The Global Economy in Turbulent Times

CHAPTER 38 Sachs and Krugman on the Global Crisis¹

I met up with two old friends during the past month.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs at Columbia University was back in Kuala Lumpur after a long absence as orator of the Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong Memorial Public Lecture at University of Malaya on October 23. Besides being an old friend—he was my freshie during our PhD studies at Harvard in the late 1970s—Jeff is a fantastic and outstanding economist. Prior to moving to New York, Jeff spent over 20 years at Harvard University (where he was appointed full professor of economics at 25, the youngest ever), most recently as director of the Centre for International Development and Galen Stone Professor of International Trade. At Columbia, Jeff serves as director of the Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and professor of Health Policy and Management.

He is special adviser to United Nations Secretary General on the Millennium Development Goals, having first held that position under his predecessor. He is cofounder of Millennium Promise Alliance, and a director of the Millennium Villages Project. He authored three New York Times bestsellers. Jeff is widely considered as the world’s leading expert on economic development and its fight against poverty. He was twice named among Time’s 100 most influential world leaders and was called by the New York Times probably the most important economist in the world, and by Time the world’s best-known economist. A recent survey by ...