Doug is essentially correct. Although JS might be
marginally friendlier to LDCs than LS, they are essentially
centrist New Keynesian peas in a pod, and pals to boot,
coming out of similar environments and reflecting similar
methodological and ideological perspectives.
My contacts at the CEA claim that Stiglitz is actually
brighter in meetings than LS, although the latter has a
tendency to dominate whatever room he is in. Also LS is
certainly smoother and more corporate.
There are tales
about JS, especially involving clothing and
absent-mindedness. Allegedly during one cabinet meeting he
had his tie on around the outside of his collar. Then
Treasury Secretary Bentsen, a very neat dresser, was so
appalled that he went over in front of Clinton and fixed
Stiglitz's tie.
Another tale has him meeting with Clinton and Panetta
last spring during the brief oil price runup. They were
discussing the possibility of releasing oil from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve. JS opposed such a move
arguing that a) it would be tall small an amount to affect
the market and b) the price would fall soon anyway.
Panetta supposedly jumped in with, "That's great. We can
do it; it won't screw up the market, and we'll get the
credit when the price falls!" Ah, the real world of
political economy...
Barkley Rosser
On Wed, 11 Dec 1996 13:01:24 -0800 (PST) Doug Henwood
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 11:48 AM 12/11/96, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> >one possible point in J. Stiglitz's favor: hasn't he written a
> >book that argues that a rapid transition from a centrally-planned
> >economy to a full-scale market economy is a bad idea? or am I
> >reading book jackets incorrectly?
>
> Yeah, and Summers (co-)wrote all those articles about noise trading, and
> still the World Bank promoted U.S.-style financial markets as the best way
> to do finance. Theory is one thing; praxis another.
>
> Doug
>
> --
>
> Doug Henwood
> Left Business Observer
> 250 W 85 St
> New York NY 10024-3217
> USA
> +1-212-874-4020 voice
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> email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>
>
>
--
Rosser Jr, John Barkley
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
