Today the problem of globalization is one of the most discussed trends of the contemporary development of the economics, politics, and social life. Globalization is a multidimensional process which involves a lot of different aspects associated with the progress of the developed and developing countries.
That is why there are many visions of the issue of globalization according to which the process is discussed as contributing to the progress of the world economy and as rather controversial with references to the global effects which it can have. Joseph Stiglitz’s book Making Globalization Work is the representation of the author’s opinion on the question of globalization in the context of the economic and political development of countries with determining globalization’s main challenges and their possible solutions with references to the results of Stiglitz’s prolonged research in the field.
Thus, the main topic of Joseph Stiglitz’s work reflects the main themes of the author’s previous investigations. The title of the book Making Globalization Work provides the readers with the area of the author’s discussion.
In his book, Joseph Stiglitz concentrates on presenting the key challengeable trends in the development of the phenomenon of globalization in the world and on providing the reasonable solutions to the issues with referring to the global economic and political processes in order to make globalization which is the key world process contribute to the global development of the both developed and developing countries.
From this point, being published in 2006, the book determines the problems of globalization in the world context with focusing on the elements of the policy in the USA, and they are typical for the period between the late 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century.
Developing the topic of the book and accentuating the positive and negative aspects of globalization as the worldwide process, Stiglitz argues that today globalization depends on the unfair rules which address the interests only of the developed countries, that is why this situation is based on the global instability and results in the global inequality of the countries in their economic development.
Thus, Frieden states that Stiglitz “argues that globalization holds out great promise as a force for good, but that the rules of the present international economic order are designed and enforced by the rich nations to serve their interests” (Frieden).
Furthermore, discussing the challenges of the globalization process, Stiglitz refers both to the economic and political sphere with accentuating the fact that the effective globalization depends on the effective policies within the countries. The author also determines the notion of democracy as the key one for providing the successful approach to solving the current problem associated with the issue of globalization (Stiglitz).
However, is it possible to discuss Stiglitz’s point of view as the credible and developed argument? The author’s offers connected with the problem’s solution and his conclusions are based on the long-term economic research on the topic of globalization. Stiglitz uses the available economic reports on the progress of the developed and developing countries and refers to the opinions of the other researchers on the question which were presented during many conferences.
Moreover, Joseph Stiglitz is an influential figure in the world debates on the problems of globalization as the field of economics, “he was a winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, for information theory. He was the top economist for President Clinton and after that, for the World Bank” (Ramsey).
However, in spite of the fact the author uses a lot of evidences to support his idea, his vision of the problem is rather critical. He concentrates on the challenges of globalization without paying much attention to the positive perspectives which globalization provides for the countries’ development.
Thus, speaking about the negative effects of globalization, Stiglitz indicates that “there is plenty of evidence from both developing countries and developed countries that there are many losers in both” (Stiglitz 9).
It is possible to say that the author is inclined to support all the evidences which present the data about the inequality, poverty, and instability of the developing countries caused by the globalization process which is advantageous for the majority of the developed countries.
Stiglitz also argues on the information about the improvements affected by the globalization tendencies. Nevertheless, according to Frieden, “Stiglitz uses his command of economic logic to good effect, offering clear discussions of dozens of complex issues, from patent law to abuses in international trade” (Frieden).
Joseph Stiglitz’s Making Globalization Work can be discussed as the effective critique on globalization as the multidimensional process which can have both the positive effects declared by the process’s supporters and numerous negative aspects caused by the imperfect policies.
Moreover, the author’s critique is perceived as reasonable because Stiglitz focuses not only on the problems but also on their possible solutions which are presented in different chapters making the discussion of the issues well-organized. However, Joseph Stiglitz’s solutions to the problem can be discussed as rather difficult to implement because of the close connection of the economic, political, and moral aspects presented in them which influence each other greatly.
Works Cited
Frieden, Jeffrey A. To Have and Have Not. 2006. Web.
Ramsey, Bruce. Making Globalization Work: Nobel winner’s fresh views on globalization. n.d. Web.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. Making Globalization Work. USA: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006. Print.