Markets do not always work; information is vital in financial markets. Markets are not always self-correcting (as in the Great Depression). The predominant view forgets about market failure. We created regulations for 50 years after the Great Depression. Once we stripped away regulations, we started having crises, 125 crises. Economic theory forgot about bad experiences.
The US exported deregulation theory, toxic mortgages and crisis. US credibility is now undermined. Asia is growing; a new geo-economic balance is forming...
Market fundamentalism did not work. Moving from G8 to G20 was a step in the right direction. Ministries get captured by special interests, not the national interest...
Before the crisis, we were in a dream world; one in four American homeowners were under water. We had to write-down mortgages but failed. In 2010, we expect between 2-3 million foreclosures. We suspended the rules of capitalism to give more money to banks and thus undermined market discipline.
We need visions of what kind of financial system and what kind of economy we want. If our planet does not survive, a high GDP is not important.."
to hear Joseph Stiglitz interviewed by Lori Wallach, Global Trade Watch director of Public Citizen, February 14, 2010, click on
http://www.booktv.org/Featured/11279/After+Words+Joseph+Stiglitz+Freefall+interviewed+by+Lori+Wallach.aspx