Rob Johnson is not your average economist, and this is not your average economics podcast. Every week, Rob talks about economic and social issues with a guest who probably wasn’t on your Econ 101 reading list, from musicians to activists to rebel economists. A podcast of The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET).
Rohinton Medhora: One Earth, One Family, One Future
Rohinton Medhora (INET's Board Chair, member of our Commission on Global Economic Transformation, and Distinguished Fellow at CIGI) discusses global social healing, India and the G20 with INET President Rob Johnson.
11/2/2023 • 41 minutes, 16 seconds
Adair Turner: India’s Leadership and Global Challenges of Climate and Finance
If we're going to address environmental catastrophe, we need to support each other on a global scale. Rob Johnson checks in with Adair Turner about his work, and practical solutions to address the climate crisis.
10/26/2023 • 43 minutes, 33 seconds
Angus Deaton: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality
Economics Nobel laureate Sir Angus Deaton discusses his latest book, Economics in America, which takes an autobiographical approach to how the field of economics addresses the most pressing issues of our time—from poverty, retirement, and the minimum wage to the ravages of the nation’s uniquely disastrous health care system.
10/19/2023 • 1 hour, 7 minutes, 52 seconds
Michael Spence: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World
Mike Spence talks with Rob Johnson about his upcoming co-authored book "Permacrisis", India and the G20, and bringing the world together to address our shared challenges.
Book: "Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World" https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/bo...
Do you feel like we’re in a permacrisis? Chances are you feel some anxiety about the state of the world. Gordon Brown, Mohamed A. El-Erian, and Michael Spence certainly did. Three of the most internationally respected and experienced thinkers of our time, these friends found their pandemic Zooms increasingly focused on a cascade of crises: sputtering growth, surging inflation, poor policy responses, an escalating climate emergency, worsening inequality, increasing nationalism, and a decline in global co-operation.
10/12/2023 • 50 minutes, 52 seconds
Alan Blinder: Looking Back and Looking Ahead: 15 Years After the Lehman Collapse
Former Fed vice chair and Princeton University economics professor Alan Blinder takes a close look at what lessons still remain to be learned in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis.
9/28/2023 • 58 minutes, 51 seconds
Thomas Ferguson: The Lehman Disaster and Why It Matters Today
On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a giant investment bank with a storied history, filed for bankruptcy. The shock was profound; world markets melted down.
Over the next few days, one financial behemoth after another, including American International Group (AIG), Washington Mutual, and Wachovia collapsed. The crown jewels of Wall Street – Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs – slid toward the abyss. The Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and other regulators were forced to step in, sometimes in conjunction with famous private investors, to rescue the system. The government in effect nationalized AIG and, after two cliffhanging votes in Congress, it directly injected capital into leading private banks.
Ever since then, debates have raged about why the authorities – the Fed and the Treasury -- allowed Lehman to go broke, after earlier helping to salvage a series of other institutions.
In this Podcast, INET President Robert Johnson and INET Research Director Thomas Ferguson review those dramatic events. They also draw disquieting parallels between the Lehman debacle and more recent episodes of financial deregulation, including recent controversies over crypto and private equity.
9/13/2023 • 54 minutes, 41 seconds
Christian Madsbjerg: How to Pay Attention in a Turbulent Distracted World
In a world that increasingly promotes distraction and isolation, the ability to pay attention to each other has become ever more important. Philosopher Christian Madsbjerg talks to Rob about his new book, Look, which outlines how we can recapture our ability to pay attention.
7/18/2023 • 1 hour, 7 seconds
Steven Herrmann: The Shaman’s Call and Finding Your Inner Voice
Steven Herrmann, Jungian psychoanalyst and author of the books, William James and C. G. Jung and of William Everson: The Shaman’s Call, among others, engages in a wide-ranging conversation about finding one's calling, the poet William Everson, and the importance of dreams.
Referenced during the podcast: Robinson Jeffers on Moral Beauty, the Interconnectedness of the Universe, and the Key to Peace of Mind by Maria Popova
6/8/2023 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 8 seconds
Simon Johnson: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity
Simon Johnson, the co-author of the just-released book Power and Progress (co-authored with Daron Acemoglu), discusses the book, what new technologies hold in store for us, and how societies might better manage and govern them.
