[thomassmith65]

Jeffrey Sachs is my favorite public intellectual these days.

He has known a lot of powerful people, so when he discusses world events, he doesn't need to talk out of his behind. He's a serious enough scholar that there's substance behind his views.

He's not particularly iconoclastic. His opinions are mildly progressive, nothing outlandish.

What I value about him is that he's relentlessly reasonable, and that's hard to find online.