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Globalization and Its Discontents 1st Edition
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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.Amazon.com Review
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Review
― George Scialabba, Boston Globe
"[Stiglitz's] rare mix of academic achievement and policy experience makes Globalization and Its Discontents worth reading."
― Michael J. Mandel, BusinessWeek
"Development and economics are not about statistics. Rather, they are about lives and jobs. Stiglitz never forgets that..."
― Frank Bures, Christian Science Monitor
"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 Easterly, Financial Times
"Entertaining, insightful, and well-written.... Makes a compelling case."
― Foreign Affairs
"Provocative, readable, and sure to earn Stiglitz persona non grata status in certain corridors of power."
― Kirkus Reviews
"Accessible, provocative and highly readable... Brings an insider's insights into the crises of the 1990s and beyond."
― Alan Cowell, New York Times
"[A] smart, provocative study... Impassioned, balanced and informed... A must-read."
― Publishers Weekly
"A fresh, much-needed look at how these institutions-primarily the International Monetary Fund-affect policy... Stiglitz has done important work..."
― Anna Lappé, San Francisco Chronicle
"[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 Hutton, The Guardian [UK]
"[W]ill surely claim a large place on the public stage."
― Benjamin M. Friedman, The New York Review of Books
"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 Todaro, The Village Voice
"Penetrating, insightful.... A seminal work that must be read."
― George Soros
"This book is everyone's guide to the misgovernment of globalization. Stiglitz explains it here in plain and compelling language."
― James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin
"Whatever your opinions, you will be engaged by Stiglitz's sharp insights. A must read."
― Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labor Organization
"He is one of the most important economists of modern times."
― Nicholas Stern, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, World Bank
About the Author
- ISBN-100393051242
- ISBN-13978-0393051247
- Edition1st
- PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
- Publication dateJune 1, 2002
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6.5 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
- Print length304 pages
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Product details
- Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (June 1, 2002)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0393051242
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393051247
- Item Weight : 1.26 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #869,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #595 in Development & Growth Economics (Books)
- #864 in International Economics (Books)
- #946 in Globalization & Politics
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Joseph E. Stiglitz is a professor of economics at Columbia University and the recipient of a John Bates Clark Medal and a Nobel Prize. He is also the former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank. His books include Globalization and Its Discontents, The Three Trillion Dollar War, and Making Globalization Work. He lives in New York City.
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Stieglitz takes the optimistic position that globalism can be fixed and fixed in such a way as to protect those who are adversely effected by the outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing including services and loss of discretionary purchasing power. He would do so with tax credits and entitlements, however. That alone confirms that globalism is not just a contemporary failure but structurally flawed and unsustainable.
The book contains extensive and I would say unsubstantiated slanderous accusations against President Trump that clouds the otherwise credible evaluations of the economy. Don’t get me wrong, this appears to be the only economist willing to acknowledge the actual damage done by globalism.
In listing solutions to the problems with globalization, Stieglitz faces the issue of maldistribution of capital and suggests tax reform. He does not go to the extent of taxing capital as per Piketty’s current campaign in France, but he does voice the need to tax high income, capital gains and inheritance.
“Taxation is not just a matter of fairness: carrying out other parts of a successful government program to combat the adverse affects of globalization will require more revenues.”
This updated analysis of globalization remains a must read for credible acknowledgement of the problems with globalism in its present form and for any appreciation for the reasons for its demise.
It’s not anti imagination neo-tribalism or uneducated populism but a democratic election for an end to what has not worked for over 44 years. Populism among citizens expressed at the pols equals democracy
Free trade in the time of Adam Smith did not include unbalanced trade or high tech strategic concerns, nor did he say it would work in all cases; however, It did include colonialism. Globalism has been from the start just another way for banks and multinationals to engage in the basic art of pillage and plunder. Our own citizens were victims with a massive transfer of wealth from the consumer’s market liquidity to the new oligarchs of the manufacturing and investment side — a must read.
This should be considered a companion book of a trilogy to those wishing to learn from highly educated, directly-experienced and politically objective experts - those who have "been there, done that" - who reveal to us the inner workings of world politics and why it is so ineffective and counter-productive the way it is currently being managed. The other two are Prestowitz's "Globalization and "Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions" and Friedman's "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century." These independent, well-respected authors of their respective best-sellers present findings and analysis that convincingly dovetail with the others' works.
(For a fantastic and exciting supplemental read, John Perkins "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" is an amazing tale from the ground floor of, in his words, the work of "an economic hit man.") Incredible as his story is, it also dovetails precisely with what these other authors - a Nobel prize winner, a counsellor to the Secretary of commerce and special economic envoy to Japan, and a New York Times journalist- have consistently and convincingly presented as the same story and delivered as a remarkably similar conclusion from their different perspectives.
