Joseph Stiglitz: "Full speed into the sinkhole of austerity" (in the Toronto Star)

Article by Joseph Stiglitz in the Toronto Star.

"Both the United States and Europe, for instance, must retrofit their economies to address the challenges of global warming. There are feasible policies that would work within long-term budget constraints. The problem is politics: in the U.S., the Republican party would rather see President Barack Obama fail than the economy succeed. In Europe, 27 countries with different interests and perspectives are pulling in different directions, without enough solidarity to compensate. The bailout packages are, in this light, impressive achievements.

In both Europe and America, the free-market ideology that allowed asset bubbles to grow unfettered — markets always know best, so government must not intervene — now ties policy-makers' hands in designing effective responses to the crisis. One might have thought that the crisis itself would undermine confidence in that ideology. Instead, it has resurfaced to drag governments and economies down the sinkhole of austerity."

Full article:Full speed into the sinkhole of austerity.