Donate NowJoseph Stiglitz — Nobel laureate, Columbia University professor, former World Bank chief economist – is in Australia to promote his new book The Road to Freedom. His message: that the free-enterprise economy – “neoliberalism” — does not work and more government intervention in the economy is justified. He wants to reclaim the word “freedom” from people like us. Perhaps not surprisingly, ABC radio and television has hailed him as a visionary. He will also be on Q and A, no doubt preaching the failure of capitalism.
In this short video, Tom Switzer explains the weaknesses of Professor Stiglitz’s thesis. Among other things, the kinds of policies applied in Australia and other advanced countries over the last 15 years are hardly an example of what Professor Stiglitz calls neo-liberalism. That is, free-market policies have not been tested for a very long time, so he can hardly blame current economic conditions on such policies.