Top reviews from other countries
Come in ogni altra opera di Economia, va però presa “con le molle”, non vanno cioè prese per assunte le posizioni soggettive prese dall’autore, che aggiunge, come sempre gli capita, molte delle sue personalissime opinioni alla descrizione del reale: questo accade specie nella prima e ultima parte, quando cioè cerca di prevedere le conseguenze delle politiche Trumpiane, attaccando più volte personalmente e non solo ideologicamente il Presidente degli US. Quest’ultima parte in particolare non deve essere considerata “legge”, ma esclusivamente una interpretazione soggettiva.
To position Stiglitz up-front: he is not against globalization - in his estimation it is quality-neutral as a conception and it is here to stay. The aim of his study is to show what lessons need to be learned and applied to make globalization live up to its potential for the majority of the world's populations. The red thread of the book is the examination of the primarily negative impact that globalization has had on many developing countries and the two billion or so poor who live on less than $2/per day. His reasoning why this has been the case and what is to be done to bring about positive change makes this book an important resource for the critics and the proponents of globalization alike.
Due to its vital role in global economics today, he focuses his criticism on the IMF, fundamentally disagreeing with major policies of the Fund as applied by its senior representatives. But GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS is much more than a personal rebuke of his former colleagues and associates. Anybody who has worked in and with developing countries, local policy makers and civil societies, will find themselves in tune with many of Stiglitz' salient points. Several times he comments on new strategies being tried out on "powerless" countries like Ecuador and Romania, too weak to resist the IMF and resulting in the experiment's highly negative consequences for the countries. (p. 203) The East Asia crisis (1997 onwards) features prominently in Stiglitz' account. What went wrong and why didn't the prescribed (IMF) medicines bring the ailing economies back to health? Other major examples are the 'economies in transition' - in particular Russia and the former Soviet Bloc countries.
In a summary one cannot do justice to the wealth of information contained in GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONENTS. Stiglitz' analysis follows several major themes. At the core of his arguments stand the dealings of the powerful "Washington Consensus" - the combined economic and financial force of IMF, World Bank and the US Treasury deciding on the "right" policies for developing countries. (p. 16) One of his fundamental criticisms of the IMF is that it is no longer transparent in the pursuit of its objectives and that it moved away from its original mandate: "The IMF was founded on the belief that there was a need for collective action at the global level for economic stability." However over time, the Fund has taken to "champion market supremacy with ideological fervour" (p. 12). The IMF was designed to complement the World Bank, whose mandate was "reconstruction and development" following World War II, now the major international agency for the eradication of poverty. By the 1980s the Fund and the World Bank had become increasingly intertwined with each broadening their range of influence. As a result, while the IMF "does not claim expertise in development - yet it does not hesitate to weigh in". (p. 34). Within the Fund's primary focus for macro-economics, Stiglitz argues, "market fundamentalism" has been the economic philosophy of choice with the result that financial institutions and international lenders have usually been the primary winners from each of the major financial crises. Yet, he stresses that the IMF policies are "not conspiracy more a reflection of interest & ideology of western financial institutions". (p. 130)
Another criticism voiced throughout the book is that the IMF prescribed economic remedies tend to be identical whatever the economic and financial crisis encountered: one size fits all. There is hardly any choice for a government in crisis. This approach, combined with the admitted lack of knowledge of the broader development context, can in some cases plunge the country into further recession rather than stimulate recovery. High unemployment in countries without an adequate social safety net is habitually a harmful side effect of the austerity measures imposed on the government by the IMF. Another victim of these policies is the environment. The wider social and political context of a country or region is often overlooked, Stiglitz contends, resulting in social unrest and worse: IMF-inspired riots. (p.77) Recession and civil strife further set back the development agenda and Stiglitz refers to numerous World Bank studies that confirm his assertions.
Stiglitz describes alternative approaches, presenting the evidence based on his own vast experience. His proposals can be subsumed under the term "balance". For example, any privatization of industry and markets should be gradual and sequenced, and must be balanced with strong institutional and legal structures. Rather than using "shock therapy" and forcing rapid privatization of capital markets, the "gradualist" approach ensures better results in the short and longer term (Russia vs. Poland). In the same vein he recognizes the need for balance between market forces and governmental interventions. He reminds the reader that the advanced industrialized economies all went through growth periods when government regulated the markets and capital flows. He asks that developing countries be given a real and honest chance to sit in the driver's seat when developing locally adapted international economic models. (Friederike Knabe, Ottawa Canada)