5/16/2023 • 54 minutes, 4 seconds
Brendan Ballou: Plunder - Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America
Brendan Ballou, talks to Rob about his forthcoming book, Plunder, about the growing harmful role of private equity in the US. Ballou is a federal prosecutor and served as Special Counsel for Private Equity in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
4/27/2023 • 59 minutes, 3 seconds
Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway: The Big Myth of Market Fundamentalism
Historians Naomi Oreskes (Harvard University) and Erik Conway (Caltech) talk to Rob about their just-released book, The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market.
3/16/2023 • 48 minutes, 48 seconds
Jim Chanos: The Golden Age of Fraud in Finance
Jim Chanos, the president and founder of Kynikos Associates and well-known investment manager talks to Rob about the post-pandemic financial system, which has become more steeped in a casino culture than it has been in a very long time, and whether China's financial situation serves as an example or as a warning.
2/23/2023 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 15 seconds
Survival of the Richest
Oxfam's Economic Justice Director, Nabil Ahmed, and Oxfam International's Inequality Policy & Advocacy Lead, Max Lawson, discuss their latest Global Inequality Report, which highlights the accelerating pace at which the world's billionaires have increased their wealth exponentially in recent years. They also discuss the ways in which governments can reverse this trend through taxation.
2/16/2023 • 39 minutes, 56 seconds
The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf discusses his just-released book, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, which explores the reasons why Liberal democracy is threatened by authoritarianism and what needs to be done to resurrect democratic capitalism.
Link to the book
2/7/2023 • 1 hour, 35 minutes, 13 seconds
Iconik: Beyond ESG
Alex Thaler, the CEO of the software platform Iconik, and Iconik advisor Adam Cummings discuss how the platform helps shareholders create personalized voting profiles for shareholder meetings, allowing them to increase their influence over companies and give management a clearer awareness of investor goals without abrupt and embarrassing conflict.
Iconik website: https://www.iconikapp.com/
2/2/2023 • 54 minutes, 21 seconds
Perry Mehrling: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System
Boston University economic professor Perry Mehrling discusses his recently released INET book, in collaboration with Cambridge University Press, "Money and Empire," which chronicles the life of Charles P. Kindleberger and how he helped shape the emerging global dollar system.
INET Book page: Money and Empire
1/26/2023 • 1 hour, 22 minutes, 48 seconds
Time Bomb in Global Finance
A Bank for International Settlements study says 60+ trillion dollars of off-the-books currency swaps could be a profound, systematic risk. Rob Johnson joins Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news.
1/12/2023 • 43 minutes, 21 seconds
The Misguided Forces Driving Conflict Escalation Between the US and China
Yale Law School Fellow Stephen Roach, discusses his just-released book, Accidental Conflict. Roach explores how much of the adversarial nationalist rhetoric in both China and the USA is dangerously misguided and more a reflection of each nation’s fears and vulnerabilities than a credible assessment of the risks they face.
12/1/2022 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 41 seconds
The New Economics of Debt and Financial Fragility
University of Bonn and Sciences Po economics professor Moritz Schularick talks to Rob about the soon-to-be-released book, Leveraged, which he edited based on papers from an INET-sponsored conference. The book takes a close look at what we have learned about the costs and causes of financial fragility since 2008.
11/17/2022 • 1 hour, 7 minutes, 48 seconds
Rana Foroohar: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World
Financial Times columnist and author Rana Foroohar talks about her new book Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World
10/20/2022 • 48 minutes, 27 seconds
Albert Wenger: The World After Capital
We are in the midst of another global transformation, but this time we might have the tools to get it right.
8/9/2022 • 36 minutes, 56 seconds
Frank McCourt: Trading Fear for Hope
Frank McCourt discusses his work to reinspire hope in the American experiment, and to build the framework necessary for that better tomorrow.
7/21/2022 • 23 minutes, 13 seconds
Alan Murray: The Search for the Soul of Business
Corporate responsibility needs to evolve if businesses are going to rebuild trust and provide real value for society.
7/14/2022 • 29 minutes, 21 seconds
Thomas Piketty: Quality of Life for Billions of People is at Stake
World-renowned economist and inequality researcher Thomas Piketty in conversation with Rob Johnson, about Piketty’s just-released book, A Brief History of Equality.
