Joseph Stiglitz
Joseph Stiglitz
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 Sciencesand 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 theCouncil 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...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth9 February 1943
CountryUnited States of America
We could have saved Wall Street without putting our future in jeopardy. I predicted that there would be all-around consequences - in the long run as well as in the short run. People are now saying we can't afford health care reform because we spent all the money on the banks. So, in effect, we're saying that it's better that we give rich bankers a couple of trillion than giving ordinary Americans access to health care.
World War II was really unusual, because America was in the Great Depression before. So the war did help the US economy to get securely out of this decline. This time, the war [in Iraq] is bad for the economy in both the short and long run. We could have spent trillions in research or education instead. This would have led to future productivity increases.
The military is focusing only on the short run costs. If they don't provide appropriate body armor, they save some money today, but the healthcare cost is going to be the future for some other president down the line. I view that as both fiscally and morally irresponsible.
Economists often like startling theorems, results which seem to run counter to conventional wisdom.
I, like many members of my generation, was concerned with segregation and the repeated violation of civil rights.
The US economy has lots of vulnerabilities in debts and deficits.
Elderly people remember when they could go to the movie for a nickel or a quarter,
You can increase the price from 25 to 40 dollars, and people can absorb it. If the price rises above 60 dollars, they become unhappy. They start to adjust, they move to smaller cars, drive a little bit less.
So the theory asks, how can shareholders ascertain what the firm's real prospects are when they have less information, ... It's a pervasive aspect of modern economies.
An example might be, when the owner of the firm knows more than the shareholders.
Asia has become the source of finance, the source of savings. It now has the human capital to manage that well. Why doesn't it take the advantage of that opportunity to try and create financial markets that work better for the people of Asia.
Anybody looking at these models would say they can't provide a good description of the modern world.
One needs to find innovative ways to transfer and absorb risks better within Asia, better ways of managing Asian financial markets.
China's growth has been export-based, but it may be difficult for it to sustain the pace of export growth.