Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-winning economist and former chief economist at the World Bank, is not a stranger to making big statements about how dubious a lot of conventional modern economic theory is when applied by first world nations. He has been scathingly critical about the International Monetary Fund’s one-size-fits-all approach to globalization and probably lost his job at the World Bank as a result. He’s openly called for more radical approaches to dealing with the growing economic inequalities of our time. Stiglitz does not seem to worry too much about throwing things at sacred cows. He was being interviewed on Bloomberg TV a few days ago, talking about how Democratic policymakers like Clinton and Warren might be able to craft policy to begin the process of reversing the income inequality trends of our times, when he said this:
Our current tax system encourages companies to keep their money abroad, opens up a vast loophole through what is called the ‘transfer-pricing system’ that allows them not only to keep their money abroad but, effectively, to escape taxation.
Simple enough. He moved on to discuss Apple Inc.’s use of Ireland as their haven.
Here we have the largest corporation in capitalization not only in America, but in the world, bigger than GM was at its peak, and claiming that most of its profits originate from about a few hundred people working in Ireland—that’s a fraud.
We all know it’s fraud, it’s just nice to hear a noted economist, with connections to all of the Democratic candidates, say it in no uncertain terms.