There is always a tension between those who favour a pure laissez-faire version of the market, and those who see a role for government in the international architecture.23 “It is ironic: the age of globalisation may well be defined in part by challenges to the nation-state, but it is still states and governments by the practices they adopt, the arrangements they enter into, and the safety nets they provide - that will determine whether we exploit or squander the potential of this era.” (Haass and Litan 1998, p. 6) Stiglitz (1998, p. 20) makes a similar point: “in approaching the challenges of globalization, we must eschew ideology and over-simplified models.
We must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. . . . There are reforms to the international economic architecture that can bring the advantages of globalization, including global capital markets, while mitigating their risks. Arriving at a consensus about those reforms will not be easy.