Jeffrey D. Sachs's Blog, page 53

John F. Kennedy’s ‘Act of Greatness’

The spot where the Soviet Union blew up its first atomic bomb is an expansive, gently rolling part of the steppe in northeastern Kazakhstan. Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union conducted more than 450 nuclear tests, over 100 of which were atmospheric, meaning the device was detonated on the ground or in the air. [...]

What we can learn from JFK’s leadership

We celebrate John F. Kennedy a half-century after his death for the confidence he gave us in meeting great challenges.  “Our problems are man-made; therefore, they can be solved by man,” he told us.  And we believed him.  At a moment when the U.S. government seems unable even to launch a website, we recall Kennedy’s [...]

Why We Need a New Macroeconomics

Since the 2008 financial crash, our country has been reeling without getting its economic policy right. What we needed then, and need now, is a new kind of macroeconomics; one that aims for investment-led growth, not consumption-led growth. But investment-led growth can’t be achieved by a temporary stimulus. It requires a very different kind of [...]

ICT and transforming education

A few more storms like Typhoon Haiyan may finally make our leaders act on climate change

By some early measures, Typhoon Haiyan — which ripped through the Philippines and claimed thousands of lives — is the strongest storm on recordto make landfall. But mega-storms like Haiyan and Hurricane Sandy are just one of the many warnings that we are flying toward climate disaster. In the past couple of years, the United [...]

We risk more Haiyans if we ignore climate change

Policy makers are not keeping up with events. Just as the world’s climate-change negotiators met in Warsaw, Typhoon Haiyan was hitting the Philippines. And as they started their talks – aimed at keeping global temperature increases below 2C – the International Energy Agency issued a new “reference scenario” implying a rise of 3.6C. Calamity is [...]

Global Grand Challenges Summit 2013

The Three Reasons Countries Get Rich: Location, Location and Location

It’s an age-old question: why are some countries richer than others? And why are some countries still mired in poverty while the United States and Europe struggle with “first-world problems”? For decades, economists have pointed to the impact of political institutions and culture on countries’ economic development. Farther down the development road, the choices our [...]

A Cure for Africa’s Common Cold

Over the long course of human history, no infectious disease killed more people than malaria. Called the “mother of fevers” by the ancient Chinese, malaria has plagued us since we evolved from apes and it once affected the better part of the globe. By the turn of the twentieth century, thanks to a combination of [...]

Winning the Fight Against Killer Diseases

MAPUTO – One of the greatest successes in development aid in the past decade has been the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The Global Fund has saved millions of lives and helped countries around the world beat back three epidemic diseases. Now it is appealing to the world’s governments and the private [...]