The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time

TLDR: The End of Poverty: Economic possibilities for our time as discussed by the authors is a book review of the book written by Jeffrey Sacks (2005), an American renounced economist and director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University.

Abstract: This paper is a book review of the book ‘The End of Poverty: Economic possibilities for our time’ written by Nobel Laureate Jeffrey Sacks (2005), an American renounced economist and director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University. In the book, Sachs talks about global poverty issues and their miseries in poor countries. Moreover, he provides statistics with examples of the many problems related to economic, educational, population, cultural, health and environmental issues. He narrates in detail the poverty of Malawi, Bangladesh, Kenya, India and Bolivia. The book compares and contrasts the economic histories of China, Russia and India. The book also narrates the current Chinese and Indian economic booms in the global context. The book contains economic histories of many countries; it has many suggestions for economic policy reforms and cooperation among rich and poor countries. It contains suggestions for improving donor funding plans, and strategies for ending poverty in poor countries. Jeffrey Sachs describes World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) activities and their wrong, stereotypical funding policies and strategies for different countries, particularly those in Africa. He identifies information technology (IT) flow, different technological innovations, technological change and its development (invention of the steam engine, use of coal, invention of the rail engine and railway, electrification of industry) and their contributions to world development. Poor countries are using less IT and technology; however. as a result, they get fewer benefits from them than rich countries. Hence there are needs for use of more IT in poor countries. The book suggests simultaneous trade investments in and aid to poor countries for their socio-economic development, in addition to technology and energy support to them. Moreover, at the end of the book, Jeffrey Sachs provides nine tips / actions / steps for ending poverty around the world: 1) adopt a plan of action; 2) raise the voice of the poor; 3) redeem the role of the United States in the World; 4) rescue the IMF and the World Bank (they have been misused as creditors; 5) run agencies, rather than international institutions, that represent all of the 182 member governments; 6) strengthen the United Nations; 7) harness global science; 8) promote sustainable development; 9) make a personal commitment. Author: Visiting Professor, Chittagong University, Bangladesh. Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Canada. Associate Professor, Noble International University, USA. However, to fulfill Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is urgently necessary that rich countries donate the 0.7% Gross National per Capita (GNP) to poor countries that they committed to at the 1949 and other UN Conventions. Poverty exists in both poor and rich countries; therefore, it is necessary to challenge globalization with acts for proglobalization (good things) and initiate green social economic projects and services in rich as well as poor countries for the sake of ending their poverty.