Lucid: Backward, Present, and Forward Looking! | Globalization and Its Discontents

Not a fun read... but incredibly insightful nontheless | Globalization and Its Discontents | Joseph E. Stiglitz

books:


	• Globalization and Its Discontents Joseph E. Stiglitz W. W. Norton & Company, 2003 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 113 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The IMF stands accused

The IMF meets its match

Globalization and its discontents, By Joseph E. Stiglitz

A review by John Tataw Manga

This book is an indictment of the international financial institutions--most notably, the IMF--for their role in the globalization process. It is clear from the author's analyses--supported by concrete examples--that these institutions are intent on implementing policies that protect the vested interests of certain rich countries, to the detriment of many of the poor ones. According to the author, IMF-designed policies don't seem to vary from country to country, even when the problems of each country differ from those of other countries.

This one-size-fits-all approach reminds me of this medic we had in our hometown whom we come to nickname "Dr. Quinee", because he invariably prescribed the medicine called`Quinine' to all who consulted him.

The author suggests that financial interests are in league with the international institutions to maintain the status quo. And these institutions appear to the attentive (or responsive) to the concerns of these interests.
The insistence on privatizing and liberalizing the Third World economies at all cost has not gone down well many developing countries; and for good reason. For instance, the author argues: "When global financial institutions enter a country, they can squelch the domestic competition. And as they attract depositors away from the local banks in a country like Ethiopia, they may be far more attentive and generous when it comes to the making of loans to large multinational corporations than they will to providing credit to small businesses and farmers."

The author also accuses the IMF and other international institutions of mishandling the transition to Capitalism in some former Soviet Block countries. Transition which was undertaken without having provided any proper legal framework to guide it; which led to the profiteering by the few.
He deplores the change in the IMF's mandate and objectives: "From serving global economic interests to serving the interests of global finance."
A change which has not been without adverse consequences for developing countries.

for more information click here

Lucid: Backward, Present, and Forward Looking!

In Globalization and its Discontents, Joseph E. Stiglitz allows us a behind the closed doors glimpse of global the three most instrumental financial institutions, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund. Stiglitz served seven years in Washington, first as chair of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and later as chief economist at the World Bank. In Globalization and its Discontents, argues that the reason globalization is so hotly contested is that it is both misunderstood (actually, more like under-understood) and that globalization is different things to different people. First, according to Stiglitz, economic globalization is a blanket term that describes a sense of closer interdependence. Second, the three pillars previously mentioned maintain an enormous amount of resources, hence power. Third, this book calls to question the fact that all three institutions are controlled and used by the US and particular European countries. In effect, according to Stiglitz, the problem is legal - in terms of accountability and legitimacy. Why do we still have them? Why do we maintain them? What is their future usefulness? Consensus, not the Washington kind, in this case is elusive but the only way to go. In the end, Stiglitz also argues, there are benefits to be enjoyed but that the world does not embrace the current form of globalization because there is only one model - U.S. hegemony.

A significant portion of the book is dedicated to the mistakes made by the IMF during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Stiglitz argues that the International Monetary Fund places the agenda of its largest contributor, the U. S., above those of its real constituency - the world poorer nations. This "insider" tell-all and sober reflection of the possibilities (but difficulties) of a new and improved global economic policy is full of promise and possibility. In Globalization and its Discontents, Stiglitz already uses the terms "Washington Consensus" and "Shock Therapy" (of which he speaks with little or no affection) that will be taken up later on by Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine. Arguably, one of the finer books on the subject and a linchpin in the globalization conversation, Globalization and its Discontents is essential reading for those seeking to understand why globalization has brought to the surface "discontents" as well as antagonism and resentment of activists in such key hot spots like Seattle and Genoa. In Globalization and its Discontents, Stiglitz argues that there is no simple solution and/or working model for effective globalization. However, Stiglitz does offer a reform platform that will certainly raise the ire of hardcore neo-conservative and Milton Friedman free market ideologues, the kind of ideologues that we will meet in Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

for more information click here

Not a fun read... but incredibly insightful nontheless

I don't doubt that Stiglitz is right. People with a background like that and have won the Nobel Prize usually know what they are talking about. But man this book is frustrating in the first few chapters. I initially categorized it as anti-western propaganda because it is extremely opposed to western policies. However, it is right. The economics of it are sound, the politics also make sense and the details of this are all laid out. You definitely need some economics knowledge to get through it and it makes a VERY good case against market fundamentalism and excessive deregulation. Unfortunately, the same market fundamentalism that drives the IMF is also what drives Wall Street and the Treasury and it's causing a lot of problems nowadays.

for more information click here

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.

for more information click here