equalizing if considered against the basic right to life. However, with millions of people dying all over the world because of poverty, egalitarianism depicted as a global responsibility in the book only stops at the lowest rung of human development. Sachs (2005) insists in the book that markets are very important in driving development but only after the poor have been liberated from extreme poverty and empowered with basic knowledge and infrastructure. He then implies categorically that the intention is not to actually eliminate all poverty, equalize the income, or close the existing gap between the rich and the poor, but to end extreme poverty that has been preventing the poor to even fend for themselves or interact with the wider society. Sachs (2005) gives the book an approach of strong affiliation to benevolent neo-liberalism and promotes empowerment for all by advocating, with vengeance, for the need for development aid by the rich nations to the poor countries of sub-Saharan Africa. In order to place the subject matter of the book in appropriate context, the book traces the history of modern development as having begun with the European efforts towards civilizing their colonies. After civilization, the colonies set out to develop themselves basing their efforts on the European experience as the model. He then reviews the geopolitical segmentation that resulted in the western capitalists of the first world, the communist soviets of the second world and the previous poor European colonies whose inhabitants are non-Europeans forming the third world. He later traces the underdevelopment concept of the modern era from back in 1949 when the sphere of humanity was divided into underdeveloped and developed regions following a suggestion by President Truman, which led to a kind of linear universal development path for the world. Sachs (2005) traces how the extremely poor were neglected by their own governments and the international community and examines the failed attempt to empower the poor countries using the ‘one size fits all’ approaches such as the structural adjustment programs and the subsequent poverty eradication programs that would replace the former after they failed to achieve the intended results. Sachs (2005) gives a detailed explanation of why the programs have been failing and why even the current programs are likely to go on the same path of failure. He introduces a new method called clinical economics which takes its lessons from modern medicine in the developing the underlying science and systemizing clinical practice in economics. Sachs’ concept of clinical economics is based on the premise that each of the failed economies is unique and whatever ails it must be diagnosed carefully before a suitable prescription is administered. The book details a helpful checklist for proper diagnosis and for formulating a most suitable economic solution (Hamilton, 2005). Sachs (2005) explains that he developed his theory of economics after he observed his wife in pediatrics’ clinical practice. His argument is that just like a human body, only a keen economic doctor that seeks to understand the complex workings of a particular economic situation can solve its problems successfully. Of course, there is no much resemblance between economies and bodies, not even the complexity in both. An appropriate medical analogy would have been a dysfunctional hospital under the care of a drug company that perpetuates illness with commercial interest of curing it. However, Sachs approach is the most appropriate when being considered in the context of his book. Compared to neoclassical economics, Sachs’ clinical economics goes a little further. Just like his economist colleagues in the International Monetary Fund, Sachs presents a solution whose success he believes lies in the markets. Despite all the written encomiums by naive but well meaning enthusiasts accusing him of tempering with his economic theory by introducing a real world experience, Sachs’ clinical economics theory is well rooted in the training he received in economics. Generally, graduate schools in the United States teach the concept of economics where the free market reigns. This is not a mere analytical framework, but a worldview that every graduate of economics internalizes throughout his or her training (Reese, 2009). At one point in the book, Sachs (2005) recounts a case in the nineteenth century where West Indies and East Indies opened trade with the western powers but could not benefit at all. This was due to mal-distribution of gains realized from the trade, not because of the trade itself, but due to the advantage in military power that Europe wielded over natives in the Indies. The book cites the case as depicting the problems with trade, privatization, and foreign investment. It further claims that theorems formulated in textbooks are in most cases turned into reality by individuals propagating personal interest. A similar analysis could be suitable in explaining the mal-distribution of trade benefits from the recent Australian-US agreement on free trade, and indeed for the WTO managed world system of trade. Sachs (2005) explains the fact that somehow, the poor countries are always on the disadvantageous end, whether one considers the destruction of local drug firms by multinational drug companies who make cheap drugs or the producers of food from the third world countries who are unable to sell in the lucrative markets in the western countries or corrupt elites in the poor countries themselves skimming for profits at the expense of their fellow poor countrymen. In the book, Sachs (2005) expounds on how his clinical economics theory has been applied around the world, and expresses satisfaction with the way he successfully used the theory in Poland and consequently managed to raise a billion dollar fund within a week for the stabilization of the polish economy. However, Sachs (2005) is quick to deny responsibility whenever things go wrong like it happened in Russia. After accepting ‘shock therapy’ from Sachs, Russia experienced an economic disaster. The Russian economy deteriorated in early 1990s leading to mass poverty, a sharp increase in death rates and rampant destitution. Even though Sachs (2005) claims in his book that he had severed links with Russia during the time privatization process was going on, and the nation’s major productive assets were taken over by crooks, leading to a disastrous economic and social situations that Russia has since been grappling with. Sachs (2005) lauds the movement against globalization as well-meaning but absolves it for its attack on global corporations. He insists the fault does not come from them but from economists who have failed in providing appropriate guidelines. The apex of the dangerous naivety depicted herein is best seen in his assertion that global warming and climate change cannot be attributed to oil companies but to the governments which are failing in their job (Hamilton, 2005). Sachs, like most people, advocates for a system of capitalism that is humane except that he is among those advocating for free market that have been attacking institutions that are best suited to oversee capitalism adopt a more humane approach. The wife, from whom Sachs took his economic analogy, undoubtedly has an indemnity insurance cover to take care of any mistakes in the execution of her medical duties, something that he lacked (Reese, 2009). As the reader flips through the book where Sachs exploits are recounted, one cannot help to form an impression that Sachs is convinced that he has the skills and experience to offer messianic solutions to the problem of poverty anywhere in the world. Even though no doctor, even the most brilliant, can assume he or she has the cure for all ills, Sachs’ approach is promising and flexible enough to be adapted for different poverty situations. The underlying message in Sachs book is that it is time for his solutions to be used, given the failure of most of the previous prescriptions for poverty eradication. References Cabral, L. (2006). The Millennium Villages Project: a new approach to ending rural poverty in Africa? London: Overseas Development Institute Cooper, R. N. (2006). Foreign Affairs: Economic, Social and Environmental. Philadelphia: The University of Pennslavania Hamilton, C. (2005). A review of the End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. Melbourne: The Australian Institute Reese, R. (2009). Book Review, the End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey D. Sachs. Lancaster: World Mission Associates Sachs, J. D. (2005). The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin Press Read More