Newsweek: Why Is Washington Ignoring "Economic Prophet" Stiglitz?

newsweek.com:

Such is the lot of Joe Stiglitz. Even in the contentious world of economics, he is considered somewhat prickly. And while he may be a Nobel laureate, in Washington he's seen as just another economic critic--and not always a welcome one. Few Americans recognize his name, and fewer still would recognize the man, who is short and stocky and bears a faint resemblance to Mel Brooks. Yet Stiglitz's work is cited by more economists than anyone else's in the world, according to data compiled by the University of Connecticut. And when he goes abroad--to Europe, Asia, and Latin America--he is received like a superstar, a modern-day oracle. "In Asia they treat him like a god," says Robert Johnson, a former chief economist for the Senate banking committee who has traveled with him. "People walk up to him on the streets."

Read the whole story: newsweek.com

Comments

[cdembrey]

Because of the economy, and his handling of the problems, I don't think O'bama will get a second term. If Af-gan-is-tan turns into another Vi-et N-am ...

[MyTake]

"he says he realized that if Smith's "invisible hand" always guided behavior correctly, the kind of unemployment and poverty he had witnessed in Gary shouldn't exist"

Stiglitz may be a world class economic analyst, but he is not a world class investigator. The U.S. economic system is CONTROLLED by the INVISIBLE HAND and that HAND controls the INSIDER INFORMATION that manipulates the stock markets and FED policy.

Mr. Stiglitz, the Rockefeller Standard Oil monopoly wealth was used in 1909 & 13, using the preeminent banker of the day, JP Morgan (a Rothschild trained associate), to create a U.S. PRIVATE CENTRAL BANK called the Federal Reserve. This bank, nor its records, has never been publicly AUDITED since its inception and those 10 INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE INVESTMENT BANKS that profit from and control The Reserve are unknown to the American population.

Mr. Stiglitz should look over the U.S. attendee list: http://illegalprotest.com/2008/06/08/list-of-bilderberg-2008-attendees-globalists-exposed/ at the secret 3 day 2008 Bilderberg Group meeting held in Chantilly, Virginia to take a look at that PRIVATE HAND. There sat Rockefeller, Kissinger, Bernanke, the current FED Chairman Paulsen and the next FED Chairman Geithner, Summers etc.

Now, Mr. Stiglitz, if you think that that meeting and those assembled are not the INVISIBLE HAND and INSIDERS controlling U.S. economics, you should turn in your NOBEL prize and RETIRE.

http://illegalprotest.com/2008/06/08/list-of-bilderberg-2008-attendees-globalists-exposed/

[bobwalters]

Contrary to your brief critique, I think Dr. Stiglitz is WELL AWARE of who constitutes the "invisible hand" operating behind the curtain. I'm not sure that President Obama is as aware as he should be, but perhaps he is. That certainly would explain, to some degree, his timidity with respect to dealing with the "too-big-to-fail" banks and banksters, his timidity with respect to establishing a workable industrial policy, a humane and workable trade policy, and adequate economic stimulus that aided the majority of American society; with respect to winding down the occupation of Iraq to zero; with respect to getting the hell out of Afghanistan, despite the unrelenting drive by UNOCAL + its consortium partners to get their trans-Afghan pipeline built and protected, etc., etc., etc. It also might explain Obama's timidity with respect to reforming the healthcare industry; to re-orienting the economy to serve the interests of the majority of Americans rather than the privileged few; again, etc., etc., etc. It certainly would explain Obama's reluctance, along with the reluctance/active resistance of Congress, to publicly investigate and prosecute members of the Bush/Cheney Crime Family for war crimes, treason, and whatever other crimes they committed that we may not know about yet. I have no doubt the "invisible hand" has communicated to Obama what are likely to be dire consequences to him and his family should he deviate very far from their preferred agenda.

[MyTake]

Those are good points you are making.

But just look past the government administration and see what is standing in the background. Right there you will see the de facto government of the United States under the banner of The Council on Foreign Relations, a 3000 member Rockefeller funded and controlled entity. How does this one powerful organization become the Transition team for and supply each new President some 300 names for appointment to key secretary and under-secretary positions across his administration.

