“One of the things that happens when you have austerity is that wages get lower, and some people think lower wages in the short run can increase corporate profits.”

American economist

Joseph Stiglitz is an American economist, public policy analyst, political activist, and professor at Columbia University. He is known for his work in New Keynesian economics and for receiving the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001, as well as the John Bates Clark Medal in 1979. He served as senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank, and later as a member and chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers. His writing and public commentary often focus on public finance, especially Georgist ideas, along with critiques of globalization as it is managed, laissez-faire economics, and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.