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Nov 10, 2004

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." --Norman Vincent Peale

Curing Poverty

In 1985, Jeffrey Sachs helped Bolivian government recover from 25,000 percent inflation. A few year later, at 35, he rescued Poland securing his reputation as an economic savior. And now, he's turning his attention to Africa. Sachs believes that Africa, through no fault of its own, is trapped. The economist is calling for $45/person in foreign aid for the next 10 years. As an American, he notes: "My country spends $450 billion on its military and only $15 billion on development aid per year." Like a preacher rapt by his own evangelical zeal, Sachs is no longer fighting numbers with numbers, though. He has effectively bowed out of those debates, shedding his academic robes for a new cloth. He tells the Africans, "They need to hear from us that this is not wishful thinking, this is not money down the drain. They need to hear from us."