CFR is interlocked with the Bilderberg Group which are marching the governments towards global governance with them in charge. The plan is simple. Bankrupt the G8/G20 governments force the buyout of there military and move it to UN control.

Obama was recruited by Vernon Jordon who has recruited each President from Clinton onwards. Here is Clinton lying his rear end off about attending Bilderberg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jmzWi_nhQg . And here is Jordon's connection to Obama: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-stevens/barack-obama-the-man-i-kn_b_84866.html .

And here is a nice short article on the CFR TARP connection: http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/commentary-mainmenu-43/915 .

[ddanimal]

Small banks and small businesses are allowed to fail.

Big banks are given taxpayer money, and saved from the consequences of their bad decisions. The big banks are getting even bigger and more politically powerful.

I am absolutely disgusted with Obamas handling of the economy and crisis. He is stealing money from the middle working class and giving to the super rich bankers. I sure wish that americans would do more to protest the looting, especially democrats who seem to be clueless about what is going on.

[Lorianne]

Yeah, you'd think people would be out in the streets protesting this sort of thing.
Oh wait ... some of them were.

[abbyrose86]

Economics IS not an exact Science....but rather a compilation of THEORY....thus there are varying degrees of ideas as to how is the best way to fix the problem. There is NO quick fix to our issues, as human psychology is also not an exact science. When you combine economics and psychology to study the human experiment, you will find varying degrees of beliefs and potential solutions.

As a result, is not about being "clueless" but rather about looking at different perspectives....in addition, don't forget that most people including our elected leaders, look out for their own best interests.

[Bub]

I read the piece. Quite simply, Stiglitz is for poor people. Obama administration was bought and paid for by rich Wall Street guys. Thus Stiglitz is persona non grata with Obama.

[Ping]

C.e.n.s.o.red. once again.

[texanna]

Summers may or may not be behind the reason that Stiglitz doesn't get any respect in the Obama Administration; but mostly I think that it's because he's a thorn in the side of the Big Money Guys (Goldman Sachs) on Wall Street. Because they pretty much own our Treasury and dictate our economic policy they are not interested in anyone hearing too much from Stiglitz.

[jekyll]

Stiglitz may be against GS and other Wall Street firms....but he is a cheerleader for the Federal Reserve policy. The FED is a private banking cartel that was created and owned by the same Wall Street banking trust and which is government protected. Since Stiglitz is a cheerleader for more statist power, he is simply for more of a monopoly over our money by the same banking cartel. He is inconsistent in his arguments. If you want to be against corporate welfare....then you must be against the FED, which is the entity that ensures their profits.

[Bub]

What's your proposed alternative to the Fed?

[opine2u]

The economic crisis was not only financial meltdown, which is really the wrong interpretation, it was a seismic economic earthquake, like stopping a runaway train abruptly and watching the coupling of different boxcars banging into one another, in some cases even rolling back from the impact, as if in a hyper after shock.
There will still be some major repercussions yet to occur as part of the after shock that are as yet not visible, one of the indicators is the ever increasing after shock of the newly revealed jobless figures.
This President hasn't yet wrestled to the ground this monstrous economic dragon and he seems to be either ignoring it's breathing fire on the US and World economy, while he's glad handing on global tours, and fanning the flames with Health Care. When as President, he should be concentrating his whole entire effort at bringing down this economic beast, with the best minds in the field that are available to him. The trouble is he's to impetuous, naive and egotistical to know how to fix the problem.

[Bub]

The root cause of the propblem is 35 years of supply-side policy bias. The antidote is demand-side policy bias. That means giving money to the poor, bargaining power to the working class and taxing the rich. None of that is going to happen. So, barring another world war or a revolution, the economic collapse is here to stay.

[ddanimal]

Get ready for round two of the economic collapse, this fall. Things are NOT getting better.

