Sachs, Jeffrey (1954–)

Jeffrey Sachs is a luminary of the economic development world, particularly following his publication of The End of Poverty—Economic Possibilities for our Time. No dry technical tome, through this book Sachs argues that, with the correct economic and development policies, extreme poverty can be eliminated within the next few decades. He emphasizes his belief that, contrary to much developmental economic orthodoxy, Africa is not a ‘failure’ economically due to poor leadership, but rather due to geographic isolation, a high infectious disease burden, and its tropical climate—a phenomenon he dubs ‘economic geography'.

Although Sachs is certainly not anti-free-market, he maintains that in some countries, the level of economic development is so low that market-based development will never succeed in lifting citizens out of poverty—in essence, these nations are caught in a “poverty trap”. In these areas, rather than hoping that private market economic development and foreign investment will cure poverty, Sachs advocates aid-based solutions that focus on preventing infectious diseases and promoting health as a means to promote development; canceling foreign debt and encouraging [Page 1509]sound macroeconomic policy on a national level; and concentrating on investments in education, environmental protection, and infrastructure as a way of promoting sustainable development. In particular, he states that developed-world governments should raise their annual foreign aid budgets to 0.7 percent of GNP, and that aid should be spent only on countries that promote good governance. While applauded by many, Sachs is not without detractors, especially those that protest his argument that Africa and other developing nations can only escape poverty via a massive increase in foreign aid.

Sachs first came to attention in the 1980s as a macroeconomic advisor to the Bolivian government, which was facing massive inflation. He also advised newly democratic governments in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland and Russia, as they moved toward a market economy.

Born in 1954, Sachs earned B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Harvard University. He taught at Harvard for over twenty years before moving to Columbia University in 2002 to become director of the Earth Institute, a think tank focusing on global sustainable development. He is also currently the director of the U.N. Millennium Project, which focuses on meeting the U.N. Millennium development goals of reducing extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by 2015.