Joseph Stiglitz

In November 2017, Stiglitz told Bloomberg that, in his view, bitcoin served no useful social function and that its success relied largely on opportunities to circumvent oversight; he concluded that it 'ought to be outlawed'. The statement triggered a strong reaction in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and among economists who favoured regulation rather than prohibition.

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On the eve of the Greek referendum in July 2015, Stiglitz explained that he would vote 'no' to the creditors' proposed conditions, which he considered economically destructive and undemocratic. His intervention attracted extensive attention while Greece's possible departure from the euro was presented as a risk.

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Together with Linda Bilmes, Stiglitz developed an estimate of the Iraq War's total economic cost far exceeding direct budgetary expenditure, culminating in a figure of three trillion dollars for the United States. The estimate was criticised as too broad because it notably included future veterans' healthcare, interest, macroeconomic costs and opportunity costs.

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In April 2009, Stiglitz directly attacked the Obama administration's strategy for stabilising banks, arguing that the support schemes excessively protected private shareholders and creditors at taxpayers' expense. He described the bank restructuring as an 'absolute mess' and accused the plan's architects of being either too close to the banks or incompetent.

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In 'Globalization and Its Discontents', Stiglitz accused the IMF and the 'Washington Consensus' of imposing standardised policies on several countries that allegedly exacerbated crises and poverty. Kenneth Rogoff, then IMF chief economist, responded with an unusually aggressive open letter challenging Stiglitz's facts, reasoning and several proposals.

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Following Argentina's default, Stiglitz argued that the peso's peg to the dollar, the economic system's vulnerability and especially the IMF's insistence on contractionary fiscal policy during the recession had aggravated the collapse. This diagnosis fuelled international debate over the respective responsibilities of the IMF and Argentine governments.

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In 1999, remarks attributed to Stiglitz about the potential economic advantages of devaluing the Chinese yuan caused considerable irritation at the US Treasury, which feared that a Chinese devaluation would further destabilise Asia. The episode reinforced his image as an institutional economist willing to depart from Washington's diplomatic position.

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After nearly three years as the World Bank's chief economist, Stiglitz announced his departure in late 1999 amid growing tensions with the IMF and US Treasury. Contemporary reports described his decision as a way to regain the freedom to speak that his institutional responsibilities had restricted.

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As the World Bank's chief economist, Joseph Stiglitz publicly criticised IMF programmes during the Asian financial crisis, notably sharp interest rate increases, restrictive fiscal policies and financial liberalisation that he considered poorly sequenced. His criticisms created an unusually open conflict between two major international financial institutions.

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