Jeffrey Sachs' Job Application

Jeffrey Sachs has learned nothing about economic development from all his travels and studies. The world doesn't have to be poor. Africa has fertile lands, an abundance of natural resources, smart people - there is no reason for it be poor. Billions of people - whole nations - have moved from utter poverty and hunger to adequate housing, stable food supplies and economic opportunity in the span of 25 years. What it takes is property rights, rule of law, free markets, and stable institutions to guarantee it. Jeffrey Sachs has it all wrong. He believes that development has to be planned top down and funded from everyone else's pocket. What's worse, he would use the presidency of the World Bank as his bully pulpit drowning out more sensible voices. Instead of a fresh wind in international development, Jeffrey Sachs would mean more of the same - more big projects, more money wasted, more moral lectures.