Joseph E. Stiglitz is the winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. His most recent book is Globalisation and its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump.
With a likely rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election, America and the rest of the world were heading into a perilous period even before the latest conflagration in the Middle East. Turmoil in the region will cloud the broader economic outlook and could dim Biden’s chances.
Next year, Covid-19 will be tamed but containing inflation will be a tougher challenge. The global economy will undergo major structural changes, and pandemic-induced labour disruptions may finally tilt the balance of power to workers.
In 2018, we saw the fruits of Trumpism: victimisation of immigrants, a US$1 trillion deficit, and prejudice and nationalism unleashed. What will 2019 hold for us?