6/16/2022 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 42 seconds
Gary Gerstle: The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order
Cambridge University's American History professor Gary Gerstle discusses his most recent book, about how the neoliberal order came about, why it is faltering, and the indeterminacy of what comes next.
6/9/2022 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 24 seconds
Jeffrey Sachs: Peace is the Result of Diplomacy, Never of War
Columbia University's renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs talks about the lessons he has learned from consulting with governments around the world, about how global problems, such as the war in Ukraine, will only be solved via efforts to understand the other side, never through force.
6/2/2022 • 56 minutes, 11 seconds
Chen Long: Creating a Digital Circular Economy for Net Zero
Luohan Academy's Director Chen Long discusses the academy's latest report, on the benefits of creating a "digital circular economy," which would go a long way towards reaching net zero carbon emissions and addressing the climate crisis.
Report link: https://www.luohanacademy.com/insights/bc89734b94adf00c
5/19/2022 • 59 minutes, 36 seconds
Peter Temin: Black and White America Always on Separate Trajectories
MIT economic historian Peter Temin discusses his new INET-CUP book, Never Together: The Economic History of a Segregated America, in which he shows how efforts to bridge the gap between races were always undermined, resulting in constant economic hardship for Black people.
5/5/2022 • 47 minutes, 41 seconds
Norman Solomon: The Ukraine War and the Madness of Militarism
Author and peace activist Norman Solomon talks about the double standards in US foreign policy that have smoothed the path for Russia's inexcusable invasion of Ukraine. The role of the military-industrial-complex in the US is one of the main reasons we lack a single standard for the use of military force and human rights, says Solomon.
4/28/2022 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 18 seconds
Joanna Chiu—China vs. West: New World Disorder
The Toronto Star journalist Joanna Chiu discusses her book, China Unbound: A New World Disorder, which argues that we need to go beyond the typical over-simplifications of democratic West versus autocratic China if we hope to engage China in a way that seriously addresses issues such as human rights, climate change, and economic development.
4/21/2022 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 5 seconds
Kishore Mahbubani: The Return of Asia in the 21st Century
Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Kishore Mahbubani, discusses his latest book, The Asian 21st Century, in which he relates US decline to the rise of plutocracy and Asia's renewed rise - after having fallen behind in the last 200 years - to its growing sense of dynamism, optimism, and diversity.
This is the 200th episode of the podcast Economics and Beyond with Rob Johnson.
4/14/2022 • 1 hour, 8 minutes, 18 seconds
Richard Kozul-Wright & Kevin Gallagher: Re-orienting Global Finance Towards Ecological and Social Goals
UNCTAD Director Richard Kozul-Wright and Kevin Gallagher, Global Development Policy professor at Boston University, discuss their book, The Case for a New Bretton Woods. Ever since the post-war economic order was dismantled beginning in the 1980s, a re-design of the global economic order has become increasingly urgent in light of the social and ecological crises that we face.
4/11/2022 • 1 hour, 6 minutes, 59 seconds
Peter Barnes: The Problem of Ownership in Capitalism
Peter Barnes, the entrepreneur and author of the recently published book, Ours: The Case for Universal Property, talks about how new conceptions of property - a universal commons - could fundamentally transform capitalism to make it more ecologically and socially sustainable.
4/7/2022 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 26 seconds
Michael Spence: We Are Entering a New Economic World
Economics Nobel Laureate Michael Spence discusses the profound changes that are rippling through the global economy as we emerge from the COVID recession, where economic growth will have to rely more on productivity gains instead of the incorporation of excess labor capacity and what this would mean for countries around the world.
Luohan Academy event referenced in the episode: Opportunities and Challenges for an Aging Society | Frontier Dialogue #9
3/31/2022 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 1 second
Sarita Mohanty: Investing in Compassion
The tradition of abandoning our elderly populations needs to end. Sarita Mohanty talks with Rob Johnson about her work at the SCAN Foundation, and the critical importance of combating "ageism" to strengthening our society. Learn more: https://www.thescanfoundation.org/
3/24/2022 • 1 hour, 38 seconds
Anand Giridharadas: How We Are Going to Live Together Is Up for Grabs
Anand Giridharadas, writer and author of the book, Winners Take All, discusses the multiple crises we are currently facing, how they could provide an impetus for real change, and how US and global elites are failing to live up to the challenge.
