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Economist critiques globalization
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by Nick Penzenstadler
Thursday, November 2, 2006
A Former World Bank vice president and Nobel Prize winner spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Memorial Union Theater Wednesday.
Renowned economist and author Joseph Stiglitz spoke mainly about his book, "Making Globalization Work."
Stiglitz detailed the ways globalization is affecting the world and how it could work better. According to Stiglitz, global disparities and inequalities are increasing between the richest and the poorest countries.
"The metaphor goes: The rising tide lifts all boats so that everyone can benefit," he said. "But a more apt description is that a riptide knocks over more frail boats, and if you don't have a life vest, you drown."
The diverse crowd expressed mixed emotions about the talk, which addressed a wide range of issues.
UW graduate student Chris Muellerleile said he expected a different focus from the economist.
"I've heard of his work and read some of his books, but really didn't enjoy the talk," Muellerleile said. "I thought it was really narrow and too focused on economics."
However, UW graduate student Whitney Gantl said she appreciated Stiglitz's unique view of globalization and his decades of experience.
"He worked for the World Bank, and yet he holds criticism for the way globalization is being carried out," Gantl said. "I would have liked him to cover a bit more in-depth, [but] all in all it was a great experience."
Stiglitz said many countries have increasing growth rates and cited China, which has had a 9.7 percent growth rate every year for over 30 years. Stiglitz contrasted these developed countries with resources and education to developing countries with high poverty levels.
According to Stiglitz, many of the issues associated with globalization have developed due to governmental mismanagement in the scope of economics.
"The way we have managed globalization has exacerbated these underlying problems," Stiglitz said.
Economic globalization has outpaced political globalization, Stiglitz said, because collective goals have been thwarted by the lack of democratic cooperation.
Stiglitz used the example of generic medicine not being distributed in third-world countries due to government policy.
"When you make generic medicines unavailable to the developing world, you are signing the death warrants of thousands in Sub-Saharan Africa," he said.
The global policy used by the U.S. has far-reaching implications, according to Stiglitz.
Globalization also reaches into numerous other areas, he said, including trade, intellectual property and the environment.
Stiglitz addressed the effect of globalization global warming, saying the failure of global governance has misplaced incentives for countries to curb problems like greenhouse gas emission.
"There have been studies that show the cost of facing global warming is 1 percent of a nation's GDP," he said. "But not doing anything would economically cost them 5 percent of their GDP."
