In an interview with EFE Stiglitz has made clear that the European Central Bank's offer of an unlimited buying bonds in exchange for meeting specified conditions not yet "clearly sounds bailout" and an offer of help "in exchange for suicide."
According to the U.S., which has promoted in Madrid the book "The price of inequality" (Taurus), the question is whether the monetary authorities aim is to help citizens or banks would incur losses if they Spain could not refinance its debt.
Very critical of extreme austerity policies, the 2001 Nobel economics is clear that Europe should put the focus on growth and investment if it wants to restructure its economy, and believes that "the German diagnosis is absolutely wrong" when he accuses countries like Spain to spend too much.
In fact, if Spain has not only managed to get out of depression, but ever more deeply into it, is because international officials have "underestimated" the magnitude of the crisis that would lead to prescriptions of austerity, according to Stiglitz.
While attempting to place the responsibility for failing to Spain its fiscal targets, the fault of a mistaken diagnosis of the problem and wrong prescriptions, he adds.
Therefore advised the country to try to seek a strong alliance with France, Italy and Portugal to Germany with the aim of changing the European framework. And if that does not work, pointing to a fracture of the euro as a lesser evil compared to a depression not seen the exit.
"You can be a member of the EU without sharing the same coin. Currency arrangements have often been relatively short-term," Stiglitz riveted by the example of the thirty years of the gold standard established at Bretton Woods (1944-1971 ), despite acknowledging that the split was "dramatic" until the world got used to another system.
In any case, the best scenario for Stiglitz, who has admitted to the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences Spanish in ceremony held at CaixaForum Madrid, that Germany would give budge and accept European debt mutualisation, order a common banking framework "fast" and promote tax harmonization.
The issue is overcome ideas "false"-as defined-as the economy of a country is like a family.
"If a family cut in spending has no effect on society. If a government cuts, the total demand will fall and unemployment will rise. And the ability to repay what to low tax revenues fall and spending on unemployment and social programs rises "Stiglitz lists.
For the American-defense moves as 15-M and Occupy Wall Street-this is "exactly the reasoning why Europe is failing", and the budget deficit has not improved as people expected.
"The consequences have been different than I expected people who say that a country should be governed as a domestic economy," says Professor of Economics at Columbia University, for whom the recession is not the time to cut spending.
For this too is convinced that a possible victory of Republican Mitt Romney in the November elections in the U.S. weaken that country's economy.
"If you do what is promising the economy weakens. U.S. has had a process of austerity, there are a million public jobs less than before the crisis. And what's worse is willing to increase inequality. If see your program, all he wants is to increase military spending and an economy that would be even more distorted and unfair, less efficient, and more unemployment. "
