A Review of Globalization and its Discontents

Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz is an insider's account of the failings of the Bretton Woods institutions during the Clinton Administration. The author, the 2001 Nobel laureate in economics, gives an insider's view of the role played by the Bretton Woods institutions in the globalization process. Professor Stiglitz's presents several case studies to illustrate how the IMF, with the aid and encouragement of the U.S. Treasury Department, failed to properly manage a number of financial crises that took place during the last decade of the 20th Century. Regrettably, his account is nothing less than a diatribe - unfortunately at times personalized - attacking the entire Bretton Woods system, and in particular the IMF. Stiglitz makes no pretense of being balanced or of writing a scholarly work. Globalization and Its Discontents generates a tremendous amount of heat, but sheds very little light on a critically important subject.