Globalization and Its Discontents

This section offers a brief overview of the author’s professional career and explains why he has authored Globalization and Its Discontents. It begins with Joseph Stiglitz’s professional move from academia to policy making: He served as a chair to the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and then worked as the senior vice president of the World Bank between 1997 and 2000. Stiglitz believes this was an interesting period for global economic development: He inherited several legacies of the organization—such as the transition to market economies for countries of the ex-Soviet bloc in the previous decade—and witnessed the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

However, Stiglitz also realized that globalization—the process of bringing countries closer together by removing barriers to trade—was far from perfect. The international organizations in charge of moderating it, such as the World Bank and especially the International Monetary Fund (IMF), proposed inadequate programs that failed to help developing countries grow equitably. The poor, in particular, often did not reap the benefits of globalization at all, despite it being potentially a force for good. With proper regulation, globalization allows for a greater and more efficient exchange of goods, resources, and information.