3/17/2022 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 46 seconds
Patrick Lawrence: The US Doesn’t Pursue Foreign Policy, Only Security Policy
Patrick Lawrence, writer and executive editor of The Scrum, analyzes the roots of US foreign policy failures, how these are reflected in the current confrontation with Russia, which can be found the US establishment's weddedness to power and to an unwillingness to see the other's perspective.
3/10/2022 • 1 hour, 17 minutes, 40 seconds
Max Lawson: The Pandemic’s Billionaire Variant
Max Lawson, head of Oxfam International's Inequality Policy program, discusses Oxfam's latest inequality report, "Inequality Kills," which highlights the extreme growth in wealth of the billionaire class during the pandemic and how this has had a direct effect on the health and survival of the world's bottom 50%.
3/3/2022 • 58 minutes, 11 seconds
Ajay Chhibber: Unshackling India for Economic Revival
Ajay Chhibber, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Institute of International Economic Policy, George Washington University, and India's first Director General of Independent Evaluation with the status of Minister of State in 2013-14, discusses his co-authored book, Unshackling India, about what needs to happen for India's economy to take off.
2/24/2022 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 56 seconds
Wendell Potter: US Healthcare Strangled by Massive Insurance Profits and Money in Politics
Former health insurance executive turned whistleblower and investigative journalist Wendell Potter discusses the many ways in which the private health insurance system of the US is not serving anyone well except the insurance companies' owners
2/17/2022 • 1 hour, 6 minutes, 30 seconds
Adam Tooze: A Global Green New Deal
Rob Johnson interviewed Columbia University historian Adam Tooze in early 2020 about his work on financial history and how it relates to the Green New Deal.
2/10/2022 • 22 minutes, 42 seconds
Terrence McNally: On Finding Repair and Relief from the Commodification of Social Design
Terrence McNally, the host of the podcast Free Forum: A World that just Might Work, interviews Rob about the current state of the world and what needs to happen for us to get out of the mess in which we find ourselves.
2/3/2022 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 36 seconds
John Fullerton: Regenerative Economics: A Necessary Paradigm Shift for a World in Crisis
John Fullerton, the Founder of the Capital Institute, discusses the urgent need for a new paradigm in economic thinking, modeled on living systems instead of Newtonian physics, which he calls regenerative economics.
1/27/2022 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 33 seconds
Peter Goodman: How Davos Man Devours the World
Peter Goodman, New York Times correspondent and author of the just-published book, Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World, talks to Rob about how inequality is not inevitable, but has been engineered through the political process by selling us a false idea of what is possible.
1/18/2022 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 59 seconds
COP26: The Paralysis from Above
In a replay of INET Live's webinar, following the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow last December, Richard Kozul-Wright of UNCTAD, Patrick Bond of the University of Johannesburg, and author Maude Barlow discuss the disproportionate impact climate change has on the developing world and the ways to best address it.
1/13/2022 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 32 seconds
Glenn Hubbard: The Antidote to the Wall is the Bridge
Professor Glenn Hubbard, professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School, talks about his just-released book, The Wall and the Bridge: Fear and Opportunity in Disruption’s Wake, and how society and policymakers can help those who are left behind in the wake of today's competitive world.
1/6/2022 • 50 minutes, 36 seconds
The Pandemic‘s Opportunities and Challenges for Racial Justice
Prosperity Now CEO Gary Cunningham talks to Rob, in a wide-ranging discussion, about the many ways in which the pandemic has affected racial justice and injustice and how we might overcome the divisions and polarizations that we currently confront.
12/16/2021 • 1 hour, 42 minutes
Thomas Ferguson: Making Sense of the 2020 Presidential Election
INET's Research Director Thomas Ferguson talks about the research he and his collaborators Paul Jorgensen and Jie Chen conducted of the 2020 election and some of overlooked factors that were at play in that election.
12/9/2021 • 1 hour, 11 minutes, 16 seconds
Yuen Yuen Ang: China & U.S. - A Clash of Two Gilded Ages
Yuen Yuen Ang, political science professor at the University of Michigan and author of the book, China's Gilded Age, argues that the US and China have more in common than we usually think and that it makes more sense to see the conflict as a clash of two gilded ages instead of a clash of civilizations.
