Wall Street can't fix woes: Stiglitz

[babylonsister]

Videos at link~

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/wall_street_cant_fix_woes_stig.html


Wall Street can't fix woes: Stiglitz
Posted September 18, 2008 12:48 PM
The Swamp

by Frank James


Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate economist and Columbia University professor, talked recently about Wall Street's meltdown. The interview is on the site, Big Think which I learned about through Barry Ritholtz's excellent Big Picture blog which focuses on the financial markets.

In his accessible, sometimes humorous way, Stiglitz explains that the financial-markets meltdown and the larger economic troubles are going to take some time to work through, that we may be only halfway there, and that's if the economic pendulum doesn't swing too far to the downside.

Stiglitz doesn't have a lot of good to say about the people who got us in this mess, meaning federal officials who didn't do oversight and who tried to minimize the problems of the economy as recently as May, or the Wall Street whizzes, some of whom he taught, who were too busy making their gazillions to slow down and see the danger signs.

You should keep in mind while watching this that Stiglitz is a progressive and and a partisan, which why he takes a shot at Republicans and their lobbyists.

But Stiglitz is brilliant. He's one of those people who everyone pretty much knew ahead of time was going to get a Nobel Prize. When he headed President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, which is where I met him as a reporter covering economics at the time, that was the buzz about him, future Nobel Prize winner. And it was true.

So he's definitely worth listening to, even if you disagree with his politics.

One of the best moments in the video that starts this post comes after Stiglitz is asked who can fix the problem. I won't give away the answer but it made me laugh out loud. If he's right, we're in bigger trouble than I thought.

more...

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/wall_street_cant_fix_woes_stig.html

[applegrove]

1. Thanks for posting.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. This should be required reading/listening to anyone who has money.

Most excellent find, babylonsister.
A thousand vibes of good karma to you.

[SweetieD]

3. I hope Obama brings Stiglitz on as an adviser. This guy is the real deal.

[Indenturedebtor]

4. Good videos thanks! n/t

[greendog]

5. k&r