Today was a pretty usual day for the most part. I got up late and had to scurry to make the bus, got to work and made the same cup of tea... Earl Gray with two fake sugars. I wrestled with my vendors and tended to an ever-growing to-do list of things that will never really make a difference in the world. (Alright, so maybe I've been wearing my grumpy pants for most of today).
But after the long cold dreary day, I was fortunate enough to take a long walk with Andrew to Seattle's Town Hall (on 8th & Seneca) for a lecture on Shaping Globalization by Joseph Stiglitz. The talk was more a book tour for the Nobel-prize winning professor from Columbia, but it brought me back to my college days where I would get up early on Saturday mornings to have breakfast with other passionate internationalists and development guru-wannabes. Catch phrases like "systemic issues" and "public or private goods" were tossed out like candy to a very agreeable audience.
Although it was great to see the man behind the ideas of countless college papers, I found his agruments lacking the impericial evidence (another favorite term) to support his claims. I also found it interesting that most of his ideas weren't really that new - just recycled ideas I've heard over and over again. Stiglitz reminds us that globalization creates both winners and losers, and (more importantly) the losers are rarely compensated. Globalization to him, is not a rising tide lifting all boats - but a rip tide pulling under those without a life jacket. Although I tend to agree with this argument, he didn't really elaborate on this point and what courses of action were available to us as concerned citizens of the global economy.
It seems that his lecture was geared more at whetting Seattle's appetite for his newest book, "Making Globalization Work," and perhaps the pearls of knowledge seek are within those pages. I'll let you know, once I finish reading a copy of his latest book.
For those of you interested in watching the lecture I attended (and thus agrue with me, which I would be very open to) you can access his speech from the Seattle Channel Organzation. The webiste has a slew of videos across multiple topics which I find very interesting and highly informative.
Also, you should check out The World Affairs Council which hosted the event. They are a great organization that hosts various lectures and get togethers throughout the year. They even have a cool little survey that you can take concernin the lecture and Stiglitz's views.
So overall, I had an alright day. Perhaps I can't save the world from behind my little desk in corporate America. But at least I can ponder the issues that we face, debate them with other passionate people and perhaps get others to start thinking.
Others, such as yourself.
