News Summary: Stiglitz on the perils of inequality

WEALTH GAP: Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, says the growing gap between wealthy Americans and everyone else is at the root of many problems for the U.S. economy.

A HARDER SLOG: Climbing out of poverty is harder in the U.S. versus other countries such as Britain and Canada, Stiglitz says. Stiglitz notes that only 8 percent of students in the most selective colleges in the U.S. come from the bottom half of the income scale.

"RENT-SEEKING": "Some people get an income from working, and some people get an income just because they own a resource," Stiglitz says. "Their income isn't the result of effort. They're getting a larger share of the pie instead of making the pie bigger. In fact, they're making it smaller."

By The Associated Press The Associated Press

By The Associated Press
The Associated Press