The global challenges of poverty, environmental degradation, and climate change, can seem overwhelming – even downright depressing – when faced squarely. The problems are big, and achieving international cooperation to do anything about them can seem a forlorn hope faced with a global political culture of distrust and myopic self-interest.
So it is encouraging to read a book that faces most of the big issues head-on and retains a persuasive optimism about the possibilities for a positive future. In Commonwealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, economist Jeffrey Sachs does just that – and goes on to suggest a programme to deal with some of our pressing global problems.