Nobel economist: Trump's 'trickle-down' economic plans are not enough to meet coronavirus challenge

[BeckyDem]

Published 2 hours ago

on March 20, 2020

By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now

The coronavirus relief package signed by President Trump Wednesday provides unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job, but guarantees paid sick leave to less than 20% of American workers. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package and has laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production. For more on those bailouts and who benefits, we speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute. He served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and as chief economist of the World Bank. His latest book is “People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent.”

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. President Trump Wednesday signed a coronavirus relief package providing unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job. The aid package guarantees paid leave to less than 20% of American workers. It does not apply to companies with 500 or more workers, and workplaces with fewer than 50 workers can request to opt out. On Wednesday, the White House also ordered the suspension of evictions and foreclosures through April. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones plummeted 7% at midday, triggering an automatic halt to trading for the fourth time in the last two weeks. The market crash has wiped out nearly all stock market gains since President Trump took office in 2017. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package. At a White House press conference Wednesday, Trump laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production.

AMY GOODMAN: The person in charge of the bailouts [is] Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, formerly of Goldman Sachs. He ran OneWest Bank after the 2008 financial crisis and oversaw so many foreclosures, he was called the “foreclosure king.”

Well, for more on these bailouts and who benefits, for more on the legislation that has been passing and for what’s happening in the world today in this pandemic, we’re joined by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor, chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute, served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and as chief economist of the World Bank. His latest book, just coming out, hopefully, depending on what this world looks like, is People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent.

We thank you so much for joining us, Joe. And I just want to let our viewers and listeners know you’re joining us from your home, because here in New York and all over the country we’re being told that it is safest for people to isolate. Before you talk about the bailout, just talk about your thoughts right now on what’s happening in this city, New York, and the world.

JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, this is a time of crisis. In the 2008 crisis, Rahm Emanuel, who was the chief of staff of Obama, said, “You shouldn’t let a crisis go to waste.” But they did let that crisis go to waste. We needed to reform our financial system. We needed to reform our economy. And we didn’t. The money went to the big banks, and we didn’t get the money to the people who really needed it. So, the question is, as your very — as your excellent clip from Naomi Klein said, “What will we do with this crisis? Will this reinforce the ugly tendencies we’ve had for growing inequality, for corporate welfare, or will it actually succeed in reforming our economy?” You know, it’s remarkable. Just a little while ago, people said we couldn’t afford this program helping college students with immense debt, or we couldn’t afford providing healthcare for everyone. And all of a sudden, the president is talking about a $1 trillion, $2 trillion bailout. We always could have afforded these things. It was just our prioritization was wrong.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/nobel-economist-trumps-trickle-down-economic-plans-are-not-enough-to-meet-coronavirus-challenge/