Columbia Business School isn’t the only one celebrating a milestone anniversary this year. This fall, beloved Professor Joseph Stiglitz officially ushered in his 50th year of teaching, including more than a decade at Columbia. To honor Professor Stiglitz and his remarkable contributions to the field of economics, for which he was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics and the 1979 John Bates Clark Medal, the School hosted a special colloquium centered around him as part of its Centennial celebrations. Drawing over 140 distinguished alumni, faculty and staff members, and friends from around the world, "A Just Society" took place on campus at Casa Italiana and the School of International and Public Affairs from October 16–17. The colloquium offered 11 different panels on topics ranging from inequality and microeconomics to macroeconomics and public policy, each featuring six or seven top economists, academics, politicians, or executives — all of whom share a special connection with Professor Stiglitz.
The research presented was meaty and complex, attempting to address questions Stiglitz has been posing for years: under what circumstances do markets falter? How can we promote social equality? How do we conceptualize the global middle class? After each panel, the Nobel Laureate offered his thoughts and takeaways, including the following call to remain open-minded and flexible: "You can’t be rational about events that haven’t happened before." In addition to the knowledge exchange, the days were filled with cheerful anecdotes about Stiglitz and good-natured intellectual debate, which, his admirers argue, is one of the very cornerstones of his teaching. "I’ve known Joe for 20 years, more or less," says Leif Pagrotsky, former member of the Executive Committee of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and chair of the colloquium’s panel on public policy. The Swedish politician first met Professor Stiglitz in Washington, DC, when they were both working on economic policy for their respective governments. They’ve since become close friends. "He is not isolated in an ivory tower of theories and models," Pagrotsky explains. "He can talk about things in a way that is relevant for people like me. He has a practical way of understanding, analyzing, and discussing everyday problems that I encounter in my job. We don’t always agree, but he forces me to think through my positions and identify where we differ, why we differ, if I maybe need to reconsider or not reconsider, and why. That’s not so common of an economist."
This sentiment is echoed by Daniel Heymann, a professor of economics at the University of Buenos Aires, director of the Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economia Politica de Buenos Aires, and a discussant on the colloquium’s panel on macroeconomics and growth. Heymann first met Professor Stiglitz at a conference in Siena, Italy, and has since collaborated with him on organizing a conference in Buenos Aires and on a book project they co-edited. "One thing that I appreciate from the work that we’ve done together is his [analytical] interest on the one hand — he’s precise and deep — and at the same time, he is concerned about the social implications of the stuff we work on," Heymann says. "It’s this double commitment, analytical and social, that is really remarkable."
While it’s clear he makes fast friends — and debate partners — of everyone he meets, Professor Stiglitz also inspires veneration among those who’ve only encountered him from afar. Alumni like Paulina Yick ’94 came to the event to hear from the economics icon — whom she calls a Columbia “celebrity” — as well as support him and the School. "It’s a great event for us to draw many top economists to our School. Plus, I’m an alum. I want to support him," she says.
—Agatha Bordonaro