Stiglitz's new book During the

Stiglitz's new book

During the 1990s, Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz was Chairman of Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors and Chief Economist of the World Bank. He's just published his account of U.S. economic policy during the 1990s: The Roaring Nineties (Norton, 2003). The book provides a left-liberal critique of Clinton administration and Federal Reserve policy during the period from an insider. Some related material on the web:

Stiglitz rehearsed his arguments in an Atlantic magazine article in October, 2002: "The Roaring Nineties"

In 1998, even before leaving the World Bank, Stiglitz discussed the lessons he'd learned during his time in the Clinton Administration, in an article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, "Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government. The Private Uses of Public Interests: Incentives and Institutions." (JEP, 12(5):3-22 - accessible via JSTOR). Stiglitz asks why its so hard for government to implement Pareto Optimal policy changes - after all, no one loses - and draws on his experiences to suggest four hypotheses.

Jason Nisse, a Business Editor for 'The Independent on Sunday' reviews Stiglitz's book and Paul Krugman's new book, here: The Roaring Nineties: Seeds of Destruction By Joseph Stiglitz. The Great Unravelling: From Boom to Bust in Three Scandalous Years By Paul Krugman. With respect to Stiglitz

"... He [Stiglitz - Ben] is critical of the way Clinton's third way...embraced the right-wing agenda of deregulation and small government without understanding their consequences. He attacks the sleepy watchdogs and financiers on the make, who had the ear of the administration. Before you can say: "But Joe, you not only supported Clinton, you advised him," Stiglitz is out there with his "I told them not to do it, but would they listen?" excuse.

"If you swallow that line, and switch off most of your critical faculties, this is an enjoyable book. It sticks it to American capitalism just the way that any pro-European liberal (and I include myself in this category) might want it to. Stiglitz's fact-light, high-octane writing style fair zips along. There are hardly any pesky footnotes and an almost total absence of figures. What's more, this all comes from an American economist who won the Nobel Prize, so take that, you Republicans.

"But therein lies the danger. This book can lead you into all sorts of trouble if you try to rely upon it. Stiglitz's selective use of facts leaves his arguments all full of holes. I'm sure he has the research backing for every word he writes, but it does not come through in the text. Anyone fresh from The Roaring Nineties and hoping to deploy Stiglitz's arguments to shut up that pesky neighbour who works in the City, will suddenly find themselves in an intellectual version of the final scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Heck. I can shoot Stiglitz's arguments out of the skies. And I largely agree with him."

Will Hutton, writing for the left-wing Guardian also reviewed Stiglitz and Krugman together, favorably, and provided an extract from Stiglitz's book, here: "Our foreign friends ".

The Economist finds the interest of the book in Stiglitz's description of policy making in the Clinton administration: "Mr Stiglitz goes to Washington"

Tyler Cowen reviews the book at his blog, Marginal Revolution, here: "The new Stiglitz book".

Brad DeLong critiques Stiglitz's analysis of the Clinton administration's 1993 deficit reduction plan, here: "Department of "Huh?"". DeLong had a position in the Treasury, and was in a position to know what was happening. The Treasury Department is criticized by Stiglitz in the book.

The book has the subtitle "Seeds of Destruction" in the British edition - not in the U.S. edition.