This New York Times Bestseller offers economic possibilities for ending extreme poverty in our lifetime and includes a forward by Bono, who has worked tirelessly for this same goal. While written by an economist, it is surprisingly entertaining, including a historical look at the spread of economic prosperity and a discussion of why some countries fail to thrive.

Sachs focuses only on extreme poverty – the poverty that plagues some one billion people around the world – poverty that leads its victims to truly fight for survival each and every day. It does not focus on the “poor” – those that live above mere subsistence and who struggle to make ends meet. This is a story about developing countries – areas largely ignored by the rich world – where our past efforts have been “based on a simplistic, even simpleminded, view of the challenge of poverty. The rich countries told the poor countries ‘poverty is your own fault. Be like us (or what we imagine ourselves to be – free market oriented, entrepre­neurial, fiscally responsible) and you too, can enjoy the riches of private-sector-led econom­ic development.’” While Sachs correctly notes that the ‘rich’ countries did very little different in the beginning than the others – and that their ‘riches’ are as much a result of geographical advantages such as access to ports, limited extremes in weather, and other considerations, Sachs apparent anger at the rich countries does little to encourage individual reader assis­tance. A term used in the book “a rising tide lifts all boats” reminds us that this illusion does not hold if the community in danger lives at the top of a mountain and has no boat.

Sachs argues persuasively against many of these types of illusions – including the thought that global market forces alone can solve the crises (though Sachs does appear to support globalization). Though it is indeed incredibly frustrating to note that much of the widely lauded promises of funds from the U.S. and other countries has not come to fruition, it is interesting to note that nowhere in the book does Sachs encourage anyone except these countries to contribute. Indeed, he talks about how the government should provide some, households can provide some (though he later argues against this contribution), and that the rest constitutes a “financing gap that international donors would have to pay.” Who are these international donors? The only ones mentioned are those global organizations almost wholly supported by governments. What about contributions from the business world, or megachurches? Are missionary’s contributions limited to spreading salvation? Or could a megachurch adopt one village, and spread an economic revival?

One interesting idea found in the book is that of “village experts,” individuals within a village who “like the barefoot doctors of China, have enough formal training to address basic...needs at the village level.” Because it has thus far been unrealistic to simply expect a doc­tor to work in these villages, where there is no way to pay him or her, and no way to buy the supplies needed, Sachs suggests that “a literate community health worker, trained for one year, could be taught to prescribe antimalarial medicines, observe patients taking their daily anti-AIDS drugs, distribute and explain the use of antimalarial bed nets, give children medicine for helminthic (parasitic) infections, give immunizations, track the body weight and size of the community’s children, explain the use of oral rehydration solutions, and...keep track of all of this.” Sachs adds, “ideally, the community health worker would be a member of the community selected to be trained for this purpose, so that the problem of attracting a trained worker from outside the village would not arise.”

This same thought process, however, leads one to naturally consider other similar strategies through the support of the business world. For example, Sachs mentions in one discussion that his cell phone worked fine in one of the remote villages – and that many have access to limited electricity - could not cell phone companies donate one phone per village and train one person to be the “technical expert” so that the village would have a way to communicate with the outside world? Such business donations are not mentioned nor solicited in Sachs book, yet they seem a natural extension of his thoughts (if one ignores the strong suggestion throughout that government is the only solution). (Sachs does highlight one cell phone pro­gram later on that requires the villagers to pay for the phone, yet later still notes himself that even small fees are unobtainable by villages who do not even have enough to eat.)

While Sachs correctly states that some things must be addressed at the global level (and hence, through governments), including the debt crisis, global trade policy, science for de­velopment, and environmental stewardship, much of the other critical issues can be ad­dressed by businesses and individuals. The goals that have been set at a global level are the Millennium Development Goals. They include: 

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

While these goals are critical, Sachs correctly asserts that they are “only vague aspirations rather than operational targets.” Indeed, the lack of concrete plans to reach these goals seems to be the very reason for Sachs book. While Sachs does indeed create a plan, its reliance on governments that have always fallen short of such goals does not adequately consider other resources, nor does it convince the reader that anything short of government aid is the solution. Unless the reader is the government worker in charge of approving such budgets, the book falls short of encouraging specific action on the part of the reader. It does lead one to hope that the president and his advisors will read and absorb its importance – but what of the other readers? It is, however, a worthy look at a critical issue facing our society, and Sachs is uniquely qualified to write it – through his experience, he has become the expert on community development in developing countries. If one wishes to truly under­stand the global challenge that is extreme poverty, there is no better handbook, and Sachs is correct when he argues that future generations will look back and wonder – no matter when we solve the crises – why it took us so long.