Episodes
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
/68/ Big Money Talk ft. Doug Henwood
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
On Modern Monetary Theory. Doug Henwood joins us to discuss whether MMT offers a fiscal alternative for Left governments. What is monetary sovereignty and do all states have it? What are MMT's prospects for states as different as the USA, Nigeria or Brazil? Is it a suspect economic remedy, too much of a quick fix? Are MMT proponents guilty of avoiding political confrontation?
Readings
Modern Monetary Theory Isn’t Helping, Doug Henwood, Jacobin
MMT Is Already Helping, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Jacobin
Modern Money Theory 101: A Reply to Critics (pdf), Éric Tymoigne and L. Randall Wray
Modern Money Theory (MMT) vs. Structural Keynesianism, Thomas Palley
What Is Modern Monetary Theory and Why Is It So Important to the Green New Deal?, Jacob Weindling, Paste Magazine
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Monday Mar 18, 2019
/66/ An Economics for the Many ft. James Meadway
Monday Mar 18, 2019
Monday Mar 18, 2019
On 'Corbynomics'. We talk to James Meadway, former advisor to the UK's Shadow Chancellor, about what a Corbyn government could and should do. What is the scope for manoeuver of a Left Government in 2019? What does a British 'Green New Deal' look like? And we talk Brexit, because of course.
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Thursday Jan 17, 2019
/59/ Übermenschen of Capital Pt. 3 ft. Leigh Phillips & Michal Rozworski
Thursday Jan 17, 2019
Thursday Jan 17, 2019
On democratic planning. Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski propose we look at Walmart and other giant corporations as sites of planning, not of markets -- and that this fact proves planning works. Rather than rely on markets and market actors to manage production and distribution, we should it ourselves. Do advances in computing mean that the old problems of planning have been overcome? Does planning lead to authoritarianism -- or does authoritarianism lead to bad planning? Can we overcome the age of Capitalist Übermenschen?
Readings:
- People's Republic of Walmart (Verso, March 2019)
- Planning the Good Anthropocene, Leigh & Michal in Jacobin
- Pt. III of Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Friedrich Engels
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Thursday Jan 03, 2019
/57/ Übermenschen of Capital Pt. 1 ft. Alex Gourevitch
Thursday Jan 03, 2019
Thursday Jan 03, 2019
On the cult of the entrepreneur. Alex Gourevitch talks to us about the "special kinds of assholes we get in our economy" and the dangers of the heroic capitalist icon. How does the earlier ideal of meritocracy differ from entrepreneurship as an ethos? Does celebrating the special creative genius of the disruptor actually mean glorifying tyranny?
Plus: the right to strike, domination in the workplace, and campy Trump.
Readings:
- A Radical Defence of the Right to Strike, Alex Gourevitch
- From Slavery to the Cooperative Commonwealth, Alex Gourevitch
- Nietzsche's Marginal Children, Corey Robin
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Wednesday Jul 18, 2018
/43/ City Struggles ft. Ben Bradlow / David Adler
Wednesday Jul 18, 2018
Wednesday Jul 18, 2018
In which we ask why the urban question become so pointed today - in the Global North as well as in the South? We look at contestation in urban politics - in São Paulo, Johannesburg, London, New York, and beyond. What are the social movement struggles around housing, rent, transport, and the right to the city? What are the limits to housing & transport politics -- are they just consumer movements at the end of the day?
Guests:
- David Adler talks to us about rent in London and beyond.
- Ben Bradlow joins us to debate the big one: can municipal politics be sexy? And can city politics become national politics?
We conclude by returning to a recurring theme: is the Global North actually becoming more like the Global South?
Readings:
Ben Bradlow, Let Them Occupy: https://africasacountry.com/2018/02/let-them-occupy-housing-struggles-in-brazil-and-south-africa
David Adler, Generation Rent: https://jacobinmag.com/2016/04/big-short-housing-loans-renters-affordability
Review of Justin McGuirk's 'Radical Cities' https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/11/radical-cities-latin-america-architecture-justin-mcguirk-review
Interview with Raquel Rolnik https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2792-the-complete-subjugation-of-urban-policy-an-interview-with-raquel-rolnik
Steve Graham on vertical cities https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2995-elite-takeovers-of-the-vertical-city
Cover image: 📷Claudio Edinger
Thursday May 31, 2018
/38/ The Economics of Exit ft. Thomas Fazi
Thursday May 31, 2018
Thursday May 31, 2018
In which we discuss why the Left should not to be scared of sovereignty: Brexit, Italexit, and Modern Monetary Theory
Saturday Jan 27, 2018
/26/ Prometheans United ft. Leigh Phillips
Saturday Jan 27, 2018
Saturday Jan 27, 2018
Bonus! In which Leigh stays with us to discuss innovation, automation, UBI... & why the wages are too damn low.