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In reply to the discussion: Austerity is a Lie. [View all]

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
43. US NEEDS A FINANCIAL SYSTEM THAT TACKLES INEQUALITY
Mon Dec 24, 2012, 02:00 AM
Dec 2012

Joseph E. Stiglitz's Blog

December 6, 2012

US needs a financial system that tackles inequality | Joseph Stiglitz

The system's focus must shift from speculative and proprietary trading to lending and job creation

After a hard-fought election campaign, costing well in excess of $2bn, it seems to many observers that not much has changed in American politics: Barack Obama is still president, the Republicans still control the House of Representatives, and the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate.

With America facing a "fiscal cliff" – automatic tax increases and spending cuts at the start of 2013 that will most likely drive the economy into recession unless bipartisan agreement on an alternative fiscal path is reached – could there be anything worse than continued political gridlock?

In fact, the election had several salutary effects – beyond showing that unbridled corporate spending could not buy an election, and that demographic changes in the US may doom Republican extremism. The Republicans' explicit campaign of disenfranchisement in some states – such as Pennsylvania, where they tried to make it more difficult for African-Americans and Latinos to register to vote – backfired: those whose rights were threatened were motivated to turn out and exercise them. In Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor and tireless warrior for reforms to protect ordinary citizens from banks' abusive practices, won a seat in the Senate.

Some of Mitt Romney's advisers seemed taken aback by Obama's victory: wasn't the election supposed to be about economics? They were confident that Americans would forget how the Republicans' deregulatory zeal had brought the economy to the brink of ruin, and that voters had not noticed how their intransigence in Congress had prevented more effective policies from being pursued in the wake of the 2008 crisis. Voters, they assumed, would focus only on the current economic malaise.

The Republicans should not have been caught off-guard by Americans' interest in issues such as disenfranchisement and gender equality. While these issues strike at the core of a country's values – of what we mean by democracy and limits on government intrusion into individuals' lives – they are also economic issues. As I explain in my book The Price of Inequality, much of the rise in US economic inequality is attributable to a government in which the rich have disproportionate influence – and use that influence to entrench themselves. Obviously, issues such as reproductive rights and gay marriage have large economic consequences as well.

CONTINUED...

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6426.Joseph_E_Stiglitz/blog

Austerity is a Lie. [View all] Octafish Dec 2012 OP
K&R AnotherMcIntosh Dec 2012 #1
Most of the wealth in human history was created in the last 32 years. Octafish Dec 2012 #3
You bet it is. A vicious, murdering lie. woo me with science Dec 2012 #2
HSBC 2011 PROFIT = $22 Billion; MONEY LAUNDERING fine = $2 Billion Octafish Dec 2012 #7
Thank you. That's useful to have bookmarked. woo me with science Dec 2012 #18
These people ARE gangsters duffyduff Dec 2012 #21
And everyone invested in Wall St contributes to the HSBC defense fund daily. nt raouldukelives Dec 2012 #35
K&R Teamster Jeff Dec 2012 #4
William K. Black marks the 'Failure of the July 2011 Great Betrayal.' Octafish Dec 2012 #30
Excellent article. Calls out our media very well. Overseas Dec 2012 #39
Anyone who doubts the awful results of Austerity should read what happened sabrina 1 Dec 2012 #5
You said that so well it could be an original thread. "Declaration of war," indeed. n/t catzies Dec 2012 #6
This is why I have always thought Jack Sprat Dec 2012 #10
Agree and many in the Business Community Blogs and even some establishment KoKo Dec 2012 #17
If money is Free Speech, austerity is telling We the People to Shut Up and Sit Down. Octafish Dec 2012 #31
K & R !!! WillyT Dec 2012 #8
Bernanke free to print all the money Wall Street Banksters need in 2013... Octafish Dec 2012 #37
I agree whole-heartedly. Jack Sprat Dec 2012 #9
We don't stop deficit spending because we're running trade deficits (strong dollar policy). HiPointDem Dec 2012 #14
Socialism has come to America. Octafish Dec 2012 #40
"Why cut Social Security? The program is currently solvent, is expected to remain solvent for decade grahamhgreen Dec 2012 #11
What about DoD? xtraxritical Dec 2012 #12
The cost of Iraq and Afghanistan may be 7 trillion, grahamhgreen Dec 2012 #28
Thank you! xtraxritical Dec 2012 #32
I agree newfie11 Dec 2012 #15
Diverts attention away from the REAL problem - systemic corruption... Octafish Dec 2012 #41
yes, it is. HiPointDem Dec 2012 #13
US NEEDS A FINANCIAL SYSTEM THAT TACKLES INEQUALITY Octafish Dec 2012 #43
More than a lie. A euphemism for slavery. K&R n/t Egalitarian Thug Dec 2012 #16
That's *exactly* what it is. nt woo me with science Dec 2012 #19
We are being led to the economic slaughter house. TheProgressive Dec 2012 #20
Game is rigged so the austerity falls on the same people who bailed out the crooks. Octafish Dec 2012 #44
K&R 99Forever Dec 2012 #22
Joseph Stiglitz Educates Peter Schiff About The Austerity Trap & Cans His Austrian Nonsense (Video) Octafish Dec 2012 #45
k & r! nt wildbilln864 Dec 2012 #23
The rest of the world does not want the USA to embark on a misguided austerity program. byeya Dec 2012 #24
K&R forestpath Dec 2012 #25
And far more relevant that what kind of guns we're going to allow people to own. n/t Egalitarian Thug Dec 2012 #26
kr PufPuf23 Dec 2012 #27
K&R me b zola Dec 2012 #29
K&R idwiyo Dec 2012 #33
K&R CrazyOrangeCat Dec 2012 #34
K&R. (nt) Kurovski Dec 2012 #36
It has been absurd to watch. "Supply side" economics has been revealed as a fiction, and yet the Overseas Dec 2012 #38
kicked and bookmarked - lots to digest LeftInTX Dec 2012 #42
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