Popular discontent with the economic process known as globalization is increasing not only in developing countries, for which globalization has had negative consequences, but even in the West, as demonstrated by the large street demonstrations that take place every time the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hold an important meeting. These demonstrations can no longer be dismissed as the work of a small disgruntled minority. In Globalization and Its Discontents, critics of globalization and the role of Western financial and commercial institutions in promoting it receive strong support from an insider who knows what he's talking about. This book is a sustained and often devastating critique of the IMF's role in globalization and is only slightly less critical of the economic policies and assumptions of the US government. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Stiglitz relentlessly offers example after example of situations in which the IMF's rigid insistence that its policies were the only correct ones to pursue, despite evidence to the contrary, has led to disastrous results around the world, from East Asia to Latin America and Russia. Globalization is the process that has led to closer integration of all the nations of the world through the reduction of transportation and communication costs and the removal of artificial barriers to the movement of goods, services, capital and people across borders. There is no doubt, as Stiglitz points out, that globalization has brought many benefits. Opening up international trade has helped many developing countries grow much faster than they otherwise would have. Standards of living have been raised and life expectancy extended. However, in many parts of the world, globalization has also failed to bring the expected economic improvements. More people live in poverty in 2003 than in the early 1990s, even though total world income has increased over the same period. Nor has globalization brought economic stability, as the crises in Latin America and Asia have demonstrated. The IMF was created in 1944 with the task of ensuring global economic stability. Stiglitz believes he has failed in his mission. Not only have economic crises become more frequent over the past twenty-five years, but in many cases the policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund have actually worsened the situation, especially for the poor. Nor has the IMF been successful in the task it adopted in the 1990s, namely to supervise the transition to a market economy in former communist countries. The fundamental criticism leveled by Stiglitz is that the IMF is tied to a rigid ideological program that is not always appropriate to the situation. He calls it the “Washington Consensus.” This consensus, which emerged in the Reagan era of the 1980s, values ​​the free market above all else. It emphasizes fiscal austerity, privatization and market liberalization. Remember: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay According to Stiglitz, when consensus first emerged it made a lot of sense, but as the years passed it came to be applied as an end in itself rather than as a means to ensure equitable and sustainable growth in the nations concerned. The Washington Consensus was then pushed too far, too fast. Stiglitz calls this “market fundamentalism”. Too often the approach...