NEWSMAX: …The U.S. economy was sick even before the 2008 financial crisis, he writes. It wasn’t just the housing bubble. Problems festering beneath the surface included growing inequality, global imbalances and rampant speculation that was doing nothing to spur productivity or create jobs.
Policymakers not only failed to address those problems, they actually made them worse and created news ones, Stiglitz charges. Austerity polices made the downturn deeper and longer than necessary — and “with long-lasting consequences.”
Many countries became more indebted as the downturn diminished tax revenues. Because of public and private underinvestment, a generation of young people who should have been improving their skills have become idle and increasingly alienated… (more)
