By an amazing coincidence, since sending my message (Re: A Canadian philosopher's views on the WTO) a few minutes ago, Joe Stiglitz has been interviewed on a BBC Radio 4 discussion -- on his way to Stockholm to pick up his Nobel Prize.
Remember: Joe Stiglitz, the former Economist of the World Bank, is praised by the anti-globalisers and the anti-transnational corporationers as their hero and the "authority" for their views. Joe Stiglitz was quite clear about his views when questioned on the programme. He is not against globalisation and world trade. Nor is he against those large transnational corporations which are open and honest about their finances. As he said quite specifically on the programme, the South East Asian countries (the A countries of my previous message) have already done well out of international trade and that many other poor countries desperately need investment by large corporations. What he says is that lack of information is the true enemy and that it is the incestuous, secret and preferential relationships of government politicians with business leaders which disguise the true situation and holds back prosperity for the ordinary person. In the case of the South East Asia debacle in particular, he criticises the World Bank and IMF for not clarifying these relationships before putting forward their remedies. Even though World Bank, the IMF and the WTO still have their faults which need correcting, he most definitely wants them to continue. Indeed, they are essential. Those who have been protesting on economic grounds (and supposedly on behalf of the poor of the world) at Prague, Quebec, Geneva and other places want to scrap these institutions altogether. But, as I have tediously repeated on FW many times, what else do they suggest to help the poor countries of the world? I haven't come across one single proposal so far. Keith Hudson ___________________________________________________________________ Keith Hudson, Bath, England; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________________
