The End of Poverty

Economic Possibilities for Our Time

By: Jeffrey Sachs

Narrated by: Malcolm Hilgartner

"Book and man are brilliant, passionate, optimistic and impatient . . . Outstanding."—The Economist

The landmark exploration of economic prosperity and how the world can escape from extreme poverty for the world's poorest citizens, from one of the world's most renowned economists

Hailed by Time as one of the world's hundred most influential people, Jeffrey D. Sachs is renowned for his work around the globe advising economies in crisis. Now a classic of its genre, The End of Poverty distills more than 30 years of experience to offer a uniquely informed vision of the steps that can transform impoverished countries into prosperous ones. Marrying vivid storytelling with rigorous analysis, Sachs lays out a clear conceptual map of the world economy. Explaining his own work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, he offers an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the world's poorest countries.

Ten years after its initial publication, The End of Poverty remains an indispensible and influential work. In this 10th anniversary edition, Sachs presents an extensive new foreword assessing the progress of the past decade, the work that remains to be done, and how each of us can help. He also looks ahead across the next 15 years to 2030, the United Nations' target date for ending extreme poverty, offering new insights and recommendations.

©2006 Jeffrey Sachs (P)2008 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Jeffrey Sachs is that rare phenomenon: an academic economist famous for his theories about why some countries are poor and others rich, and also famous for his successful practical work in helping poor countries become richer. In this long-awaited, fascinating, clearly and movingly written book, he distills his experience to propose answers to the hard choices now facing the world."—Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

"If there is any one work to put extreme poverty back onto the global agenda, this is it."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Paul Wolfowitz should read Jeffrey Sachs’s compelling new book."—Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek

I struggled.

I struggled to finish this book. It was enlightening and eye opening subject but monotone narrator. The author has a wealth of knowledge sks experience that make it difficult to find counterarguments.

Still worth the read

Even though this book is ten years old, it still offers valuable insight into poverty reduction. The most interesting chapters are the example chapters, where Sachs talks about his experience in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, China, and India looking at and helping with poverty reduction. In the last few chapters he tries to outline a blueprint for how the world can end extreme poverty. There are a couple of major problems with his approach.
First, he has what seems an almost naive trust in the forces of the market. He lets off the corporate world far too lightly -- focusing on government and individuals, without really taking to task the greedy corporations that are raping the world. He even would trust them with roles in Africa to bring about justice. Huh?
Second, everything is about the economy. While I recognize that poverty is a material issue, it is also a moral, spiritual, and community issue. Sachs is all about helping people get onto the economic ladder, but doesn't consider the social damage that might be doing in the process.
I was fascinated by his back and forth between Adam Smith and the Friedman school on one hand and Keynes on the other. In some sense, this suggests that Sachs is walking an appropriate balance.
The book still stands up. Even though no one wants to hear about the millennium development goals anymore (since we missed them by 2015) the goals are still worthwhile objectives. It's just really too bad that the US is moving more militaristic and more narrow-minded and selfish even than it was during the GW Bush era in which the book was written.

Interesting Read

I learned so much about the causes of poverty and that they are not what I thought they were.
List after list describes causes and cures in the book. Everyone should read or hear this book so that we can be a more unified world and country with better humanitarian goals.

Stunning facts and perspectives

This book is well read and research in depth - with lots of personal "in the field" experience from the author.

He works through the situations that the extreme poor are facing every day. He does this in a way that puts any troubles or complaints you might have in a whole new light. Even if you disagree with his conclusions you will have new insight into the problem.

I think that he also does a really good job of dissecting why the current operations have not solved the problem and laying out a well organized and actionable plan forward. Some of his solutions may be a little more difficult because they require responding to the unique aspects of each situation - but I think that is also why they stand the best chance of working. It is true that his proposals might not cure 100% of the problem - but they will get a lot closer than what is being done currently. And, whatever plan we use to solve this problem, it is hard to argue with the conclusion that we should be putting forth an effort to eliminate the problem instead of providing band-aids when disasters strike.

This writer believes

The narration was great. The facts numerous and many verified beyond a doubt, but I cannot say I understood exactly what the solution ultimately is. So as a person listens there are many arguments you might come up with. Great mental gymnastics.

A Call for Africa

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

An acceptable book that often moves back and forth from Economics to a call to pressure those in power to increase funding for the third world, but don't be fooled, the latter is very much the point of the book.

If you are a fan of Noam Chomsky you'll love this book, if you are a fan of Economics, but have a socially conscious perspective then read Muhammad Yunus instead.

The foreword is by Bono, so while you may be in the deep end, you certainly know which pool you are jumping into.

What didn’t you like about Malcolm Hilgartner’s performance?

There are some editing mistakes which is why I gave such a low score for performance, but otherwise the book is fine.

great book

Just a terrific book about the challenges of poverty across the globe. Offers insightful analysis and realistic solutions. Be warned however, that other authors have recently dismissed Sach's prescription of pouring money into the problem, and presented some alternatives.

A Good Book on a Tough Topic

A good book on a tough topic, I think Professor Sachs is great and I really enjoyed his online class... The Age of Sustainable Development. The class goes into a lot more depth, but this is a really good overview. I personally believe there is more room for public-private solutions, rather than his prescribed public assistance, but it is important that we tend to these issues now and however we can.