[jekyll]

Please watch this video....and try not to laugh/cry.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/029485.html

The problem is with the "central" banksters who have all the power!! We need to Audit the FED now! Ask your Congressmen to support H.R. 1207 and your Senators to support S. 604.

[jekyll]

ChristianE­con.....yo­u say that Austrian economics is welfare for the rich. LOL!!!!! The Austrian economists are for the Audit of the FED and eventually for the abolishment for the FED. The FED has been responsible for manipulating interest rates which cause all the booms. Then when all the booms go bust....it is the FED and government to the rescue to ensure the banksters their profits and then to make sure the loses are pushed onto the U.S. taxpayers. Your criticism is pure hypocrisy.­...outrigh­t laughable!!!! If your actually against welfare for the rich...then you should be for Austrian economics. This is not a republican or democrat issue...wise up!!!

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

please make sure to point out that Austria hasn't always been fond of Austrian economics.

Like, basically, never.

[jekyll]

What? Please explain what you mean? Your comment makes no sense.

[journey80]

More to the point: WHY IS PRESIDENT OBAMA IGNORING EVERYONE BUT LARRY SUMMERS?

[Diana]

exactly the question

[itssafetosay]

And Geithner. I recall Pres. Obama making a point that he would bring people with differing views together to seek solutions for problems. Hasn't happened here. Summers and Geithner just may prove to be Obama's Achilles heel. The Obama that I thought I voted for and felt I had a sense of thru books, speeches, etc. would have brought someone like Stiglitz on as a trusted advisor at the beginning, but it's clear the Goldman gang are the real ones running the entire show.

[ddanimal]

It appears thats because Obama is a stooge for Wall Street banksters.

[Tena]

And why is Huffpo constantly pounding Obama's economic policies, even before things have a chance to come together?

This is constant this drumbeat of failure here - and I don't get it nor do I see how it really is furthering anything other than low-lying and not so low-lying discontent and loss of confidence in a recovery that is in place and cannot be redone now.

[ddanimal]

Recovery? Ha! You have a lot to learn. There will be no recovery. Debt cannot grow further. Its already at 350% of GDP. Obama/Summ­ers/bernan­ke and trying to force it higher. This will only make the eventual collapse even worse. They are not solving anything.

The criticism is becuase Obama is rewarding the wrong people, put in charge the people who helped create the crisis, and spending our money foolishly on the bankers who made bad bets. Obama wont let anyone fail, and that will cause the US Government to fail. The US government does not have enough credit or earnings power to bail everyone out.

[Lorianne]

Recovery?
Recover to what? The system we had before based on unusustainable levels of consomer spending based on unsustainable levels of consumer debt, based on fantasy 'bubble' wealth?

[HumeSkeptic]

This article offers little content. It's mostly about personalities.
Generally speaking, Stiglitz is for more regulation than we have had. That is happening, and more is coming. So, whether he is given credit for it or not, what Stiglitz wants is happening.

It should also be noted that, thus far, his criticsm of TARP appears to have been unjustified. There is already increased stability in the financial system. The hope is that this stablity would not lead to the Administration dropping the ball on more regulation. More regulation is needed to avoid similar crises in the future.

His call for bigger Stimulus pacakge was shared by many. But there is a difference between what his theory says and what can be accomplished politically. Besides, the time to judge whether the present Stimulus is adequate would be after the majority of the money is spent. With only 7% or so spent thus far, it is hard to convince anyone that more is needed.

.

[DofG]

Yes, unfortunately, the media is portraying this whole recovery processs as a political drag race, where the results are being measured from moment to moment! When you have to keep reminding the public that this is two year roll out, you know you are dealing with an intellectually challenged body politic, impatiently waiting for their piece of manna from heaven.

[Melkor]

"Generally speaking, Stiglitz is for more regulation than we have had."

That's a HUGE generalisation indeed:

"He wrote that the stimulus program was too small to be effective—a criticism that has since swelled into a chorus, though Obama says he's not adding more money. Stiglitz also had called the administration's bailout plan a giveaway to Wall Street, an "ersatz capitalism" that would save the banks' investors and creditors and screw the taxpayers. "

The devil is in the details. You read the financial news earlier this week - "Goldman Sachs makes record profits." Welfare for the rich, seems like "ersatz capitalism" to me. You might not agree with Stiglitz's conclusions on what needs to be done for the economy, but you can't say that he is in any way in sync with what the administration is doing.

