Joseph Stiglitz claims the American dream is a myth, but the good news is that the Nobel Prize winner has few ideas how to make it a reality. Stiglitz revealed in a new interview that he blames bad politics and poor policies such as deregulation, tax cuts, and tax breaks for the 1 percent for the death of the American dream. Stiglitz advocates for the Obama administration and future presidents to focus on restoring the economy, helping poor children, zooming on education, science, and infrastructure.
Joseph Stiglitz believes the American dream is a myth. Stiglitz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, has recently published a book entitled The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them where he revealed that the American dream is currently dead due to the growing income inequality.
In the book, the Columbia University Professor in New York pointed to the reasons for the inequality in America. Mr. Joseph Stiglitz has identified the Great Recession and its long aftermath as the primary cause of the growing inequality.
According to the professor, a slew of bad policies from presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush such as deregulation, tax cuts, and tax breaks for the 1 percent have further pushed the country to sink.
Stiglitz, who worked for President Bill Clinton and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, stated:
“America is no longer the land of opportunity that it (and others) like to think it is.To a large extent, the American Dream is a myth.”
He added:
“Lowering tax rates on capital gains … has given the wealthiest Americans close to a free ride.”
Stiglitz gave some solutions to make the American dream possible again for low-income families. Stiglitz hopes the Obama administration and the next president will do more to restore the economy of the Clinton era.
Joseph Stiglitz is asking for fair policies like tax reform in order to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy and for more focus on education, science, and infrastructure.
He also wants the US government to invest more in order to help the children of the poor. A new study from the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy shows that the SAT gap has widened since 1980 along with the divergent fortunes of rich and poor families.
According to economists and social scientists, students from households with annual incomes of $120,000 have higher SATs scores than children with parents making $20,000 or less.
The liberal economist, whose work on climate change, led to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, shared:
“We spend more even in the public school on the children of the rich than we do the poor. We are transmitting advantages and disadvantages across generations, and that is the most important factor in this inequality of opportunity.”
Joseph Stiglitz concluded his book by saying that America’s economic inequality is more than political, it is also a moral issue.
He is hoping that potential and official presidential candidates like Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton will pursue the policies that he described in order to make the American dream real and accessible again.
What are your thoughts on this Joseph Stiglitz’s American dream quote?
