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Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, economist, and professor at Columbia University spoke to the protestors in Zuccotti Park yesterday. Because the protesters have been denied the right to use megaphones, he paused in between lines for the crowd that had gathered around him to repeat his words more loudly. He encouraged the protestors, and affirmed that they were doing the right thing in standing up to Wall Street. Here is an excerpt from his remarks, and a video clip.
“You are right to be indignant. The fact is the system is not working right. It is not right that we have so many people without jobs when we have so many needs that we have to fulfill. It’s not right that we are throwing people out of their houses when we have so many homeless people.
Our financial markets have an important role to play. They’re supposed to allocate capital, manage risks. But they misallocated capital, and they created risk. We are bearing the cost of their misdeeds. There’s a system where we’ve socialized losses and privatized gains. That’s not capitalism; that’s not a market economy. That’s a distorted economy, and if we continue with that, we won’t succeed in growing, and we won’t succeed in creating a just society.”
Joseph Stiglitz ecouraging protestors in Zuccotti Park. « Dover Beach
Our financial markets have an important role to play. They’re supposed to allocate capital, manage risks. But they misallocated capital, and they created risk. We are bearing the cost of their misdeeds. There’s a system where we’ve socialized losses and privatized gains. That’s not capitalism; that’s not a market economy. That’s a distorted economy, and if we continue with that, we won’t succeed in growing, and we won’t succeed in creating a just society.”
Joseph Stiglitz ecouraging protestors in Zuccotti Park. « Dover Beach