The Foreign Service Journal, April 2007

Still Discontented Making Globalization Work Joseph Stiglitz, Norton, 2006, $26.95, hardcover, 358 pages. R EVIEWED BY J IM P ATTERSON Joseph Stiglitz is that rare breed: an economist who isn’t afraid to declare that free trade must also be fair trade. His latest book, Making Globalization Work (a follow-up to his 2002 bestseller, Globalization and Its Discontents ), documents the fact that the benefits of more open trade are not being evenly distributed among members of the World Trade Organization — or within societies. Stiglitz has excellent credentials for rendering such judgments. Dur- ing the 1990s, he served as chairman of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and, later, was a chief economist at the World Bank. In 2001 he shared a Nobel Prize for his work on the economics of infor- mation. He has had a major role in formulating international economic policies and in laying the foundation for the current Doha Round of trade negotiations, designed to reduce bar- riers to trade and to fully integrate diverse economic systems into a work- ing global market. One of the main complaints devel- oping countries have against devel- oped economies, like the United States and the European Union, is that nations with sophisticated econo- mies reap the main benefits of world trade. This has always been true, but now developing countries have the means — membership in the World Trade Organization — to seek a place at the global economic table. And, Stiglitz contends, developed countries have an obligation to spread global trade’s benefits among all nations. “If any trade agreement were to be a success, it should have been the one among Mexico, the United States and Canada,” the 1992 North America Free Trade Agreement. But while Mexico has benefited from access to other markets, the gains have been fewer than NAFTA supporters claim- ed. Once self-sufficient in maize pro- duction, Mexico now imports more than 20 million tons annually from the U.S. And rural poverty is on the rise, fueling illegal immigration to the north. As the author explains, protection- 72 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 7 B O O K S Home Suite Home The next time you’re going to be in DC for an extended stay, make yourself at home at Georgetown Suites. With our discounted monthly rates and large, comfortable suites, you’ll feel right at home. Plus we’re near the State Department. Call today! Georgetown Suites the fun place to stay in DC 1-800-348-7203 www.georgetownsuites.com sales@georgetownsuites.com