The noisy 1990s

Author: (American) Stiglitz / Zhang Ming et al. / Yang Xueyu edited
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Nobel laureate Professor Stiglitz revisits the legendary history of the 1990s, a decade filled with prosperity and recession, in this book. He discusses how it came about, why it occurred, how the seeds of destruction were sown in prosperity, and why the United States and the world have still not fully learned from the failures. The 1990s was a decade of genuine progress and real economic growth. However, Professor Stiglitz, through a powerful analytical approach, reveals how the so-called prosperity was generated domestically in the United States—through excessive deregulation, improper "incentives" for CEOs, and uncontrollable conflicts of interest. He exposes the damage caused to the U.S. economy and the global economy by managers who, through manipulation, stole wealth from companies. Stiglitz's textbook delves deeply into the policy-making process of this decade: he praises the goals and passion of the Clinton administration but also criticizes their frequent failure to achieve their objectives, especially their tendency to yield to the pressure of powerful financial interest groups; he reveals for the first time the nature of the intense discussions and disagreements that occurred before policy formulation. Professor Stiglitz provides a compelling analysis of the free-market mania that dominated the 1980s-1990s and still persists today. He explains why greed is not good for companies, individuals, or society: if such greed is not restrained, it will lead to fraud, distortion, and disaster. He argues that unregulated markets are far from the engine of economic prosperity, and the best way to achieve sustained growth and long-term efficiency is to find the right balance between government and the market, with both companies and the economy subject to a certain degree of regulation. This is not just good moral education but also good economics. At the end of the book, the author presents an encouraging conclusion—what we can do to bring the world economy back to a fairer and more stable growth process.