Stiglitz on Economy

• The obstacles the global economy faces are not rooted in economics, but in politics and ideology.
• While our banks are back to a reasonable state of health, they have demonstrated that they are not fit to fulfill their purpose. They excel in exploitation and market manipulation; but they have failed in their essential function of inter-mediation. Between long-term savers (for example, sovereign wealth funds and those saving for retirement) and long-term investment in infrastructure stands our short-sighted and dysfunctional financial sector.
• If the country cannot resolve its own problems in a way that the rest of the world believes is fair; if it cannot, with all of its wealth, even provide health care for all of its citizens; if it cannot, with all of its wealth, deliver quality education for all of its young; if it cannot, with all of its wealth, afford to spend the money required for the kind of modern infrastructure, energy, and transportation systems that global warming demands—then how can it provide advice to others on how they should resolve their problems?