Welp, once again, I enjoyed a Barnes and Noble author event where the author of a new book drops by to discuss it, and eventually answer questions from the crowd. And tonight’s was none other than economist/writer Joseph Stiglitz. Now that name may not mean a whole lot to most people, but Stiglitz is something of a rock star in economist circles (I know, a much different bar for what constitutes a rockstar) and has appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, written features for any notable magazine about economics, and is actually tonight’s guest on The Daily Show. [How’s that for a relevant tie-in?]
Anyway, Stiglitz started off the event by being roughly 15 minutes—–the man had a damn good excuse as he was filming The Daily Show—–but that time seems much longer when you’re in a crowd of old people asking you what time “the show” starts every five seconds. There is always an older-than-usual crowd at these author events but tonight I would guess the average age was roughly 95. Not that there’s anything wrong with being old, it’s just that I’m a little disappointed young people don’t seem to give two shits about income inequality, because Stiglitz’s book is a pretty fascinating read on the subject.
As with all economists, Stiglitz is very low on flash and humor—–they’re never so much captivating stage performers as impassioned teachers—–but makes up for it by being a one-man encyclopedia on the economy. Who needs swagger when you can get information? And the central topic of vast income inequality gradually ruining our economy and our way of life is obviously one I’m interested in.
Some bullet points Stiglitz touched on that are worth noting…
The United States now has the absolute worst income inequality among advanced industrialized nations.
The United States is now also the worst in “opportunity inequality” meaning that it’s now harder than ever for people to move up in income classes and (more than ever) your parents wealth is an indicator of your own wealth.
Plenty of Republicans know that “Trickle Down Economics” doesn’t work because there is not a single international example they can point to of it working, nor do red states that adopt that economic model perform better than blue states with a high social safety net…in almost any category. Basically, when you have to manipulate the hell out of some charts and get abstract with your reasoning, deep down, you know something is a crock of shit.
I won’t get into everything Stiglitz talked about because he talked for quite a while (the time-conscious manager of B&N looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel towards the end of one of his last soliloquies), but it did make me think his book would definitely be worth picking up. At the very least, an enlightening tutorial about economics (if you’ve never heard the term “rent seeking wealth,” you should) for a country that needs to learn more about complex finance…yesterday.
Some of the questions that were asked were as follows…
“Is it really smart to play hardball with the wealthy in a globalized economy where they can take their money anywhere?” It turns out, in some cases yes, because there really isn’t anywhere more favorable to big wealth for them to go…in some cases. Such as Mitt Romney’s 15 percent tax rate, which really couldn’t get much lower.
“To what extent does prejudice play into economics today?” Stiglitz gave a terrific answer about all the ways banks have targeted minorities for debts they knew they could never pay back, and then talked about student loan debt that never goes away even if you declare bankruptcy or (I’m not kidding) die. He pointed out that the worst student loan debt often comes from for-profit universities which are essentially owned by the banks, even though they’re largely subsidized by the government…once again, a case where the government pays all the costs and private big business makes all the profit.
“Would the middle-class and lower-class be better off if the Republican Party just disappeared?” Stiglitz didn’t really answer this one, but I think, deep down, he probably would say “yes” just by looking at all the conclusions his data has drawn on failed conservative economic policies.
Anyway, the biggest question to me was one that wasn’t asked and that’s “Are the majority of people here tonight old because young people and even middle-aged people still wildly delusional about the amount of money they’ll make, and old people know to a certainty what income class they’re in?” It’s been a recurring problem of mine to try to get young people to give a shit about income inequality, since to them it sounds good, since, you know, they’ll totally be in that 0.0001 percent anyway…which now controls a larger share of the American economic pie than ever before.
You tell em………