Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stiglitz talks to La Stampa today about the war between Russia and Ukraine. And he says clearly that one cannot deal with Putin, the right way is the way of sanctions and that Europe must free itself from the gas dependence of the tsar. “The war shows true atrocities and brutality on an alarming scale,” explains Professor Jacopo Iacoboni. “I don’t think it’s possible to negotiate with a regime that doesn’t respect rules, international legality, financial transparency.”
According to Stiglitz, “The sanctions are absolute. The currency reserves of the Russian central bank are weak and can only be sufficient for limited periods of time. Also, the production of goods in Russia is badly damaged, for example, I do not think that they will be able to replace the damaged material of the Russian army in Ukraine with new supplies ». But there is the gas problem: “First of all, it would be important for the sanctions to be observed and taken quickly: Russia would try to adapt too slowly.” But Europe has held back: Stiglitz believes that “the gas embargo is necessary and Europe can share the economic weight (sharing the burden) of this decision”.
What about the rise in prices, the high cost of living, inflation? “Inflation is not a problem, in a world that is changing, growing inflation can be tolerable and actually favors a needed economic transformation, and Europe has the strength to face it.” Finally, an anti-NATO and anti-NATO verdict -US sentiment: “I have criticized the United States many times, but they have nothing to do with Russian aggression”.
