Former World Bank Chief Economist Predicts Global Crash

Nobel Prize winner Stiglitz highlights agenda of predatory globalism now arriving in America under auspices of NAFTA Superhighway, North American Union
By Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones
Prison Planet
Oct. 30, 2006

Former World Bank Vice President, Chief Economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has predicted a global economic crash within 24 months - unless the current downturn is successfully managed. Asked if the situation was being properly handled Stiglitz emphatically responded "no," and also drew ominous parallels to the development of the NAFTA Superhighway and the North American Union.

Stiglitz caused controversy in October 2001 when he exposed rampant corruption within the IMF and blew the whistle on their nefarious methods of inducing countries to fall under their debt before stripping them of sovereignty and hollowing out their economies.

Speaking on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones radio show, Stiglitz defined the process of globalization as a system that was "rigged against the poor countries, rigged for the advanced industrial countries - the result of that is there were an awful lot of losers."

The Columbia University Professor described how rampant privatization has crippled Mexico, in particular citing the sell-off of major infrastructure such as roads.

"They sold the roads to the private enterprise and the hope was that they would be more efficient but of course what happens is that they didn't maintain the roads, they couldn't generate enough revenue and they eventually had to default and give the roads back to the government."

Stiglitz agreed that the process of hijacking and looting key infrastructure on the part of the IMF and World Bank, as an offshoot of predatory globalization, had now moved from the third world to Europe, the United States and Canada.

These sentiments are especially disturbing when we consider the current fast-moving quasi-secret agenda to sell-off major American highways to foreign corporations who plan to turn them into toll roads for tracking and taxation purposes - collectively known as the NAFTA Superhighway. The program forms the framework for the advancement of the North American Union - a collective governmental, border and trading bloc that President Bush has signed the U.S. over to under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of March 2005.

As we previously reported, US citizens will be forced to adopt a de-facto national identification card and have their freedom of mobility defined by behavioral fealty to the government under proposals set to derive from NAFTA superhighway toll road systems and the implementation of the American Union.

"This is a movement that's gone on all over the world," said Stiglitz, "the movement of trying to turn over basic facilities - water, roads, to the private sector."

Speaking about the agenda of the World Bank since the installation of Paul Wolfowitz, Stiglitz highlighted the shift which began back in August 2001 whereby the Bush administration moved to block transparency of secret bank accounts, which in part facilitated the 9/11 terror attacks.

"Unfortunately in this current administration, the defense industries and the energy industries have really been running the show and it has been disastrous," said Stiglitz.

Discussing the warning signs of plummeting real estate prices in the U.S., Stiglitz stated that a global economic depression could only be avoided if a correction was made but at the moment all the indicators are that the situation is not being well managed.

"If it's well managed it will only be a slow-down, if it's not well-managed it could be a recession," said Stiglitz.

Asked if the debt bubble was being well-managed Stiglitz plainly responded in the negative.

"It's gonna be difficult....this has been perhaps the worst six years of mismanagement of the macro economy....I think we can avoid an implosion if we manage this carefully but it's going to be very risky," said Stiglitz, agreeing that if the same course continued to be followed a global depression would occur within 12-24 months.

Stiglitz said his reason for leaving the World Bank was that he was told he would not be able to speak his mind on the issues he considered paramount to the press, summarized as helping make the world a better place, and that the two "amicably parted ways." He also said that the IMF were particularly upset that his predictions about their disastrous policies quickly came true - which is an ominous portender for his thoughts on the possibility of a global crash.

Stiglitz also slammed the recently passed Military Commissions Act, stating that the bill, "really did compromise some of our basic rights," and that it was a "disaster" for American freedom.