The Nobel Prize-winning economist reflects on the disastrous impacts of the dangerous belief in free and unfettered markets on our economy and society.
Joseph Stiglitz — the former Chief Economist of the World Bank, renowned critic of neoliberal capitalism, and best-selling author of Globalization and its Discontents — has just launched another scathing criticism of the laissez-faire ideology that brought the world economy to its knees and is now forcing countries like Greece and the U.S. into years of protracted and draconian austerity measures.
NEW YORK – Just a few years ago, a powerful ideology – the belief in free and unfettered markets – brought the world to the brink of ruin. Even in its hey-day, from the early 1980’s until 2007, American-style deregulated capitalism brought greater material well-being only to the very richest in the richest country of the world. Indeed, over the course of this ideology’s 30-year ascendance, most Americans saw their incomes decline or stagnate year after year.
Moreover, output growth in the United States was not economically sustainable. With so much of US national income going to so few, growth could continue only through consumption financed by a mounting pile of debt.
I was among those who hoped that, somehow, the financial crisis would teach Americans (and others) a lesson about the need for greater equality, stronger regulation, and a better balance between the market and government. Alas, that has not been the case. On the contrary, a resurgence of right-wing economics, driven, as always, by ideology and special interests, once again threatens the global economy – or at least the economies of Europe and America, where these ideas continue to flourish.
Read Stiglitz’s full article at Project Syndicate.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
On with the American revolution! On with the global revolution!Distribute wealth to the poor. Make jobs for the unemployed! Support the elderly and abandoned kids!
{ 9 trackbacks }