12/2/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 20 seconds
Tom Nichols: Our Own Worst Enemy
Tom Nichols, Professor of National Security Affairs, US Naval War College, columnist for USA Today, and contributing writer at The Atlantic, discusses his new book, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy, and how a decline in civic virtue has generated a dangerous illiberalism.
11/24/2021 • 1 hour, 10 minutes, 44 seconds
Dan Breznitz: Innovation in the Service of Society
Dan Breznitz, author of the book Innovation in Real Places, Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, and professor of public policy at the University of Toronto, talks about how innovation ought to be guided if it is to be successful in addressing our most pressing problems.
11/18/2021 • 52 minutes, 47 seconds
Bill Janeway: What Is the Janeway Institute?
"I was considering what I was going to do, [and] what I decided I could not do, was stay within the confines of mainstream academic economics." Rob Johnson talks with INET Co-Founder Bill Janeway about his exciting new project at Cambridge University.
11/10/2021 • 55 minutes, 58 seconds
Patrick Bond: The Urgent Need for Climate Reparations
Patrick Bond, sociology professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, discusses the urgent need for climate reparations for Africa, in light of the COP26 climate summit, and why market solutions will not work to address the problems Africa is currently facing. Part 2 of 2.
11/8/2021 • 40 minutes, 44 seconds
Patrick Bond pt 1: Naïve Market Solutions for Climate Change Will Intensify the Looting of Africa
Patrick Bond, sociology professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, discusses the urgent need for climate reparations for Africa, in light of the COP26 climate summit, and why market solutions will not work to address the problems Africa is currently facing. Part 1 of 2.
11/4/2021 • 48 minutes, 47 seconds
Gus Speth: The US Federal Government‘s Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis
From LBJ to the present, the federal government has knowingly continued to expand the US fossil economy, not passively but as a major active player, endangering the future of young people.
10/21/2021 • 59 minutes, 54 seconds
Ann Pettifor: How Do We Create the Financial Conditions for a Green New Deal?
Political economist, author, and public speaker Ann Pettifor talks about her latest book, The Case for a Green New Deal, which not only lays out the urgency for such a deal, but also proposes a roadmap for both national and global financial reform to make it possible.
10/14/2021 • 50 minutes, 19 seconds
Nancy MacLean: Milton Friedman‘s Collusion with Segregationists
Nancy MacLean, history professor at Duke University, talks about the ways in which neoliberal economic icon Milton Friedman collaborated with segregationists and with right-wing billionaires in the pursuit of his goal of privatizing public education.
10/7/2021 • 47 minutes, 56 seconds
We Need a Resilient Society
Princeton economics professor Markus Brunnermeier discusses his recently released book, The Resilient Society, which argues that in crisis-prone situations societal resilience is a crucial component for averting outright disaster and outlines how we might achieve that resilience.
9/30/2021 • 54 minutes, 3 seconds
Sam de Muijnck and Joris Tieleman: A New Vision for Economics Education
The education of the next generation of economists too often ignores the real crisis we face today: climate change, inequality, and financial instability. Sam de Muijnck and Joris Tieleman seek to address this problem in their book, Economy Studies, which outlines a practical road map for effectively connecting pluralism of core academic material to real world events, values, and the great questions of our time.
9/21/2021 • 59 minutes, 58 seconds
Adam Tooze: Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World‘s Economy
Adam Tooze, director of Columbia University's European Institute, discusses his new book with Rob Johnson.
9/13/2021 • 1 hour, 10 minutes, 36 seconds
Maude Barlow: Water, The New Gold
The COVID pandemic highlighted the deepening water crisis. "Do we understand that over half the population of the world doesn't have a place to wash their hands with soap and warm water?" says water warrior Maude Barlow.
9/7/2021 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 40 seconds
Gisele Huff and john a. powell: On Developing a Vision for a Better Society
Gisele Huff, education policy specialist and president of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity, along with john a. powell, director of UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute, talk about the motivations and process behind the soon-to-be-released report, "Convening on Automation, Opportunity, and Belonging: Vision and Foundations for a Better Society."
