Global Green Trade

Joseph E. Stiglitz

June 08, 2005

Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is professor of economics at Columbia University and was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Clinton and chief economist and senior vice- president at the World Bank. His most recent book is The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World’s Most Prosperous Decade.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised that the G-8 meeting on July 6 through 8 at Gleneagles, Scotland, which he will lead, will focus on two of the most important and longstanding global problems—Third World poverty and global warming.

For a long time, these two issues seemed to be at odds. The developing world understandably does not want to sacrifice its growth for a global public good, especially when the United States, the richest country in the world, seems unwilling to sacrifice even a little of its luxurious life style.