Joseph Stiglitz: 'America should be a warning to other countries'

In the lead-up to his Australian visit, the renowned economist warns of the triple threat of rising inequality, the undermining of democracy and climate change

It's a stark message from a Nobel-prize winning economist.

"We were a very different country 40 years ago," he says. "The downhill slide has been pretty fast. America, I think, should be an important warning to other countries not to take for granted their institutions. I worry that things in the United States could get much worse."

Most Americans want a higher minimum wage, they want gun control, they want access to healthcare " yet our democracy can't deliver it

Related: Joseph Stiglitz on artificial intelligence: 'We're going towards a more divided society'

The magnitude of the dysfunction [on climate change] is unbelievable