“We have to change the way we live”

Finished off my Writers/Readers week presence Friday night, seeing former World Bank head Joseph Stiglitz at the Michael Fowler Centre. Mostly the same old crowd – anti-globalization hippy types were thin on the ground, although Ed of Ed’s Juice Bar fame was a few rows in front of us.
After a painfully overlong introduction by the moderator (he actually got heckled by this most genteel crowd for taking too long), Stiglitz got into it. He was great to listen to, avuncular and friendly with a sharp turn of phrase, and while he’s obviously aware he just needs to drop a dig at BushCheney to get a crowd applauding he didn’t go to that well too often.
Mostly it was standard stuff from him – the IMF and World Bank and G8 are part of the problem, not the solution, because they are dogmatically applying economic models that do not work on the ground and make life worse for people rather than better. Good to hear him say it but nothing eye-opening. He talked a bit about the New Zealand context, and how our economy is so small that we’re stuck in globalisation now – even if we wanted to control our trade borders to the extent China and the US do, we couldn’t, because our economy would fall over.
In question time, audience questions quickly got on to the subject of the environment and climate change and didn’t look back. Stiglitz didn’t go into heavy detail, just wasn’t enough time for it, but generally weighed in behind full-cost accounting where atmosphere and water (etc.) are codified into the economic system so there’s some representative cost when they are despoiled. He made a point of saying that he believes we’re going to have to change the way we live, sooner rather than later, and that preparedness means ceding power and resources to the developing nations – somethng the developed nations are reluctant to do.
It was a great session but far too short. We could have sustained another hour, easily. Oh well.
So that was that. Thanks to the parentals for the gift of my WritersReaders week experience, and respect to my brother for going to all three with me.