Economists divide into those who theorize about the economy and those who use data to understand how it works. Theorist Joseph Stiglitz has impressive credentials – a Nobel Prize, appointments at the best universities and to top positions in government and international organizations. He counts, along with Paul Krugman, as the most prominent economist of the American left.
Stiglitz’s tone-deaf article for the New York Times (In No One We Trust) argues that private enterprise and the profit motive have destroyed trust without which the economy and society cannot function. It is up to government to restore trust and to make us all better people in the process.
The timing of Stiglitz’s “government is the cure” message, amidst the catastrophic roll-out of ObamaCare, confirms the ivory-tower detachment of Stiglitz and his ilk. Just as Obama’s administrators are turning the lives of Americans topsy-turvy with contradictory, improvised health-care regulations, Stiglitz wants state planners and bureaucrats to expand their control of our lives all the way down to enforcing their version of business ethics.
go to forbes.com
