Professor Michael Spence, who shared the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001 with Joe Stiglitz and George Akerlof, says he is encouraged by the way the leaders of France and Germany are moving ahead with a European Recovery Fund that would represent “a huge step forward for Europe.”
He says he admires Angela Merkel not just for trying to bring Europe together in the post-Covid economic crisis, but also as the defender of human rights across the Western world. As for the United States, the economist says he is “very sad” about the widespread racism and violence, is concerned about democratic institutions, but at the same time he hopes that the death of George Floyd can trigger a reawakening of the nation’s conscience.
“This is such a deep crisis that I think it may just be powerful enough to cause us to wake up and pay attention to the problem of inequality,” he says in this interview with Alan Friedman.
Interview by Alan Friedman
Producer: Luna De Bartolo
Videomaker: Gabriele Franceschi
