The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society

 
　　在《通往自由之路：經濟與美好社會》這本新書中，世界頂尖經濟學家史迪格里茲（Joseph E. Stiglitz）分析美國當今經濟體系，以及政治意識形態對其造成的影響。直言在右派政治力量的支持下，「自由且不受限制的市場」已帶來了一連串的危機，如：金融危機、類鴉片危機和不平等危機。
 
　　作者挑戰學界巨人弗雷德里希‧海耶（Friedrich Hayek ）和密爾頓‧弗利曼（Milton Friedman）的論點，直指偏誤的觀念已扭曲了社會結構，讓現行社會中的少數菁英獲得可觀的財富，但大多數人的工資卻停滯不前。我們正面對製藥大廠任意漲價藥物、大型科技公司無法監管、企業的環境汙染……等問題，而消費者、勞工和環境，則是被剝削的對象。
 
　　我們是如何走到這一步的？自由指的是誰的自由？面對日益惡化的經濟與社會環境，我們應當重新思考政府應當扮演的角色，重視公民之間相互的義務，謹慎評估當一個人的自由與另一個人的自由發生衝突時，該如何因應。
 
　　唯有調整現行經濟、監管和法規制度，才能創造共享繁榮的美好社會，重拾自由的真義。(文/博客來編譯)

We are a nation born from the conviction that people must be free. But since the middle of the last century, that idea has been co-opted. Forces on the political Right have justified exploitation by cloaking it in the rhetoric of freedom, leading to pharmaceutical companies freely overcharging for medication, a Big Tech free from oversight, politicians free to incite rebellion, corporations free to pollute, and more. How did we get here? Whose freedom are we--and should we--be thinking about?

In The Road to Freedom, Nobel prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz dissects America’s current economic system and the political ideology that created it, laying bare their twinned failure. ＂Free＂ and unfettered markets have only succeeded in delivering a series of crises: the financial crisis, the opioid crisis, and the crisis of inequality. While a small portion of the population has amassed considerable wealth, wages for most people have stagnated. Free and unfettered markets have exploited consumers, workers, and the environment alike. Such failures have fed populist movements that believe being free means abandoning any obligations citizens have to one another. As they grow in strength, these movements now pose a real threat to true economic and political freedom.

As an economic advisor to presidents and as chief economist at the World Bank, Stiglitz has witnessed these profound changes firsthand. As he argues, the failures follow from the elites’ unshakeable dedication to ＂the neoliberal experiment.＂ Explicitly taking on giants such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, Stiglitz exposes accepted ideas about our political and economic life for what they are: twisted visions that tear at the social fabric while they enrich the very few.

The Road to Freedom breaks new ground, showing how economics--including recent advances in which Stiglitz has played such an important role--reframes how to think about freedom and the role of the state in a twenty-first century society. Drawing on the work of contemporary philosophers, Stiglitz explains a deeper, more humane way to assess freedoms--one that considers with care what to do when one person’s freedom conflicts with another’s. We must reimagine our existing economic and legal systems and embrace forms of collective action, including regulation and investment, if we are to create an innovative society in which everyone can flourish. The task could not be more urgent, and Stiglitz’s latest book is essential reading for those committed to the American ideal of an economic and political system that delivers well-being, opportunity, and meaningful freedoms for all.

史迪格里茲（ Joseph E. Stiglitz）

　　是諾貝爾經濟學獎得主，曾擔任克林頓總統的經濟顧問委員會主席，世界銀行首席經濟學家，被《時代》雜誌評為世界上最具影響力的100位人物之一。現於哥倫比亞大學（Columbia University）任教，並擔任美國智庫機構羅斯福研究所（Roosevelt Institute）的首席經濟學家。已出版《史迪格里茲改革宣言》（People, Power, and Profits）、《不公平的代價》（The Price of Inequality）、《失控的未來》（Freefall）、《全球化的許諾與失落》（Globalization and Its Discontents）、《大鴻溝》（The Great Devide）等重要書作。