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Jeffrey Sachs: The Sweet...

Jeffrey Sachs has done many, many good things in his life.
First off, he got into Harvard. Then, in 1976, he graduated summa cum laude. Then, in 1980, he received a doctorate in economics from the same institution. The same year he earned his doctorate, he became a professor, again at the only school in the world whose name rhymes with “Shmarvard.” By 1983 he had become a full professor, making him the youngest person to receive tenure in Harvard’s history. He’s a very smart guy.
But, all this served to prepare him for the much more important work he would soon do. Beginning in 1985, Sachs played a crucial role in forming economic policy for a variety of countries around the world. With the thawing of the Cold War, many formerly communist countries faced the challenge of how to move their economies toward capitalism without destroying them in the process. Sometimes – as occurred with Poland – Sach’s advice helped work near miracles. Other times – as occurred with Russia – it didn’t. Regardless of the consequences, Sachs’s celebrity continued to rise.
Now closely tied with the UN and Kofi Annan, he played a key role in the development of the “Millennium Declaration,” which outlines several goals and targets for global economic development. Lately, he has emerged as a spokesperson for African aid and debt relief, arguing that, despite the less-than-not-evil character of many of the continents regimes, foreign assistance can play a crucial role in saving millions of lives. To promote awareness of the reality of global poverty and ways to address it, he recently released a book with the felicitous title “The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.” It was excerpted in Time magazine, (which, by the way, named him one of the 100 most influential leaders in the world) where it ran as the cover story. Bono, of U2 fame, wrote the book’s quasi-comprehensible introduction.
By the way, he also teaches at Columbia. And it’s not because he confused it with Colombia. In 2002, after intensive lobbying and the offer of what is rumored to be a very lucrative contract, Sachs agreed to leave Harvard to head Columbia’s Earth Institute. There, Sachs has helped lead the institute in developing interdisciplinary approaches to the type of global problems that attracted him in his economic work. Columbia’s then president, George Rupp, averred that Sachs was “one of the world’s most important international economists.” Lee Bollinger called him “a major public intellectual, in the best sense.” Then provost Jonathan Cole may have won the coveted award for most extravagant sucking up to someone you’ve just hired in the history of the world when he declared: “[Sachs] may be the ideal type of 21st century professor.”

posted by Tim @ 10:06 PM