Podcast
Odd Lots
It discussed how the neoliberal framework, which dominated for forty years, failed to deliver on its promises, leading to slower growth and less well-being. He argued it was a failed economic philosophy that led to the wrong direction.
So Professor Stiglitz, thank you so much for coming on all thoughts.
— Episode: Joseph Stiglitz on How to Build Shock-Pr...
Episode: Joseph Stiglitz on How to Build Shock-Proof Supply...
It discussed how the neoliberal framework, which dominated for forty years, failed to deliver on its promises, leading to slower growth and less well-being. He argued it was a failed economic philosophy that led to the wrong direction.
So Professor Stiglitz, thank you so much for coming on all thoughts.
So I have to say your book actually featured in one of my most annoying and overconfident international relations essays of all time where I wrote that Stiglitz made a fair criticism of international institutions but he should have gone even further.
And he has a new book out now as well. It is called The Road to Freedom, Economics and the Good Society.
But one of the reasons we wanted to have you on the show was not necessarily because of the new book although it looks really interesting but you also just published a working paper over at the Federal Reserve and it's called Our Supply Networks Efficiently Resilient. How did that get on your radar?
Very much I mean neoliberalism you have left neoliberalism and right neoliberalism but it was basically neoliberalism it failed GDP didn't even grow faster it grew more slowly after 1980 when it became the dominant doctrine growth was slow most of the growth that did occur went to the very top there was more insecurity less well-being as we've been talking about it and there's a mini rebellion going on unfortunately it's a rebellion that is grounded in anger but not analysis so the easy answer to why things haven't done gone well is others Americans might complain about unfair trade agreements we hadn't signed those unfair trade agreements if we weren't paying more than our fair share if we didn't have those immigrants and each it plays out in different ways in different countries but it's basically the same blame others rather than looking inward and say you know we didn't get our economic philosophy our economic our economics right and that's really one of the central messages of my new book the road to freedom the the right wing people like Hayek and Friedman said that if you only add unfettered markets forget about negative externalities forget about positive externalities everything works out fine the market is you know worship at the at the market everybody's going to be better off growth will be higher trickle down economics will make sure everybody will be the same we were duped by a failed economic philosophy and what makes me you might say almost angry about this thing is that at the time it went into ascendancy to say with Reagan in 1980 we'd already proven that those ideas were wrong we had already shown we talked to earlier today about how economists analyze the economy and we've shown that unfettered markets do not deliver on societal well-being and we explained why and they ignored all that now we have 40 years of evidence of seeing wide extra when I what I try to write about it in this book the road to freedom they thought this free enterprise would lead to not only more efficient markets but also to political freedom but the growth of authoritarianism is seen most in places where there's not too much government but too little government and where government he hasn't done enough so my claim is it was this neoliberalism wasn't really freeing as it claimed was going to was bringing us exact in the wrong direction.
