Joseph Stiglitz in Goettingen
Stephan Klasen (Prof at the University of Goettingen) interviewed Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel laureate and Prof at Columbia University) on his new book, The Price of Inequality, at the Deutsches Theater in Goettingen. One of the many stops on his back-to-back European tour (a friend saw him in Heidelberg on Fri, and I heard he was in Frankfurt aM on Sat).
I was originally reluctant to attend the event because:
1. It seemed illogical to pay €12 / $16 to hear someone repeat a speech that I saw online at DemocracyNow. And as predicted, the man did in fact stay close to the script.
2. It seemed unfair and not consistent with the spirit of his book to demand that the public subsidize his PR and Marketing cost to sell more of his books. Hard covers were available for just € 24 / $32.
In the end, I caved to peer pressure, and gave up 2 hours of my life and $16 for a mediocre presentation, but a fairly interesting conversation on the EU economic crisis (thanks to Klasen). Here's the down low: Member countries that are implementing austerity measures are screwing themselves. Time and time again, austerity proves to be a one-way road from recession to depression. In the meantime, Germany is helping float the rest of the member states. Stiglitz believes, however, that the concern of burdening German tax payers is exaggerated, as the dissolution of the Euro would be disproportionately more expensive. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
I was originally reluctant to attend the event because:
1. It seemed illogical to pay €12 / $16 to hear someone repeat a speech that I saw online at DemocracyNow. And as predicted, the man did in fact stay close to the script.
2. It seemed unfair and not consistent with the spirit of his book to demand that the public subsidize his PR and Marketing cost to sell more of his books. Hard covers were available for just € 24 / $32.
In the end, I caved to peer pressure, and gave up 2 hours of my life and $16 for a mediocre presentation, but a fairly interesting conversation on the EU economic crisis (thanks to Klasen). Here's the down low: Member countries that are implementing austerity measures are screwing themselves. Time and time again, austerity proves to be a one-way road from recession to depression. In the meantime, Germany is helping float the rest of the member states. Stiglitz believes, however, that the concern of burdening German tax payers is exaggerated, as the dissolution of the Euro would be disproportionately more expensive. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
J. Stiglitz and S. Klasen
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