The ethical economist

Joseph Stiglitz reviews Benjamin Friedman's "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth" (Foreign Affairs, 11-12/05)

Can economic growth improves the environment, reduces poverty, promotes democracy, and makes for a more open and tolerant society?

Are there policies that promote "moral growth" -- growth that is sustainable, that increases living standards not just today but for future generations as well, and that leads to a more tolerant, open society?

Should we rely on the invisible hand of the market, or are government interventions needed?

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I don't know why, but Foreign Affairs didn't mention that Stiglitz was a Nobel Prize in Economics winner. According to the magazine:

Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor of Economics at Columbia University, has served as Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and Chief Economist of the World Bank. His books include "The Roaring Nineties" and "Globalization and Its Discontents."