8/30/2021 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 7 seconds
Stanislav Shmelev: The Economics of Ecological Sustainability
Stanislav Shmelev, the director of Environment Europe Foundation in Oxford, discusses the many dimensions we need to consider when preparing our cities, businesses, and economies to the demands of ecological sustainability.
8/16/2021 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 1 second
Geoff Mann: Transforming and Democratizing Institutions to Address Climate Change
Geoff Mann, professor of geography at Simon Fraser University and co-author of the book, Climate Leviathan, discusses the authoritarian dangers ahead, as the world tried to cope with climate change, and how all institutions, including central banking, need to evolve so they address the problem adequately.
8/9/2021 • 54 minutes, 55 seconds
Wallach and Ghosh: The Obscene Obstacles to Global Vaccine Distribution
Lori Wallach, of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, and Jayati Ghosh, economics professor at UMass Amherst, discuss how first world countries are protecting pharma companies' exorbitant profits, at the expense of vaccinating people living in the Global South and thereby also endangering everyone in the world.
8/2/2021 • 53 minutes, 41 seconds
Ervin Laszlo: We Are in the Midst of a Global Transformation (pt. 2 of 2)
Prolific author and philosopher Ervin Laszlo discusses his most recent books, in which he outlines how the latest discoveries in science converge with spiritual insights and point to the ways in which society might evolve in ways that will help overcome contemporary crises.
7/29/2021 • 39 minutes, 33 seconds
Ervin Laszlo: We Are in the Midst of a Global Transformation (pt. 1 of 2)
Prolific author and philosopher Ervin Laszlo discusses his most recent books, in which he outlines how the latest discoveries in science converge with spiritual insights and point to the ways in which society might evolve in ways that will help overcome contemporary crises.
7/26/2021 • 36 minutes, 55 seconds
Andre Perry: We Need a Reparative Culture
Andre Perry, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the book, Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Properties in America's Black Cities, discusses the on-going problem of how real estate dynamics continue to maintain racial injustice in cities across United States, and how we need a "reparative culture" to address the problem
7/22/2021 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 30 seconds
Richard Vague: Myths and Landmarks in US Economic History
Economic historian and INET board member Richard Vague, talks about his latest book, The Illustrated Business History of the United States, which reveals a number of misconceptions and myths about the development of the US economy
7/19/2021 • 43 minutes, 54 seconds
Jeffrey Sachs: America vs. Everyone
Jeff Sachs talks with Rob Johnson about US-China relations, the tragedy of modern geopolitics, and how our current race to the bottom could be reversed.
7/15/2021 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 50 seconds
How China Escaped Shock Therapy
Isabella Weber, assistant professor of economics at UMass Amherst, discusses her new book on how China managed its transition from central planning to markets
7/12/2021 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 7 seconds
Running Out of Time: Saving the World’s Oceans
World Ocean Observatory founder Peter Neill talks about the dire emergency in which the world’s oceans currently find themselves in and what must be done to save them.
7/8/2021 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 18 seconds
The Vicious Cycle of Mass Incarceration and Racial Injustice
MIT economic historian Peter Temin discusses parts of his forthcoming book, focusing on the history of mass incarceration of uneducated Blacks and how it has created a permanent class of poor Black Americans
7/6/2021 • 54 minutes, 54 seconds
The Rise and Fall of the Black Blue-Collar Middle Class, part 2
Umass Lowell Economics professor William Lazonick, outlines the history of how government policy and economic conditions contributed to the rise and fall of a Black blue-collar middle class. Part 2 takes a closer look at the role of finance and stock buybacks and what can be done to reverse the trend towards growing inequality.
7/2/2021 • 48 minutes, 33 seconds
The Rise and Fall of the Black Blue-Collar Middle Class, part 1
Umass Lowell Economics professor William Lazonick, outlines the history of how government and economic conditions favored the rise of a Black blue-collar middle class from the 1960''s to the 1970's, and how shifts in policy and in the economy caused its unmaking from the 1980's onwards.
7/1/2021 • 48 minutes, 36 seconds
Revealing the Hidden Forces Behind Investment Decisions
Jim Nadler, CEO of the Kroll Bond Rating Agency, discusses the profound influence that bond ratings have on shaping social and economic outcomes, how they can contribute to environmental and social responsibility, and why a new approach to bond ratings is urgently necessary.
