Joseph Stiglitz — American Economist born on February 09, 1943,

Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, ForMemRS,FBA is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the John Bates Clark Medal. He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and is a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He is known for his critical view of the management of globalization, laissez-faire economists, and some international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank... (wikipedia)

Macroeconomic policy can never be devoid of politics: it involves fundamental trade-offs and affects different groups differently.
I grew up in a family in which political issues were often discussed, and debated intensely.
The extra curricular activity in which I was most engaged - debating - helped shape my interests in public policy.
Economists often like startling theorems, results which seem to run counter to conventional wisdom.
If stability and efficiency required that there existed markets that extended infinitely far into the future - and these markets clearly did not exist - what assurance do we have of the stability and efficiency of the capitalist system?