A critique of Jeffrey D. Sachs's The end of poverty

Int J Health Serv. 2006;36(1):197-203. doi: 10.2190/DR5B-3X5T-8AMX-5F3G.

Abstract

Jeffrey Sachs's The End of Poverty is a manifesto and how-to guide on ending extreme poverty around the world; it promotes the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. Sachs achieved fame with his policy package for the "stabilization" of Bolivia (which did nothing to relieve Bolivia's poverty), and became advisor to the Yeltsin government in Russia and to Poland, Slovenia, and Estonia as they began their transitions to capitalism (the last three mixed successes; Russia a thorough disaster). Sachs later became more prominent as a critic of development orthodoxy, and was economic advisor to the Jubilee 2000 movement. The End of Poverty is full of sharp critiques of Western imperialism, but his views on the rest of the development business are more conventional.

MeSH terms

  • Bolivia
  • Capitalism*
  • Consultants*
  • Developing Countries / economics*
  • Europe, Eastern
  • Global Health*
  • Humans
  • International Agencies*
  • Politics*
  • Poverty / prevention & control*
  • Poverty / trends
  • Privatization / economics
  • Public Policy*
  • Russia
  • Social Justice
  • Socialism / economics
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • United States