Joseph Stiglitz, former Chief Economist at the World Bank uses his extraordinary authority and experience to make this a compelling book. He argues that the West has seriously mismanaged the process of privatisation, liberalisation and stabilisation. He also states that by following the examples and advice of the West, many Third World countries and former Communist states are actually worse off than they were before. Instead of taking the usual simplistic, pro- or anti-globalisation stance, he confronts us with the often-difficult realities of the world.