[jsarets]

Nobody said TARP wouldn't stabilize the financial system in the short run. The problem with TARP is what is means for the financial system in the long run. The industry will continue to consolidate, with TBTF institutions acquiring non-TBTF institutions at pennies on the dollar, and the industry will continue to operate under the principle of "heads I win, tails you lose".

Plain and simple, TARP is anti-competitive, and it will accelerate GS and JPM's economic coup while making access to affordable credit increasingly inequitable.

[ddanimal]

TARP is a looting of the taxpayer, a transfer of wealth from the working middle class to the super rich, well-connected bankers. Its very disappointing that there are Obama supporters that do not see it for what it is" corporate welfare that will not solve the problem.

Taxpayers are forced to pay for very expensive golden parachutes for the criminal bankers that caused the problem in the first place. And the idiotic economists that helped create the problem (i.e. Summers) are in control of policy once more.

We wont see change until the entire system crashes in a manner that is completely beyond the Governments control. The idiots in charge will not stop piling on debt until it totally explodes in their face. Thats going to make the present crisis look cute in comparison. Thanks Obama.

[Diana]

What regulation are you referring to exactly? I don't know of anything that constrains Wall Street one whit. Indeed, the Masters of the Universe are more powerful than ever. Under the 'liberal' democrat Obama, they've been able to get away with more than they ever could under Cheney/Bush.

P.S. You're rhetoric seems toned down. Are you now pretending to be a democrat?

[dragonlady620]

It's not hard to see why Stiglitz is demonized by the most of the financial community. Anyone who preaches regulation or anything else that interferes with immediate profits is bound to be considered anathema.

[itssafetosay]

Not mention helping poor people (gasp!), for whom, if the system was no longer stacked completely against them, might just start making a bigger share of the pie. But then that's less pie for the robber barons. No way Jose.

Let them eat cake!

[THEPILGRIM]

Our current financial system is fundamentally broke and backing it up with tax payer’s money is criminal and unconstitutional – period.
We need severe oversight over our banks; they are not the center of the Universe. We need to put an end to those frivolous speculations.
Wall Street and Corporate America will and need to play a much smaller role in the future. A healthy economy is backed by healthy small and medium sized companies, the backbone of our economy.
So far we have lost between 600,000 – 750,000 jobs per month over the last 10 month alone. That sums up to about 6 million jobs lost.
Plus over the next 6 month the job loss will continue and the best thing we can hope for is that it is somewhat at a lower rate. This is terrible for the real economy – this is really bad.
Now Obama’s stimulus will create or save maybe 3 million jobs that is not nearly enough! – Not even close.
And in the meantime Wall Street continues with business as usual and pretends all is fine.
The concept that we can somehow support our broke and failed financial system with tax payer’s money is insane.
Our entire gamble is backed by China which is already having some serious issues but in the long run cannot afford it at all.
So time for change is now, but Obama is far away from delivering anything. Incl. real healthcare reform

[lillibelle]

Very excellent points, Pilgrim.

[ddanimal]

The ridiculous attempt by Obama to prop up the failing US economy with bank bailouts, hiding losses and unsustainable borrowing is doomed to fail. It will end in tears, just like the housing bubble.

[itssafetosay]

"Plus over the next 6 month the job loss will continue and the best thing we can hope for is that it is somewhat at a lower rate. This is terrible for the real economy " this is really bad."

I know. Add to that the millions who lose unemployment in a few months. What, exactly, are people going to do especially when it may take years for the job market to recover (if ever)?

Please let me hear Obama address this directly, and soon. No more trips abroad right now. Get outside the beltway and start talking to real people like you did when you campaigned.

[zizyphus]

From what I can see, economics is a pseudo-science, like astrology.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

or maybe science is a pseudo-science