Joseph Stiglitz Speaks Out in Defense of the Alien Tort Claims Act

At the recent 101st Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Prize winning economist and former Vice President of the World Bank) delivered the keynote lecture on the topic of multinational corporations and their abuse of limited liability. Stiglitz said the power of multinationals is enormous and “they use that power to get special treatment; they try sometimes to make sure that environmental and health regulations are not enforced.” He went on to call for the creation of an International Court of Commercial Claims and the extension of the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA.) “The current system is unfair to developing countries in the short run, but it is worse in the long run – because it undermines the rule of law.”