Columbia University’s Professor Joseph Stiglitz provided a sobering picture of the state of the world economy during a presentation at the Discovery Leadership Summit in Johannesburg, describing the outlook as “dismal”, despite anticipating an improved 2014 for a number of countries compared with 2013, Engineering News reports.
Stiglitz slammed policy choices, particularly in the US and Europe, which were failing to address the macroeconomic and social risks associated with rising unemployment and inequality.
He was also critical of central banks that continued to focus primarily on inflation targeting, describing it not only as a “discredited” instrument, but also the wrong priority for the current phase of the economic recovery.
Stiglitz was heartened by the work the South African government was doing to support structural transformation through industrial policy, the articulation and implementation of which had been critical to the development of a number of successful emerging-market and developed economies.
By: Terence Creamer
Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/stigliz-offers-dismal-prognosis-for-world-economic-recovery-2014-03-05
