~ SGVFCTC-TWSST-TWACUT-IMW-T-EAPS-HF-A-T-BWFU ~ Specific Grievances Varied From Country To Country – There Were Some Shared Themes – There Was A Common Understanding That – In Many Ways – The – Economic And Political System – Had Failed – And – That – Both Were Fundamentally Unfair

~ TGBWOEAPSASTD-WWWTTDD-AWTAC-BTLTBI ~ The Gap Between What Our Economic And Political Systems Are Supposed To Do – What We Were Told They Did Do – And What They Actually Do – Became Too Large To Be Ignored

~ TBHTB-T-WGA-WHBTATEED-ACLATSSTTWNAA-TBHITBTW ~ The Bankers Had Taken Bets – That – Without Government Assistance – Would Have Brought Them And The Entire Economy Down – A Closer Look At The System Showed That This Was Not An Accident – The Bankers Had Incentives To Behave This Way

~ TMOINE ~ The Market Obviously Is Not Efficient

~ U-TIOTMTGJFSMC-ITWFOTM-TGSOI-AAMCOI ~ Unemployment – The Inability Of The Market To Generate Jobs For So Many Citizens – Is The Worst Failure Of The Market – The Greatest Source Of Inefficiency – And A Major Cause Of Inequality

~ WHEHAHP ~ We Have Empty Homes And Homeless People

~ WAPAHPFO-I-AESTISSALE-WLG-A-ADTHBPIP ~ We Are Paying A High Price For Our – Inequality – An Economic System That Is Less Stable And Less Efficient – With Less Growth – And – A Democracy That Has Been Put Into Peril

~ TPOMIE-B-THNIMC ~ The Power Of Markets Is Enormous – But – They Have No Inherent Moral Character

~ ATB-MHPACRITSIIPASOLITPTHY-BGHAPAMRITA-AFTF-MATFTA ~ At Their Best – Markets Have Played A Central Role In The Stunning Increases In Productivity And Standards Of Living In The Past Two Hundred Years – But Government Has Also Played A Major Role In These Advances – A Fact That Free-Market Advocates Typically Fail To Acknowledge

~ OTOH-MCACW-PECOTS-A-AWAC ~ On The Other Hand – Markets Can Also Concentrate Wealth – Pass Environmental Costs On To Society – And – Abuse Workers And Consumers

~ TFIPAEAR-ATREO-PHSTM-ASIIWT-ATT-ATEOTR ~ The Failures In Politics And Economics Are Related – And They Reinforce Each Other – Politics Have Shaped The Market – And Shaped It In Ways That – Advantage The Top – At The Expense Of The Rest

~ UMDNWW-AWHS ~ Unfettered Markets Do Not Work Well – As We Have Seen

~ TLOI-A-TAOO-INI-NIIRRSTPOIMF ~ The Level Of Inequality – And – The Absence Of Opportunity – Is Not Inevitable – Nor Is Its Recent Rise Simply The Product Of Inexorable Market Forces

~ IA-ATAM-ATTCTGMMTTTWBE-PBIWLTMG-TIAIC-T-DE-IHALP-AHLBD-HIHNLTMG ~ Inequality’s Apologists – And They Are Many – Argue To The Contrary That Giving More Money To The Top Will Benefit Everyone – Partly Because It Would Led To More Growth – This Is An Idea Called – Trickle-Down Economics – It Has A Long Pedigree – And Has Long Been Discredited – Higher Inequality Has Not Led To More Growth

~ SDIIFTBIP-TETERTTSAA-‘PT’ ~ So Difficult Is It For Those Born Into Poverty To Escape – That Economists Refer To The Situation As A – “Poverty Trap”

~ MOIIDFCCAOI ~ Measures Of Income Inequality Don’t Fully Capture Critical Aspects Of Inequality

~ MOTITETIARO-GP-BWTGDAWIDND-IITROPFAMAOEO ~ Much Of The Inequality That Exists Today Is A Result Of – Government Policy – Both What The Government Does And What It Does Not Do – Inequality Is The Result Of Political Forces As Much As Of Economic Ones

~ TMTMA-TMCTALTB-WGI-CMCEAD ~ The More Transparent Markets Are – The More Competitive They Are Likely To Be – Without Good Information – Capital Markets Can’t Exercise Any Discipline

~ T-WAS-CWI;IC-T-T-‘R’-O-L/NR-WMTD ~ Taxing – Work And Savings – Can Weaken Incentives; In Contrast – Taxing – The – “Rents” – On – Land / Natural Resources – Won’t Make Them Disappear

~ TSWTASMIGTGTGYO ~ The Simplest Way To A Sustainable Monopoly Is Getting The Government To Give You One

~ IOTTWIAFG-IQATBATWTROTG-A-IEW-IYCCYOR ~ It’s One Thing To Win In A Fair Game – It’s Quite Another To Be Able To Write The Rules Of The Game – And – It’s Even Worse – If You Can Choose Your Own Referees

