Hillary Clinton's campaign may tout the fact that it's “seeking advice” from Joseph Stiglitz and the Roosevelt Institute, not to mention the more than 100 other economists and related organizations contacted by her staff, as the candidate formulates her status quo-driven economic policies for her presidential campaign; but, Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders knows there’s only one person he wants leading his economic team, and it sure as hell isn’t Robert Rubin, or one of his Wall Street acolytes.
Funny thing is, Stiglitz knows who's the real Dem deal on economic inequality, too. From Business Insider, May 6th, 2015, “Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz: 'There is no magic bullet' to fix income inequality.”
BI: Which candidate (or potential candidate) do you think is best for the economy in 2016?
JS: As far as I know, all three of the announced Democratic candidates — Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton — and…has [Martin] O’Malley announced? They’ve all actually announced that they’re very concerned about the issue. And they have begun to roll out agendas. Bernie Sanders is the most progressive and has been most articulate over a longer period of time, laying out a pro-equality agenda. I think everybody hopes that the pressure is being put on Hillary to match.
(Bold type is diarist’s emphasis.)
Friday, Stiglitz elaborated upon his proposed solutions on economic inequality in an interview over at the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)…
Joseph Stiglitz: It’s Time to Get Radical on Inequality
Joseph Stiglitz: It’s Time to Get Radical on Inequality
Joseph Stiglitz
Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
June 26, 2015
America’s economic system has failed by not raising living standards for most.
Nobel laureate Stiglitz, author of The Price of Inequality and The Great Divide, studies the forces driving inequality and what is at stake if it continues. In his view, bad economic thinking deserves part of the blame — fanciful ideas like trickle-down and the notion that economists should try to increase the size of the economic pie and let the politicians worry about distribution. On the contrary, Stiglitz sees distribution as a problem economists must confront. He warns that an economic system that doesn’t raise standards of living for most Americans is a failure.
Stiglitz departs from Thomas Piketty on the causes of inequality and sees capital gains on land and rents associated with monopoly power, discrimination, and exploitation as the big story. He also faults deregulation in the banking industry.
Stiglitz warns that inequality and unfairness are undermining our identity as Americans, destroying our society, and harming the economy. It’s time, he says, to get radical. We have to understand that mild tweaking won’t work and that we must take on the underlying and power structures if we hope to tackle this enormous challenge. Watch the video to learn more about how to do this.
More from INET on income inequality: “
Inequalities by Race and Gender in the Earnings of Women of Color.”
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