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Calcutta, Jan. 14: Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz on Saturday spoke in support of the “spirit” of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, saying it was “not a conventional class war”.
At a seminar organised by the Institute of Development Studies at a Salt Lake’s Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, he said: “Many of those in the 1 per cent (the street protesters had claimed they represented 99 per cent of the US) got their wealth in socially illegitimate ways while the rest of the country suffered greatly.”
Stiglitz agreed with former Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta on the “need” to look beyond the IMF and the World Bank given their “failure” to counter the recent economic crises.Stiglitz stressed the importance of an international financial body to foster global monetary co-operation, secure financial stability and promote employment and sustainable economic growth to reduce inequality. “Around the world, we have the problem of vast, unmet needs and under-utilised resources. Democratic processes have failed in getting the outcomes that are needed.... Globalisation is not the problem, the way it has been managed, is,” said the former chief economist of the World Bank.
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