The Great Divide Quotes

“Democracy, we now know, is more than periodic elections in some countries, such elections have been used to legitimize essentially authoritarian regimes and deprive large parts of the citizenry of basic rights.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“The financial sector provides ample rewards for those who agree with them: lucrative consultancies, research grants, and the like. The documentary raises a question: Could this have influenced some economists’ judgments?”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide

“If a business borrows to buy a machine, it’s a good thing, not a bad thing. During the past six years, America—its government, its families, the country as a whole—has been borrowing to sustain its consumption. Meanwhile, investment in fixed assets—the plants and equipment that help increase our wealth—has been declining.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“We were not rich, but my parents had adjusted their lifestyle to their incomes—and in the end that is a big part of the battle.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“Today, China alone holds more than $1 trillion in public and private American IOUs. Cumulative borrowing from abroad during the six years of the Bush administration amounts to some $5 trillion. Most likely these creditors will not call in their loans—if they ever did, there would be a global financial crisis.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“Suppose someone were to describe a small country that provided free education through university for all of its citizens, transportation for schoolchildren, and free health care - including heart surgery - for all. You might suspect that a country is either phenomenally rich or on the fast track to fiscal crisis.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“El aumento de las desigualdades corroe la confianza; tiene un impacto económico similar al de un disolvente universal. Crea un mundo económico en el que hasta los ganadores son precavidos. Y los perdedores… En toda transacción, en todo contacto con un jefe, una empresa o un burócrata, ven la mano de alguien que quiere aprovecharse de ellos.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, La gran brecha: Qué hacer con las sociedades desiguales

“A lo largo de la historia, las economías que han florecido son aquellas en las que los acuerdos se sellan con un apretón de manos. Sin confianza, los tratos de negocios basados en el consenso de que los detalles más complicados se aclararán más tarde dejan de ser posibles. Sin confianza, cada participante mira a su alrededor para ver cómo y cuándo van a traicionarle sus interlocutores.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, La gran brecha: Qué hacer con las sociedades desiguales

“Oxfam found that the top 1 percent of the world now owned nearly half the world’s wealth— and are on track to own as much of the rest of the 99 percent combined by 2016.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide

“Loose money and light regulation were a toxic mixture. It exploded.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“Borrowers were told not to worry about paying the ever-mounting debt, because house prices would keep rising and they could refinance, taking out some of the capital gains to buy a car or pay for a vacation.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“Looking back at that belief during hearings this fall on Capitol Hill, Alan Greenspan said out loud, “I have found a flaw.” Congressman Henry Waxman pushed him, responding, “In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right; it wasn’t working.” “Absolutely, precisely,” Greenspan said.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

“Just as Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib have eroded America’s moral authority, so the Bush administration’s fiscal housekeeping has eroded our economic authority.”
― Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them