 Picture Credit: Columbia University |
Joseph E. Stiglitz is especially well-known as a critic of the reigning international economic policies and the institutions that enforce them – the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United States Treasury Department. After a distinguished academic career on the faculty of MIT, Yale and Stanford, Stiglitz joined the Clinton administration in 1993 as member of the Council of Economic Advisors. He later was named the Council's Chairman. In 1997 he took the post of Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank Though a consummate political insider, Stiglitz grew increasingly disillusioned with the failures of neo-liberal policy and began to voice his thinking in public speeches. Increasingly outspoken, he eventually was ousted from his World Bank post, allegedly on orders from US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Since leaving the bank, Stiglitz has sharpened his criticism further, making embarrassing revelations about the role of the IMF in the Russian loan scandal, among other things. In mid 2001, he joined faculty of Columbia University and on 10 October 2001, it was announced that he would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science.
This section contains articles about Stiglitz's stormy career at the World Bank, texts of some of his speeches and policy papers, media interviews and other materials. Of the many senior staff who have resigned in disgust from the World Bank over the years, Stiglitz has provided us with a deep and intelligent critique.
Archived Articles | Links and Resources
Stiglitz on the IMF and World Bank
2011
Interview With Joseph Stiglitz (June 2011)
In this interview, Joseph Stiglitz voices his criticism of IMF and World Bank policies. According to Stiglitz, the IMF is controlled by finance ministers and bank governors, who have created policies that favor the financial community. Furthermore, the World Bank's support for the "Washington Consensus,” a set of policies that promote "stabilization, liberalization, and privatization" of the economy, is damaging because of its emphasis on deregulation. Instead, policies should help countries develop “the right regulatory structure.” Ultimately, there must a greater adherence to democratic principles by the Bretton Woods Institutions, says Stiglitz. (The Progressive)
2009
Capitalist Fools (January 2009)