BOOK REVIEW - Globalization and its discontents, Joseph Stiglitz (2002)

Résumé du document

The author's anterior life plays an important part in the book. It has influenced his way of thinking; all of his books are based on his own life experiences. That is why it is important to specify a few elements of his biography before beginning the summary of the book. Professor Stiglitz is firstly an economist. He won the Nobel Laureate Prize in 2001. He reveals that he became interested in real-world matters in 1993 (especially globalization problems). At that time, he was a part of the Clinton administration, and was working at the White House in Washington. He wrote "Globalization and its discontents" in 2002. The author claims that this book is the result of those eye-opening experiences, during which he observed that decision-making processes are often influenced by politics and ideology. He became conscious that globalization without governance and control often leads to devastating results, especially on less developed countries.

Extraits

[...] *Fiscal austerity: The first and well known IMF policy recommendation is to cut down government spending and increase taxes in order to remove the need of government borrowing. However, JS highlights the fact that imposing that during crisis and recessions can be dangerous. Sometimes countries need help. Cut in spending or taxes only make the downturn worse. *High interest rates: Many countries are coming to the IMF because they have problems to maintain the exchange value of their currencies. The IMF basic advice is high interest rates. Stiglitz claims that high interest rates (imposed by IMF) lead to inflation. That is a usual problem in developing countries. [...]

[...] On the contrary, in chapter nine, he says that the source of all troubles is the way globalization has been managed. I really like this book; it treats of real economic problems and it's very accessible for the reader. However, according to my mind the author is searching a perfect world which doesn't exist. Indeed, we all live in an individualist society where everyone is searching to satisfy his own interests. Only the stronger countries can impose although the south is progressing and growing each day. [...]

[...] He wrote “Globalization and its discontents” in 2002. The author claims that this book is the result of those eye-opening experiences, during which he observed that decision-making processes are often influenced by politics and ideology. He became conscious that globalization without governance and control often leads to devastating results, especially on less developed countries. Indeed, he denounces the US model. He thinks US politics only gets poorer the developing countries. What's more, “Globalization and its discontents” is part memoir, part manifest, and part criticism of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). [...]

[...] Stiglitz argues that many of these countries do not yet have financial systems able to hold such transactions, or regulatory systems capable of preventing destructive behavior once the firms are privatized, or systems of corporate governance which can check new managements. After having evoking that globalization is the result of bad policymaking enforced by the IMF and by the World Bank, the rest of the book is globally composed of case studies. Indeed, he adds that globalization policies and institutions (including the IMF and U.S. [...]

[...] "La Grande Désillusion" ("Globalization and its discontents"), Joseph Stiglitz (2002) The author's anterior life plays an important part in the book. It has influenced his way of thinking; all of his books are based on his own life experience. That's why it is important to precise a few elements of his biography before beginning the summary of the book. Professor Stiglitz is firstly an economist. He won the Nobel Laureate Prize in 2001. He exposes that he became interested in real-world matters in 1993 (especially globalization problems). [...]