The CIHA Blog previously posted about Nina Monk‘s new book, The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty. A few months later, William Easterly, a professor of economics at New York University (and long-time Jeffrey Sachs critic), also reviewed the book, writing on Reason.com that “aid and development are two distinct topics that should each have their own separate debates.”
This review sparked a dust-up between Sachs and Easterly on Twitter (read summary here), which has culminated in dueling posts on ForeignPolicy.com. Sachs maintains his stance that “development aid, when properly designed and delivered, works, saving the lives of the poor and helping to promote economic growth,” while Easterly reiterates his position that aid cannot drive development – and then promotes his own book, which isn’t likely to be the last word in this debate.