I agree that several of Stiglitz' answers appear to represent a retreat from his critique of the Washington Consensus. (I saw him debating Dornbusch et al. in NY and he soft-pedaled his views a bit, although he defended them when directly attacked.) I would not read too much into his reluctance to criticize World Bank staff in SA, however. As a high-level official of the Bank, the last thing he would want to do is make trouble for staffers he barely knows in a country he barely knows due to spontaneous remarks to left-wing interviewers. Naturally he plays his cards close to his chest. The real point is not to expect this guy to be the "good czar" who can sweep through and set all things right. He is a relatively open-minded economist, but as a WB official his major focus is undoubtedly avoiding large-scale bureaucratic and diplomatic screwups. He doesn't want the people who matter to the WB getting pissed off at him. Peter Dorman
