 |
| Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner |
"I'm not arguing for the elimination of inequality. But the extreme that we've reached is really bad. Particularly the way it's created. We could have a more equal society and a more efficient, stable, higher-growing economy. That's really the 'so what?' Even if you don't have any moral values and you just want to maximize GDP growth, this level of inequality is bad. It's not just the unfairness. The point is that we're paying a high price. The story we were told was that inequality was good for our economy. I'm telling a different story, that this level of inequality is bad for our economy."
Government meddling does not fix inequality, but rather tilt it in the direction the winds are blowing that day. The American idea is that everyone has the right to pursue happiness, reach new economic levels, and achieve whatever they want to achieve. The more government gets involved by giving to one group today, and another group tomorrow, simply makes those groups more dependent on government and less likely to achieve great things by themselves. I'd rather have an equality of opportunity for all than a form of equality forced upon people by some government elites choosing who they want to make dependedent.
ReplyDelete