Joseph Stiglitz Thinking Quotations

I don't think if we had been able to make that choice rationally, we would have said that's what we want to do. We would have said: "Can't we save the banks and solve our health care problems?" The answer is yes. You could have.

Most people think the Iraq war has increased the probability of an attack. However, it's difficult to put this aspect into financial terms.

I think that for the developing world there are many versions of capitalism, and countries have to choose one that's appropriate.

I think what they've been doing is largely almost in firefighting mode without a good conceptual framework - either at the micro or the macro level. Micro, you would ask: "What kind of financial or banking system do we want?" Macro, you would say: "What are the underlying problems in the structure of our economy?"

If the President asked you to help, I don't think anybody could refuse, unless one felt that one couldn't be effective.

I think in part the reason is that seeing an economy that is, in many ways, quite different from the one grows up in, helps crystallize issues: in one's own environment, one takes too much for granted, without asking why things are the way they are.