My questions in ##econometrics earlier today that went unanswered, hoping someone here can help me.

I was going to link to today’s episode of Global Public Square, but since it ended just a minute ago, I’ll be quoting the transcript.

Remember, Sachs was the one who advocated radical privatization and “shock therapy” in the 1980s. He has advised international banking institutions and governments in favor of highly deregulated free markets.

Yet recently, he came out in support of Occupy Wall Street.

Today, on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, he was attacked by Niall Ferguson, who used Sachs’ own past policies as ammunition:

SACHS: I’m talking about investment in education. I’m talking about investment in job skills. I’m talking about investment in science and technology. Talking about investment in 21st century infrastructure. And we’ve been for 30 years demonizing government. We’ve been demonizing taxation. We have neglected to understand that a proper economy runs on two pillars, a market and government. And until we come back to that basic level of understanding that we need a mixed economy, not just a market economy, we’ll continue to fail.

ZAKARIA: Final thought on -

FERGUSON: Well, I’m sure the Chinese are listening to this debate with glee thinking, well, there are still academics in the west who think that the route to salvation is to expound the role of the state because that’s certainly not what is happening in China. It is not what is happening in India. It is not what is happening in Brazil. The most dynamic economies in the world today are the ones which are promoting market reforms and reining in the rule of the state which in those countries grew hypertrophically (ph) in the 20th century and that is a big problem in Jeff Sachs’ argument.

SACHS: Thank you for the lecture. But the catching up phenomenon is quite different from the problems that the United States or other high income societies face right now, and for us -

FERGUSON: The problem is the falling behind phenomenon.

SACHS: — and for us to be able to have high prosperity at the living standards we want, we need training, we need education. We need infrastructure. We need governments that can pay for that.

FERGUSON: But you forgot and we need higher progressive taxation on the private sector, because that’s the most important part –

SACHS: And we need the rich to pay their way, absolutely. Because they’ve run away with the prize. And they’ve run away with the -

FERGUSON: There’s a simplification.

ZAKARIA: Unfortunately -

SACHS: Part of the solution, stop calling it just one thing, Niall.

ZAKARIA: All right. I don’t think – I think this is one of the rare cases where I was superfluous as a moderator. Niall – Jeff Sachs, Niall Ferguson, thank you very much.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

I’ll link to the video if it is online before this post goes underwater.