Blog Action Day: oh yeah, I signed up for this

Today, bloggers are harnessing the power of the web (or something like that) to foster a massive conversation on poverty. Thus... Blog Action Day. Last year was about the environment, and this year they are taking on an equally weighty topic.

I could probably have a lot to say. I could ponder about how John Edwards did so much to bring the issue of poverty out of the shadows during his campaign. Or I could make a pitch for the awesome microfinance site Kiva (here's my lender page.)

Instead, I'm going to revisit an old post from 2005 where I discussed economist Jeffrey Sachs' book The End of Poverty. Here's some of what I said:

I am heartened by the fact that Sachs sees the impoverished as people, not just numbers. And that he believes in the free market, but sees a role for governments and institutions in breaking the cycle of poverty. And I hope that he is going to do what he says, provide a step-by-step plan to ending poverty. (It will be interesting to see how "liberal" and humanitarian this is, and also how well it meshes with last week's G8 discussions. I know he believes in debt relief.)

Oh, I forgot. Foreword by Bono. He's kind of a funny writer. But he is lavish in his praise for Sachs, and credits him for providing the kinds of insight and knowledge that have made the rock star a credible speaker for third world debt reduction.