Joseph Stiglitz is sounding the alarm !
Top economist: US coronavirus response is like 'third world' country
Joseph Stiglitz attacks Donald Trump, saying US on course for second Great Depression
He said this because so many people are being driven to food banks and the food banks are being stretched beyond capacity. When we add that to the social safety net which Trump and the Republicans have torn apart combined with an unemployment rate that could reach 30%, then how can people survive ?
The Nobel prize-winning economist said: “The numbers turning to food banks are just enormous and beyond the capacity of them to supply. It is like a third world country. The public social safety net is not working.”
Stiglitz, a long-term critic of Trump, said 14% of the population was dependent on food stamps and predicted the social infrastructure could not cope with an unemployment rate that could hit 30% in the coming months.
“We have a safety net that is inadequate. The inequality in the US is so large. This disease has targeted those with the poorest health. In the advanced world, the US is one of the countries with the poorest health overall and the greatest health inequality.”
Stiglitz said Republicans had opposed proposals to give those affected by coronavirus 10 days’ sick leave, meaning many employees were going to work even while infected. “The Republicans said no because they said it would set a bad precedent. It is literally unbelievable.”
He added: “The safety net is not adequate and is propagating the disease. There is very weak unemployment insurance and people don’t think they can rely on it.
During an interview with the Guardian to mark the paperback publication of his book People, Power, and Profits, Stiglitz was asked whether the US might be heading for a second Great Depression.
“Yes is the answer in short,” he said
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Trump, Stiglitz pointed out, made this much worse by his mismanagement of the pandemic, by eliminating the pandemic response team, by cutting the budget of the CDC, and by not manufacturing or obtaining what was needed : ppe, ventilators , N95 masks, tests and testing equipment… Furthermore, Trump has now turned this into a culture war. He warned how important it was for the Democratic Party to win, but he also noted we need to ready for the dishonest tactics that the GOP would use including gerrymandering, voter suppression and anything else they can to win. He pointed out that even if it is not the government enforcing the quarantine, fear will until it is safe.
Wednesday, Apr 22, 2020 · 5:49:43 PM +00:00 · Dem
Another point made is that people right now are only buying food — that is what happens during A Great Depression ! 22 million people filed unemployment claims in the last four weeks. We haven’t seen anything like this . It’s so sudden.