Joe Stiglitz: What Caused the Meltdown

[rugbyguy59]

He hits the nail on the head but unfortunately doesn't get deep enough into solutions, but that wasn't what he was explaining here. Growing financial inequality within nations are the problems. Why didn't we go into depression after WWII? High taxes on the super rich. The redistribution of income. Reagan and Thatcher began the destruction of the middle class when they began the reduction of high income taxes. Nobody earns salaries in the multi-million dollar range. Tax the beggars.

[NickInjecton]

This guy is full of shit and so are the left gatekeepers that run the nation magazine. Fuck centrism! It's time for full on support of The Green Party, the abolition of the federal reserve, a wall street sales tax, prohibiting all forms of financial derivatives and investing a trillion dollars into rebuilding infrastructure!

[jjrglobal]

Why didnt we go back into a depression after WW2 then? He never answered that.

[randyguitarman13]

Up until 1:20 here correctly describes the problem, then, sadly, goes retarded.

[Shadyhunter04]

@randyguitarman13 For me, he started going retarded at 0:37.

[ourearthhome]

Lack of aggregate demand=not enough money in the hands of those who would otherwise buy if they had the money. Debt is an unsustainable way to put money in people's hands. It is now clear that the problem could be solved simply by creating debt free money and giving everyone a guaranteed monthly income to cover the basic cost of survival. See Richard C. Cook. Also consider that the disparity of wealth historically and even now comes from the relative monopoly of community created land value.

[retsep81]

@ourearthhome, you said "creating debt free money"

What is that? How do you create money? You can't just print money forever and expect not to have serious problems, and if you had EITCs that paid out a livable salary you'd destroy the economy.

Why not just eliminate the income tax and let people keep their money int he first place? I'd buy a lot more stuff if I didn't have to pay an income tax, then cut gov spending by the ~40% of lost revenue from the lack of an income tax.

[jjrglobal]

@retsep81

great idea and do away with the fed.

[butchbm39]

40 % unemployments an achievment ?????? wow you must be loving this economy its heading there just wait its comeing ,,,,

[butchbm39]

no shit were poorer . your a smart fella . clinton bush mc cain Obama are alll for more gov controll. let freedom ring

[virginiahammon]

"Insufficiency of global aggregate demand"....

Stiglitz sounds like he is from the perpetual growth is good school of economic thinking: if only people where spending more, the economies could grow and everything would right itself...There is no healthy or sustainable system on planet earth that grows bigger indefinitely. A forever growing economy is a pyramid scheme and will inevitably collapse.

[unprofessionl]

thanks--this is helpful.

[ThisCanadian]

wait a minute, didn't he write a paper in 2001 for The Atlantic called 'Thanks for Nothing'. He's a former chief economist with the World Bank... I believe his premise at the time was about how "heavy-handed interference can break what doesn't need fixing"... ?

hum.

[SMoldie]

His like alot of economists who did not see or did not want to see what was happening. It was historians and academics who were warning about the financial black hole which was being created.

[larry1369]

Heavy handed interference versus letting the thieves rip off the economy and not go to prison. All three of Hw's sons' took advantage of weak banking laws. Only Neal was charged to my knowledge. His lawyer was provided free of charge by lobbyists who were lobbying for weaker regulation of the banking industry. He plea bargained as is not allowed to work in banking again. It was Silverado S&L in Colorado and the taxpayers picked up a tab of over 120 million. Good work if you can get it. Google it