Jeffrey Sachs…voice of hope or blind idealism?

So, this week heard Jeffrey Sachs ‘live’ for the first time, at the 240th meeting of Trinity College’s Historical Society. As expected at such an august event, there was much formality, and not a few comic moments (I kept being reminded of the food hall in Harry Potter). Most of the 400 or so of us were there to hear Jeffrey Sachs however, here in Dublin for some high level government meetings, and also this gig at which he was to receive an award – the Historical Society’s Medal for Outstanding Public Discourse.

His presentation – around 25 minutes – was standard Sachs. World is changing; never been like this before; we have the capabilities to end poverty AND prevent the worst outcomes of climate change; economics can be a powerful tool.

What struck me during his talk was not just his optimism – though that was refreshing – but constant reference to future times. With climate change for example, he admitted at least 3 times that “we’ve messed up”. The next generation (so, most of the audience…not me though – Sachs is only four years my senior, ha ha) will reap the benefits or suffer the catastrophe of whatever decisions are made by governments NOW.

He did crack one joke – borrowed from the great JK Galbraith, an economist perhaps even more liberal than Sachs – that economists are put on this earth to make astrologers look good. Sachs is known for his idealism, rubbing shoulders with rock stars and the shakers and movers of our world (and also promoting structural adjustment in post-Soviet eastern Europe – less of a success, according to some). But I suppose at least someone is saying this stuff; he’s pretty sure we have the capacity to change, save our species from its headlong rush towards self destruction, and pull billions of people out of poverty at the same time.

Voice of hope or just blind idealism? You decide. I’ll be long gone before the skies darken and seas swamp our major cities. Sorry about the mess we left.