This timely work by Sachs has more than just advice for how to end poverty in our lifetimes. It contains inside its pages a well-designed plan. Jeffrey Sachs has been giving economic advice for more than twenty years in many underdeveloped countries around the globe. During this time he has developed a five-point plan that seeks to diagnose the economic problems in each country, not just continuing the use of the old standards. Teachings that have been in place since the turn of the century are not always applicable in today’s situations. Sachs found that out early on and has been expanding on his findings ever since.

His plan is laid out in easy-to-understand language, and he is constantly testing and revising it as the country and the needs of the planet as a whole change. He views on being an advising economist to a country in trouble are similar to being the diagnostic physician. He advises that you don’t just look for quick stability, but that you look at all of the factors underlying the problem of how and why the country is underdeveloped in the first place. He suggests taking the pulse of the country to find out its overall health and then addressing all of the symptoms found during the examination.

This is not an everyday light read, but it is an important read and a much-needed tool kit for the planet’s poverty stricken. It is easy for a man to say that they can end poverty in a day but not so easy to back up. Sachs backs up his claim and more with his insightfulness into the true hazards and pitfalls of being poor. His book should be read by all graduating economists, bankers, social workers, human aid workers, even by the average citizen who wants to truly help end the harsh conditions in which so many are forced to live. If the reader belongs to an organization that deals with giving aid to a nation in distress, read this book and then pass it along to your colleagues. If traveling, pack it in your suitcase for a read on the airplane ride there so that upon arrival you can begin taking the steps so vitally needed to end the starvation and death in our impoverished countries. Jeffrey Sachs’ plan is so simple, it’s brilliant.