Jeffrey Sachs-The Strange Case of Dr Shock and Mr Aid (book review)
As the recent long interview of Jeffrey Sachs by Tyler Cowen confirmed, Sachs remains one of the most visible, discussed and engaging thinkers of international development. Japhy Wilson’s book Jeffrey Sachs-The Strange Case of Dr Shock and Mr Aid is a critical, thorough and detailed review of Sachs’s life and work that extends beyond dismissive blogs posts or snarky Twitter conversations. Starting with his appearance at an ‘Occupy Wall Street’ event, Wilson outlines the purpose of his book: why was Jeffrey Sachs now railing against neoliberalism, given that had been one of its chief architects and most prominent apologists? (…) It just doesn’t make sense . This is the conundrum that this book explores. (p.4) As paradoxical as it may sound, the book’s biggest strength is that it ultimately fails to deliver on exploring said conundrum. While Wilson tries hard to stick to Sachs’s professional and academic career, projects and shifts in thinking he rightly argues ‘that neoliberalis