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Joseph Stiglitz On the Great Divide

While many believe we are faced with a choice between growth and fairness, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz believes that with the right policies, we can have both.

‘Stiglitz is a rare combination of virtuoso economist, witty polemicist and public intellectual’ – New Statesman

‘An insanely great economist’ – Paul Krugman, The New York Times

Inequality is an increasing problem in the Western world, leaving everyone – the rich as well as the poor – worse off. The dream of a socially mobile society is becoming an ever more unachievable myth. That’s the view of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who came to the Intelligence Squared stage for a rare London appearance on May 20th. Stiglitz argued that inequality is not inevitable but a choice – the cumulative result of unjust policies and misguided priorities.

Stiglitz will expose the neoliberal policies, such as deregulation and tax cuts for the rich, which he claimed are causing many people to fall further and further behind. He will propose real solutions: increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy; helping homeowners instead of banks; investing in education, science, and infrastructure; and, most importantly, doing more to restore full employment. Stiglitz will draw lessons from America – the inequality leader of the developed world – as well as Scandinavia, Singapore, and Japan. And he argued against what he sees as the tide of unnecessary, destructive austerity that is sweeping across Europe.

While many believe we are faced with a choice between growth and fairness, Stiglitz believes that with the right policies, we can have both.


Speakers

Chair

Ed Conway

Economics Editor of Sky News


Economics and Data Editor of Sky News and a regular columnist for The Times and The Sunday Times. He has won numerous awards for his television and newspaper journalism, among them the 2018 Wincott Foundation Journalist of the Year Award. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book on Bretton Woods, The Summit: The Biggest Battle of the Second World War and his new book is Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future.   
Featuring

Joseph Stiglitz

Nobel Prize-winning economist


Nobel Prize-winning economist and former Chief Economist at the World Bank. He is the bestselling author of Globalization and Its Discontents, The Roaring Nineties, Making Globalization Work, Freefall and The Price of Inequality. His latest book is The Great Divide, a collection of essays and reflections on inequality.