6/28/2021 • 54 minutes, 28 seconds
Framers: Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil
Kenneth Cukier, senior editor at The Economist and co-author of the book Framers, talks about how mental models, or frames, enable humanity to find the best way through a forest of looming problems.
6/24/2021 • 1 hour, 7 minutes, 28 seconds
Digital Transformation, Opportunity and Social Sustainability
INET at the Trento Economics Festival 3: A dialogue between Michael Spence and Robert Johnson
The governance of technology is a new challenge. The Recovery Plans is encouraging the digital transformation of our economies. An acceleration of technological change is bound to deeply affect labor markets and income distribution. While labor-market adaptation is likely to stave off permanent high unemployment, it cannot be counted on to prevent a sharp rise in inequality.
6/21/2021 • 1 hour, 5 seconds
Nobody is Safe if Someone is Unsafe
INET at the Trento Economics Festival 2: A dialogue between Jayati Ghosh, Rohinton Medhora, Joseph E. Stiglitz, coordinated by Robert Johnson
The world won’t emerge from the pandemic until the pandemic is controlled everywhere, and this is a special concern because of the new mutations that are likely to arise where the disease is running its course. So too, the world won’t have a robust economic recovery until at least most of the world is on the course to prosperity. Global growth is far more muted now than then, and inward-looking policies in some of the nations where growth has been restored have resulted in an increase in their trade surplus, attenuating the global impact of their recovery.
6/18/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 1 second
Fanta Traore: Sadie Alexander Received her Ph.D. in Economics 100 Years Ago
Fanta Traore, the CEO of the Sadie Collective, in an ode to Alexander’s legacy, is leading the next generation of Black women economists in the pursuit of social change
6/17/2021 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 50 seconds
INET at the Trento Economics Festival: Values: Building a Better World for All
INET at the Trento Economics Festival 1: A dialogue between Mark Carney and William Janeway, coordinated by Robert Johnson
Our world is full of fault lines—growing inequality in income and opportunity; systemic racism; health and economic crises from a global pandemic; mistrust of experts; the existential threat of climate change; deep threats to employment in a digital economy with robotics on the rise. These fundamental problems and others like them stem from a common crisis in values.
6/16/2021 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 22 seconds
A Society Designed to Incentivize Criminal Behavior at the Highest Level
Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, talks about the many ways in which the US economic system has become rigged to favor the richest.
6/14/2021 • 55 minutes, 24 seconds
Rana Foroohar: New Ground Rules for Digital Markets
FT columnist and associate editor Rana Foroohar discusses how the disruptions and excessive complexity of digital markets are benefitting the powerful and why we need clear new values and ground rules for these markets as we enter the post-pandemic landscape.
6/10/2021 • 55 minutes, 20 seconds
The Power of Desire in Everyday Life: Wanting and Social Change
Luke Burgis, the author of the just-released book "Wanting," talks about his book, how we come to desire what we desire, and how we can transform desire so as to make the world a better place.
6/7/2021 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 26 seconds
Tim Jackson: Life After Capitalism
Rob Johnson talks with Tim Jackson about his new book, "Post Growth: Life after Capitalism," and how we might break free of the cycle of restrictive thinking which has plagued economics, and the world.
6/3/2021 • 1 hour, 6 minutes, 39 seconds
Arjun Jayadev and Achal Prabhala: Are Intellectual Property Rights Exacerbating the Pandemic in India?
Arjun Jayadev, economics professor at Azim Premji University in Bangalore, India, and Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, discusses the urgency of waiving intellectual property protections for vaccines, particularly in light of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic in India and other developing countries.
6/1/2021 • 52 minutes, 20 seconds
Tito Boeri: The Return of the State
Tito Boeri, professor of economics at Bocconi University, Milan, and Scientific Director of the Trento Economics Festival (June 3-6), talks about the meaning behind this year's festival topic, The Return of the State. INET is organizing several panels at the festival this year featuring Mark Carney, Joe Stiglitz, Mike Spence, and Jayati Ghosh.
INET at the Trento Economics Festival
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5/27/2021 • 39 minutes, 37 seconds
Destin Jenkins: The Bonds of Inequality
Destin Jenkins, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chicago, discusses his book on municipal debt and its role in fostering racial capitalism in American cities.
