Obama’s stimulus package may not be enough: Stiglitz

DAVOS: Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said President Barack Obama’s efforts to bolster the economy are only “a step in the right direction”. “I’m a bit worried that again it’s not enough,” Stiglitz said. “He has to take a much more active approach. It has to be a second round in stimulus, focusing in particular on investment,” he added. “Things won’t be restored until there are real signs that the economy has been restored” for jobs, Stiglitz said.

“One aspect is public investment but another aspect is the private investment and part of that would be tax credits,” he added. In his address, Obama also defended the government’s bailouts of banks. To that Stiglitz said, ”What’s true is that banks have a fantastic record of bad lending. If we could direct banks at giving credit to companies, that would make our economy more dynamic.”