International Economics, Economic Policies, International Trade, Commercial Law, Professional Finance & Investing, Economics & Politics, International Business, Diplomacy & International Relations, Foreign Economic Relations, Macroeconomics
Globalization and Its Discontents
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Joseph E. Stilgitz
Available on Bookshop
Write a review
Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
This powerful, unsettling book gives us a rare glimpse behind the closed doors of global financial institutions by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics.
When it was first published, this national bestseller quickly became a touchstone in the globalization debate. Renowned economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz had a ringside seat for most of the major economic events of the last decade, including stints as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist at the World Bank. Particularly concerned with the plight of the developing nations, he became increasingly disillusioned as he saw the International Monetary Fund and other major institutions put the interests of Wall Street and the financial community ahead of the poorer nations. Those seeking to understand why globalization has engendered the hostility of protesters in Seattle and Genoa will find the reasons here. While this book includes no simple formula on how to make globalization work, Stiglitz provides a reform agenda that will provoke debate for years to come. Rarely do we get such an insider's analysis of the major institutions of globalization as in this penetrating book. With a new foreword for this paperback edition. Those seeking to understand why globalization has engendered the hostility of protesters in Seattle and Genoa will find the reasons here. While this book includes no simple formula on how to make globalization work, Stiglitz provides a reform agenda that will provoke debate for years to come. Rarely do we get such an insider's analysis of the major institutions of globalization as in this penetrating book. With a new foreword for this paperback edition.
Synopsis
This powerful, unsettling book gives us a rare glimpse behind the closed doors of global financial institutions by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics.
James K. Galbraith
This book is everyone's guide to the misgovernment of globalization. Stiglitz explains it here in plain and compelling language.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Joseph E. Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Carter administration, provides a unique insider's look at the ins and outs of global economic policymaking. Stiglitz discusses the significant economic events of the past decade, giving the reader a fascinating new perspective on globalization and where it is headed.New York Times
Accessible, provocative and highly readable... Brings an insider's insights into the crises of the 1990s and beyond.— Alan CowellFinancial Times
A great tour of the complexities of economic policymaking. Getting a top economist to subject the US Treasury and the IMF to withering scrutiny... is good for the long-term health of the system.— William EasterlyForeign Affairs
“Entertaining, insightful, and well-written.... Makes a compelling case.”The Guardian [UK]
[Stiglitz] is not a global pessimist, but a realist—and instead of placing him in a neat box labeled 'important contribution to the debate,' we should listen to him urgently.— Will HuttonThe Village Voice
A war story from inside the halls of the White House and the World Bank, the confession of a powerful economist with a political conscience and a healthy degree of common sense.— Lenora TodaroSan Francisco Chronicle
A fresh, much-needed look at how these institutions-primarily the International Monetary Fund-affect policy... Stiglitz has done important work...— Anna LappeChristian Science Monitor
Development and economics are not about statistics. Rather, they are about lives and jobs. Stiglitz never forgets that...— Frank BuresThe New York Review of Books
[W]ill surely claim a large place on the public stage.— Benjamin M. FriedmanGeorge Scialabba - Boston Globe
“[An] urgently important new book.”Michael J. Mandel - BusinessWeek
“[Stiglitz's] rare mix of academic achievement and policy experience makes Globalization and Its Discontents worth reading.”George Soros
“Penetrating, insightful.... A seminal work that must be read.”Alan Cowell - New York Times
“Accessible, provocative and highly readable... Brings an insider's insights into the crises of the 1990s and beyond.”William Easterly - Financial Times
“A great tour of the complexities of economic policymaking. Getting a top economist to subject the US Treasury and the IMF to withering scrutiny... is good for the long-term health of the system.”Will Hutton - The Guardian [UK]
“[Stiglitz] is not a global pessimist, but a realist—and instead of placing him in a neat box labeled 'important contribution to the debate,' we should listen to him urgently.”Lenora Todaro - The Village Voice
“A war story from inside the halls of the White House and the World Bank, the confession of a powerful economist with a political conscience and a healthy degree of common sense.”Anna Lappé - San Francisco Chronicle
“A fresh, much-needed look at how these institutions-primarily the International Monetary Fund-affect policy... Stiglitz has done important work...”Frank Bures - Christian Science Monitor
“Development and economics are not about statistics. Rather, they are about lives and jobs. Stiglitz never forgets that...”Benjamin M. Friedman - The New York Review of Books
“[W]ill surely claim a large place on the public stage.”James K. Galbraith
“This book is everyone's guide to the misgovernment of globalization. Stiglitz explains it here in plain and compelling language.”Nicholas Stern
“He is one of the most important economists of modern times.”Juan Somavia
“Whatever your opinions, you will be engaged by Stiglitz's sharp insights. A must read.”Boston Globe
“[An] urgently important new book.”BusinessWeek
“[Stiglitz's] rare mix of academic achievement and policy experience makes Globalization and Its Discontents worth reading.”New York Times