~ ‘RC’-TOTRC-CFARTTSTTASTR-STSW-GWRITP-GC ~ “Regulatory Capture” – Those On The Regulatory Commissions – Come From And Return To The Sector That They Are Supposed To Regulate – Serve The Sector Well – Get Well Rewarded In Their Post-Government Career

~ ITGGYTRT-E-R-F-F-IDTAGTMAF ~ If The Government Grants You The Right To – Extract – Resources – For – Free – It Doesn’t Take A Genius To Make A Fortune

~ OESRP-NMHTM-AIA-M-CE-INSTSMSPTTS ~ Our Economic System Rewards Profits – No Matter How They’re Made – And In A – Money-Centric Economy – It’s Not Surprising To See Moral Scruples Put To The Side

~ TMDOAIS-IC ~ The Major Determinant Of An Individual’s Success – Initial Conditions

~ LIR-LR-A-ADADFS-CTTROTE-FAM ~ Low Interest Rates – Lax Regulations – And – A Distorted And Dysfunctional Financial Sector – Came To The Rescue Of The Economy – For A Moment

~ R-ATROTG-TEC-TPA-TPTTCPT ~ Regulations – Are The Rules Of The Game – To Ensure Competition – To Prevent Abuses – To Protect Those That Cannot Protect Themselves

~ MOTIIOE:TROR-S ~ Much Of The Inequality In Our Economy: The Result Of Rent-Seeking

~ TFSIST-STROTE-NTOWA ~ The Financial Sector Is Supposed To – Serve The Rest Of The Economy – Not The Other Way Around

~ MOT-‘FI’-WDT-CR-AALL-REP ~ Many Of These – “Financial Innovations” – Were Designed To – Circumvent Regulations – And Actually Lowered Long-Run Economic Performance

~ TCBDAWACC ~ There Can Be Destructive As Well As Constructive Competition

~ IF-ATPOF-IP ~ Increasing Fairness – And The Perception Of Fairness – Increases Productivity

~ TSTOEAPSIU-UT-WIEFTFOOS ~ The Sense That Our Economic And Political System Is Unfair – Undermines Trust – Which Is Essential For The Functioning Of Our Society

~ G-ITFITWWAT-C-TSTNP ~ Government – Is The Formal Institution Through Which We Act Together – Collectively – To Solve The Nation’s Problems

~ CATAIIESOS ~ Cooperation And Trust Are Important In Every Sphere Of Society

~ WOU-TROT-IMOEW-O-TIOTSC-TBUT ~ We Often Underestimate – The Role Of Trust – In Making Our Economy Work – Or – The Importance Of The Social Contract – That Binds Us Together

~ SC-ITGTHST ~ Social Capital – Is The Glue That Holds Societies Together

~ OCSH-D-NS-D-A-FAUG ~ One Cannot Simultaneously Have – Democracy – National Self-Determination – And – Full And Unfettered Globalization

~ N-ITHOTP-HSM-GSM-TSF-WWSR-WAAIR ~ Never – In The History Of The Planet – Had So Many – Given So Much – To So Few – Who Were So Rich – Without Asking Anything In Return

~ MH-BBHRAPLTERTBB ~ Moral Hazard – Bank Bailouts Had Repeatedly And Predictably Led To Excessive Risk Taking By Banks

~ RBBHIHCOT ~ Repeated Bank Bailouts Have Imposed High Costs On Taxpayers

~ ATW-TEO-FP-AL ~ Around The World – The Examples Of – Failed Privatizations – Are Legion

~ MOCWIHWTTC ~ Much Of Corporate Welfare Is Hidden Within The Tax Code

~ MCWITISD-ICGOTUOTR-WTBTL ~ Markets Can’t Work If There Isn’t Some Discipline – If Companies Get Only The Upside Of The Risks – With Taxpayer Bearing The Losses

~ WTWIO-DHTBTFCOTA-TWHII-NTIT-A-TTPTAROI ~ When Those Who Injure Others – Don’t Have To Bear The Full Consequences Of Their Actions – They Will Have Inadequate Incentives – Not To Injure Them – And – To Take Precautions To Avoid Risks Of Injury

~ IEPIACBTUD-PCWF ~ If Economic Power In A Country Becomes Too Unevenly Distributed – Political Consequences Will Follow

~ IAD-API-APAIM-ACBIAPI-MHSDOA-OTMSTTINM-ABDAEP ~ In Any Democracy – A Public Institution – And Pretend As It Might – A Central Bank Is A Public Institution – Must Have Some Degree Of Accountability – Oversight To Make Sure That There Is No Malfeasance – A Central Bank’s Decisions Are Essentially Political

~ AWIP ~ Another World Is Possible

~ N-TPOE-TPOEAF ~ Not – The Politics Of Envy – The Politics Of Efficiency And Fairness