Stiglitz: Anger Over 'Failed Economy' is Shaping US Election
"Americans have seen lots of injustices. I think that has really motivated the anger across the spectrum."
Inequality is shaping the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as voters disillusioned by the financial crisis and Wall Street greed increasingly turn to populist candidates like Bernie Sanders, who has made economic inequality a central platform of his campaign, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Wednesday.
"There are a lot of people that are described as angry and they finally figured out that they're not doing very well," Bloomberg reports Stiglitz as saying during an event at the Resolution Foundation, a London-based research group. "They're not doing as well as their parents; some Americans aren't doing as well as their grandparents."
"Americans have seen lots of injustices--people were thrown out of their houses that didn't owe money, and none of the bankers were held accountable" for their roles in the financial crisis, Stiglitz said. "I think that really has motivated the anger across the spectrum."
Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, told Democracy Now! in a December interview that "we're a wealthy-enough economy that we should be able to provide the basic requisites of a middle-class lifestyle for all Americans."
"[T]he question is whether the United States is rich enough to be able to make sure that everyone has a basic right to healthcare, family leave, parental, you know, sick leave--we are exceptional--whether we are a society that can tolerate--that should tolerate the levels of inequality that we have," Stiglitz said at the time. "I think Bernie Sanders is right about that."
On Wednesday, Stiglitz pointed out that 91 percent of economic gains made since the 2008 recession went to the top one percent of earners, while the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the pace of inflation by more than 60 years.
"The American economy is a failed economy," he said. "We have to once again rewrite the rules of the economy for the 21st century."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Inequality is shaping the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as voters disillusioned by the financial crisis and Wall Street greed increasingly turn to populist candidates like Bernie Sanders, who has made economic inequality a central platform of his campaign, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Wednesday.
"There are a lot of people that are described as angry and they finally figured out that they're not doing very well," Bloomberg reports Stiglitz as saying during an event at the Resolution Foundation, a London-based research group. "They're not doing as well as their parents; some Americans aren't doing as well as their grandparents."
"Americans have seen lots of injustices--people were thrown out of their houses that didn't owe money, and none of the bankers were held accountable" for their roles in the financial crisis, Stiglitz said. "I think that really has motivated the anger across the spectrum."
Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, told Democracy Now! in a December interview that "we're a wealthy-enough economy that we should be able to provide the basic requisites of a middle-class lifestyle for all Americans."
"[T]he question is whether the United States is rich enough to be able to make sure that everyone has a basic right to healthcare, family leave, parental, you know, sick leave--we are exceptional--whether we are a society that can tolerate--that should tolerate the levels of inequality that we have," Stiglitz said at the time. "I think Bernie Sanders is right about that."
On Wednesday, Stiglitz pointed out that 91 percent of economic gains made since the 2008 recession went to the top one percent of earners, while the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the pace of inflation by more than 60 years.
"The American economy is a failed economy," he said. "We have to once again rewrite the rules of the economy for the 21st century."
Inequality is shaping the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as voters disillusioned by the financial crisis and Wall Street greed increasingly turn to populist candidates like Bernie Sanders, who has made economic inequality a central platform of his campaign, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Wednesday.
"There are a lot of people that are described as angry and they finally figured out that they're not doing very well," Bloomberg reports Stiglitz as saying during an event at the Resolution Foundation, a London-based research group. "They're not doing as well as their parents; some Americans aren't doing as well as their grandparents."
"Americans have seen lots of injustices--people were thrown out of their houses that didn't owe money, and none of the bankers were held accountable" for their roles in the financial crisis, Stiglitz said. "I think that really has motivated the anger across the spectrum."
Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, told Democracy Now! in a December interview that "we're a wealthy-enough economy that we should be able to provide the basic requisites of a middle-class lifestyle for all Americans."
"[T]he question is whether the United States is rich enough to be able to make sure that everyone has a basic right to healthcare, family leave, parental, you know, sick leave--we are exceptional--whether we are a society that can tolerate--that should tolerate the levels of inequality that we have," Stiglitz said at the time. "I think Bernie Sanders is right about that."
On Wednesday, Stiglitz pointed out that 91 percent of economic gains made since the 2008 recession went to the top one percent of earners, while the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the pace of inflation by more than 60 years.
"The American economy is a failed economy," he said. "We have to once again rewrite the rules of the economy for the 21st century."