“Accessible, provocative and highly readable... Brings an insider's insights into the crises of the 1990s and beyond.”Financial Times
“A great tour of the complexities of economic policymaking. Getting a top economist to subject the US Treasury and the IMF to withering scrutiny... is good for the long-term health of the system.”The Guardian [UK]
“[Stiglitz] is not a global pessimist, but a realist—and instead of placing him in a neat box labeled 'important contribution to the debate,' we should listen to him urgently.”The Village Voice
“A war story from inside the halls of the White House and the World Bank, the confession of a powerful economist with a political conscience and a healthy degree of common sense.”San Francisco Chronicle
“A fresh, much-needed look at how these institutions-primarily the International Monetary Fund-affect policy... Stiglitz has done important work...”Christian Science Monitor
“Development and economics are not about statistics. Rather, they are about lives and jobs. Stiglitz never forgets that...”The New York Review of Books
“[W]ill surely claim a large place on the public stage.”Boston Globe
[An] urgently important new book.— George ScialabbaBusinessWeek
[Stiglitz's] rare mix of academic achievement and policy experience makes Globalization and Its Discontents worth reading.— Michael J. MandelNicholas Stern
He is one of the most important economists of modern times.George Soros
A fascinating [and]... profound critique of global financial systems. Eminently readable. I could hardly put it down.Juan Somavia
Whatever your opinions, you will be engaged by Stiglitz's sharp insights. A must read.James K. Galbraith
This book is everyone's guide to the misgovernment of globalization. Stiglitz explains it here in plain and compelling language.Publishers Weekly
Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner and Columbia University economics professor, sees globalization's unrealized potential to eradicate poverty and promote economic growth. In recent years, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization have promoted world financial stability, prosperity and free trade, yet Stiglitz wonders why so many revile these organizations' programs to the point of rioting in the streets. Casting a dispassionately analytical eye at East Asia's and Russia's financial turmoil, he argues that the IMF imposed austere policies that only exacerbated each area's problems. When he finds a similar policy pattern for other countries in crisis, Stiglitz asks how a public institution can ignore growing evidence of a flawed policy and not take action or be held accountable. In answering his own question, Stiglitz blames the "market fundamentalism" that endorses the view that a "free" market solves all problems flawlessly. As Stiglitz authoritatively indicates, one-size-fits-all economic policies can damage rather than help countries with unique financial, governmental and social institutions. He calls for public institutions to reform and become more transparent and responsive to their constituents. Stiglitz shares inside information from cabinet meetings when he served on Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and from his years as chief economist at the World Bank, divulging debates in Washington's conference rooms, naming names and raising his eyebrows at those who refuse to question certain IMF policies' repeated shortcomings. This smart, provocative study contributes significantly to the ongoing globalization debate and provides a model of analytical rigor concerning the process of assisting countries facing the challenges of economic development and transformation. (June 10) Forecast: Stiglitz's impassioned, balanced and informed book is a must-read for all interested in understanding globalization. Professors, economists and students should respond to his author tour and national media interviews, making this a strong business seller. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
An insider's account of the ill-considered effort to make a free market of the Third World, an effort that, described here, favors the rich and robs the poor. The title's echo of Sigmund Freud is shrewd, if a little misleading, for whereas Freud's great Civilization and Its Discontents was an encompassing look at the neurosis-making qualities of Western life, Stiglitz's confines itself to the workings of but two policy-making and -effecting organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This he does very well. Intimately acquainted with their work-he served as an economic advisor to the Clinton administration and as the World Bank's chief economist and senior vice president-Stiglitz charges that both organizations have abandoned their original missions. "The IMF was supposed to limit itself to matters of macro-economics in dealing with a country . . . and the World Bank was supposed to be in charge of structural issues," he writes, but, with the advent of the free-market-worshipping Reagan administration, both took an activist, even imperial view that demanded that developing countries throw open their doors to capitalism. The results were often disastrous as wealth and resources flowed out of such countries and into the hands of the First World, Stiglitz writes, particularly in the case of newly democratic Russia, which, he notes sadly, "must treat what has happened as pillage of national assets, a theft for which the nation can never be recompensed." Stiglitz's prescriptions for the establishment of a truly global but more equitable economy are unabashedly Keynesian and generally convincing. They include slowing the pace of capitalist expansion until developingcountries can adjust politically and socially to new financial systems, giving more and better aid to those countries, forgiving debt-and thoroughly overhauling the World Bank, IMF, and other instruments of development. Provocative, readable, and sure to earn Stiglitz persona non grata status in certain corridors of power.Book Details
Published
April 1, 2003
Publisher
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Pages
304
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780393324396