"Inequality Hampers Growth" - Joseph Stiglitz says US is no longer the land of opportunity

• JOSEPH STIGLITZ
• FEBRUARY 19, 2013
• BY: HAROLD MANDEL

Anyone who senses that America may no longer be the land of opportunity which it was once promised to be is clearly in touch with reality. Dan Weil has reported for Money News on Feb. 19, 2013, Stiglitz: US No Longer the ‘Land of Opportunity.’ Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz has said that although most people like to think the United States has a level playing field for opportunity, nothing could be further from the truth these days.Stiglitz, who is an economics professor at Columbia University, has written in The New York Times, “Perhaps 100 years ago, America might have rightly claimed to have been the land of opportunity, … but not for at least a quarter of a century.” Stiglitz has also written,

“Today, the United States has less equality of opportunity than almost any other advanced industrial country.” Stiglitz has noted that the rising inequality in income distribution has led to a widening education gap.

Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz testifies during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee

Photo credit:  

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Stiglitz has written a commentary for the New York Times, Inequality Is Holding Back the Recovery. He wrote, "The re-election of President Obama was like a Rorschach test, subject to many interpretations. In this election, each side debated issues that deeply worry me: the long malaise into which the economy seems to be settling, and the growing divide between the 1 percent and the rest — an inequality not only of outcomes but also of opportunity." Stiglitz sees inequality of opportunity in America at its highest level since before the Depression. He has also accurately noted, "The dream of a better life that attracted immigrants to our shores is being crushed by an ever-widening chasm of income and wealth."

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