“Too many countries of the former Soviet bloc remain under the control of authoritarian leaders, including some, like the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who have learned how to maintain a more convincing facade of elections than their communist predecessors.”

American economist

Joseph Stiglitz is an American economist, public policy analyst, political activist, and professor at Columbia University. He is known for his work in New Keynesian economics and for receiving the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001, as well as the John Bates Clark Medal in 1979. He served as senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank, and later as a member and chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers. His writing and public commentary often focus on public finance, especially Georgist ideas, along with critiques of globalization as it is managed, laissez-faire economics, and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.