Globalization and Its Discontents

"Joe Stigiltz’s Globalization and its Discontents is a book that anyone looking for a rounded set of perspectives on globalization should read. Joe Stiglitz has been one of the world’s leading economic theorists since the 1960s. In the last two decades, he has developed great passion and conviction around a highly critical view of open markets and globalization. There is much in his book that I do not agree with—there is more ad hominem attack them I am comfortable with and Stiglitz is better on the theoretical argument then he is on the actual history of major episodes. But this book has emerged as the leading statement of many of the critiques of an open global system, therefore I think it deserves substantial attention. They were prescient in a very broad brush way. With the financial crisis in 2008, we obviously saw major difficulties with the global economy. They were prescient in that popular resistance to trade has certainly increased over time, as manifest in the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump. Beyond the broad brush, I’m not sure how his critiques were prescient. Many of the issues today involve questions relating to the flow of people. So while Stiglitz’s book very much maintains its relevance, today the cutting edge issues have changed."