I don't think we can have democracies that work where most of the people are not benefiting economically, where most of the people are worried about their job security.
Interpretation
Democracies require economic stability and job security for their citizens to function effectively.
Joseph Stiglitz emphasizes that the success of democracies is closely tied to the economic well-being of the populace. When the majority of people feel insecure about their jobs and economic prospects, it undermines the foundations of democratic governance, leading to discontent and instability. Therefore, economic benefits and job security are essential for a healthy democratic society.
In practice
This quote could be used in a political debate to highlight the importance of economic issues in democratic societies.
Free migration within Europe means that countries that have done a better job at reducing unemployment will predictably end up with more than their fair share of refugees. Workers in these countries bear the cost in depressed wages and higher unemployment, while employers benefit from cheaper labor.
Let me put it very forcefully: No large economy has ever recovered from an economic downturn through austerity. It's not going to happen in the United States, and it's not going to happen in Europe.
What separates developing countries from developed countries is as much a gap in knowledge as a gap in resources.
One of the arguments I make for the failure of the euro is that, at the time it was being constructed, there was a 'neo-liberal' ideology which said that all we need to do to make this thing work is to get deficits low, keep inflation low, and take down barriers, and then everything would be fine.
Trump sees the world in terms of a zero-sum game. In reality, globalisation, if well managed, is a positive-sum force: America gains if its friends and allies - whether Australia, the E.U., or Mexico - are stronger. But Trump's approach threatens to turn it into a negative-sum game: America will lose, too.
We have a locale-based education system; we have increasing economic segregation. We clearly need a larger federal program to try to help disadvantaged districts.
Aristocrats fear the people, and wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society.
Concentrated power can be always wielded in the interest of the few and at the expense of the many. Government in its last analysis is this power reduced to a science. Governments never lead; they follow progress. When the prison, stake or scaffold can no longer silence the voice of the protesting minority, progress moves on a step, but not until then.
In Washington, task forces work like Tylenol: they reduce the symptoms of scandal while leaving the substance untouched.
Our tax policy is engineered by people who view tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure.
There is too much disagreement for disagreement's sake. In a time of persistent challenges that still call into question our most sacred aspirations as a country, we cannot afford shallow callous divisiveness in our public debate.
We all remember the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst oil spill in U.S. history. What is less well known is that BP is claiming a 9.9 billion tax deduction on the money they had to spend cleaning up their own mess and paying for damages they caused. That is absurd.
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