Stiglitz: Benefits of Multiple Layers of Financial Regulation So Much Higher Than Costs

Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, who was the Nobel laureate in economics in 2001, spoke at a talk on Monday with Damon Silvers, the director of policy and special counsel at the AFL-CIO, part of a day-long strategy session on “Bargaining for the Common Good in the World of Global Finance” held by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung office in New York, a non-profit political German foundation.

Regulations “from below” could be beneficial while a comprehensive regulatory vision has to be “from the top,” Stiglitz added.

A “whistleblower statute” could be a good way to balance the need of internal reporting against banks’ legal violations and the need to protect the employees from retaliation, Stiglitz said. Also, he added, strengthening the union is an important approach to empower workers.

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