QuoteProject
European officials thought that austerity was part of what they called their 'convergence policies,' of trying to bring countries together. Instead, it actually made things worse. There's more inequality within countries and more disparity across countries.
Joseph Stiglitz
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Austerity measures intended to unify European countries have instead exacerbated inequality.

Joseph Stiglitz critiques the convergence policies adopted by European officials during periods of austerity, arguing that rather than promoting equality and cohesion among countries, these policies have led to increased inequality both within individual nations and across the continent. The quote suggests that such economic strategies have failed to achieve their intended goals and may have harmful consequences instead.

Themes

AusterityInequalityEconomyDisparityConvergence

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion on economic policies, one might say, 'As Stiglitz notes, austerity often increases inequality,' to emphasize the drawbacks of such measures.

More from Joseph Stiglitz

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.
Joseph StiglitzRead
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.
Joseph StiglitzRead
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.
Joseph StiglitzRead
What separates developing countries from developed countries is as much a gap in knowledge as a gap in resources.
Joseph StiglitzRead
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.
Joseph StiglitzRead
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.
Joseph StiglitzRead

Similar quotes

It is better that a man should tyrannize over his bank balance than over his fellow-citizens.
John Maynard KeynesRead
The collapse of the world's banking system and the impending disaster of accelerating climate change are not separate phenomena. They are simply the most visible symptoms of a particular model of capitalism that will bring civilisation to its knees. But those symptoms will not get sorted unless and until we commit to a radical transformation of the way we create and distribute wealth in the world today
Jonathon PorrittRead
We all knew this. We all knew that it would take more time than any of us want to dig ourselves out of this hole created by this economic crisis.
Barack ObamaRead
This long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is long past the ocean is flat again.
John Maynard KeynesRead
The widely accepted assertion that, only if you let markets be will everyone be paid correctly and thus fairly, according to his worth, is a myth. Only when we part with this myth and grasp the political nature of the market and the collective nature of individual productivity will we be able to build a more just society in which historical legacies and collective actions, and not just individual talents and efforts, are properly taken into account in deciding how to reward people.
Ha-Joon ChangRead
The value of a currency is, ultimately, what someone will give you for it - whether in food, fuel, assets, or labor. And that's always and everywhere a subjective decision.
James SurowieckiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.