Employment and environment two big worries for India's economy: Joseph Stiglitz

Nobel laureate and globally acclaimed economist Joseph Stiglitz said that employment and environment are the two big worries for the Indian economy going into the future.

He said that India will continue to grow and become a strong economy but job creation will be a concern for its economy as it has managed to create jobs in the urban centres which is a small fraction of the new entrants in the labour force . The Nobel laureate also highlighted the environmentally unsound methods of agriculture in India saying it is unsustainable.

Stiglitz said that India lies in the zone which will be worst affected by climate change and it will be a challenge for the economy going into the future.


He was speaking at the fourth edition of the two-day India Economic Conclave 2018 presented by ET Now.

Slamming the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on steel and aluminium, the Nobel laureate Jospeh Stiglitz said that Trump's policies have only exacerbated the problems in globalisation.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said that the trade tariffs will hurt American car sales and other cheap imports like clothes and will alienate those people he says he cares for.

He said that the American laws won't allow a US President to escalate trade skirmishes to a trade war. For instance, the US president cannot withdraw from the WTO without getting both the Houses to vote for it, Stiglitz said further adding that the president can only impose tariffs and anti-dumping duty.

Bibek Debroy, chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, said that India can also face the backlash some years down the line that China is facing today. He added that only the iron and steel industries have been affected by the Trump's trade decisions.

Stiglitz said that that an "unhinged" person can't be allowed to disturb the global order and rule of law that has taken so long to achieve. Stiglitz's remark came in the context of Trump's endeavour to pull America out of the 2015 global Climate Change agreement.

The Nobel laureate said that China is far exceeding the US in areas like Artificial Intelligence where it has significant advantage over US because of its access to big data.

He also said that the effects of Trump's policies will be longstanding and he has undermined American institutions.