Jeffrey D. Sachs (1954–)

Jefferey Sachs joined the Economics Faculty at Harvard on receiving his PhD from the same institution in 1980, becoming in 1983 at the age of 28 one of the youngest full professors in the University’s history. Sach’s career has combined analysis and advocacy in service of the great economic challenges of the day: global stagflation and the oil price shocks of the 1970s; the developing country crises of the 1980s and 1990s; the transition from communism; and efforts to end global poverty. Substantively, he has persistently underscored the benefits of globalisation, while fiercely pursing the policies required to make it work, including adequate resource transfers. Methodologically, Sachs has become increasingly interdisciplinary, emphasising the mix of economic, historical, geographical, and epidemiological factors that have kept the poorest countries in a poverty trap, at the same time broadening his vision of development to encompass the many components of sustainability and human happiness.