BBC Insider Debates - Three Nobel-winning economists

As the world braces itself for the consequences of the ever-deepening financial crisis, we bring together a trio of brilliant men, three Nobel-prize winning economists to talk about what led up to the credit crisis in the United States and Europe, and what can be done about it.

This is a BBC World Service 'Insider' debate - when we discuss a subject in depth with those who know most about it.

Professor Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economic advisor to former President Bill Clinton, and then chief economist at the World Bank, contends that the war in Iraq - which he says will cost more than three trillion dollars - has savaged America's economy.

Professor Edmund Phelps of Columbia University - described as the key architect in shaping modern capitalist economics - thinks that government and central banks have a limited role to play in restoring financial equilibrium.

And finally Professor Robert Engle, whose models of risk assessment and market volatility have become indispensable tools amongst analysts in the financial industry, but did he predict this latest downturn?

The Insiders debate with Nobel laureates on the global economy was chaired by Owen Bennett-Jones.

Listen to the programme

First broadcast on May 4 2008.