Economist Jeffrey Sachs has a new book, "The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity," and the heart of it is a single argument: all of the nation’s current economic, political and productive woes share a similar root cause: that America’s financial and political leaders are failing to take the moral steps necessary to restrain a society of markets, and policies run amok, and that we need to become a "mindful society."

In 1984 famine-ravaged Ethiopia caught the attention of western music stars who garnered an outpouring of western aid and goodwill with fundraisers like "USA for Africa." Twenty-five years later, Ethiopia is again on the brink of disaster. A prolonged drought is devastating harvests and grazing land across swathes of East Africa. On Thursday Ethiopia’s government told aid donors it needs emergency food supplies for more than 6 million people. We talk to the BBC's Will Ross from Kenya, where the drought is also threatening lives and livelihoods, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Since the financial crisis hit, Americans have watched the stock market and their 401(k)’s plummet. They've stood by, trying not to panic, while Washington leaders craft a financial rescue. But can individual Americans do anything to pitch in and help save the economy? The Takeaway takes a question from listener Viki Rovere and talks to economist Jeffrey Sachs.