Stiglitz engaged the public wherever he went and reiterated the main tenets of his book People, Power, Profits, released in a French-language edition on Sept. 26, with a book party at FNAC, the largest French bookstore chain.
“We need a progressive capitalism which exploits the benefits of markets while taming their excesses,” Stiglitz said at the event.
Stiglitz wants to save capitalism from itself, he said, adding that “the markets cannot solve the problems they created. Markets created pollution. They generated an economic system which exploits our planet’s resources unsustainably. Markets created inequalities, discrimination, exploitation of the poor.” Stiglitz argued instead for a progressive capitalism that “reduces inequalities, invests in health and education, regulates the financial sector, and limits the adverse effects of globalization.”
Other institutions also benefited from Stiglitz’s presence in Paris. He gave masterclasses on climate change economics and inequality at the École Polytechnique and a conference on financial transaction tax at Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. He also took part in a public seminar on “The Social Determination of Behavior” at the Paris School of Economics.