5/24/2021 • 56 minutes, 7 seconds
Gillian Tett: Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life
Financial Times columnist and US editorial board chair Gillian Tett talks about her new book, Anthro-Vision, which makes the case for how anthropological intelligence can help us make better sense of the contemporary world.
5/20/2021 • 56 minutes, 30 seconds
Elizabeth Kolbert: How to Control the Control of Nature?
Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for The New Yorker, discusses her latest book, Under a White Sky, which explores how technological solutions don't always lead where we think they will, especially in the face of the climate crisis.
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5/17/2021 • 55 minutes, 28 seconds
Chen Long: The Privacy Paradox
Can big data strengthen global inclusivity and trust? Information exchange has historically been the most powerful tool at humanity's disposal, so what makes data different? Dr. Long Chen (Luohan Academy) discusses his latest report "Understanding Big Data: Data Calculus In The Digital Era" which is available for download at https://www.luohanacademy.com/researc...
5/13/2021 • 55 minutes, 3 seconds
Music, its Commercialization, and Politics
Activist and poet John Sinclair and Rob Johnson discuss the early days of the counterculture, Sinclair's role in MC5, and the transformation of music from art to commodity when the music industry’s commercial power blossomed in the early 1970s.
5/6/2021 • 51 minutes, 59 seconds
The New Climate War
Climate scientist Michael Mann discusses his new book, The New Climate War, in which he outlines the many ways in which powerful interests deflect, divide, and delay, to prevent real action that would avert the climate crisis
4/22/2021 • 50 minutes, 57 seconds
Indian Development History and New Horizons for Asia
Former Deputy Chairman of India's Planning Commission, Montek Ahluwalia, and Nobel Laureate Michael Spence discuss Ahluwalia's book BackStage: The Story Behind India's High Growth Years, and explore the challenges for the developing world more generally.
4/15/2021 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 30 seconds
The Origins and Significance of "Identity Economics"
Nobel laureate George Akerlof and Duke University economist Rachel Kranton talk about their book, Identity Economics and the insights that the concept continues to provide for economic analysis.
4/8/2021 • 57 minutes, 36 seconds
The Future of Economics
Tiger Gao, brilliant young host of the Princeton University podcast, Policy Punchline, interviews Rob Johnson about INET's aims, the function of economics in academia, and the relationship between Silicon Valley culture and the latest technologies, among other things.
3/25/2021 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 38 seconds
The Master Algorithm
Tim O'Reilly, the founder of O’Reilly Media and author of the book, What's the Future?, talks about how new technology can either be considered a scapegoat or a mirror and what this means for our future.
3/22/2021 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 26 seconds
Podcasting and the Fragile Public Discourse
Tiger Gao, founder and host of the podcast “Policy Punchline” at Princeton University, talks about the potentials of podcasting for challenging the fragmented and changing media landscape.
3/18/2021 • 58 minutes, 30 seconds
For Benjamin: Songs of Power, Innocence and Experience
Influential music and film producer Shep Gordon (named among the 100 most influential people by Rolling Stone) discusses how he helped bring the art of cooking to public awareness, what makes for true happiness, becoming a father to Benjamin at over 70, and the importance of power and innocence.
3/15/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 17 seconds
A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism
Mariana Mazzucato talks with Rob Johnson about her new book, The Mission Economy, and what we need to do to make innovation work for global shared prosperity.
3/11/2021 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 6 seconds
How Digital Technology and the Pandemic will Accelerate Transformations
Economics Nobel laureate Michael Spence discusses the many changes that await us in the wake of digital technology developments and the pandemic, which are combining in unexpected ways
3/8/2021 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 25 seconds
The Pandemic Has Masked as Much as it Unmasked
Canadian investment manager and Levy Institute fellow Marshall Auerback surveys the current political and economic landscape, from the pandemic bailouts to climate change and the changing role of politicians
3/3/2021 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 15 seconds
The Long-Overdue Revolution in Economic Thinking
University of Texas economist James K. Galbraith engages in a wide-ranging discussion of the many ways in which conventional economics has failed us, ranging from how to manage the post-pandemic economy, the role of finance, to the problems of inequality and climate change.
3/1/2021 • 1 hour, 24 seconds
The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal
UMass Amherst professor and PERI Co-Director Robert Pollin discusses his latest book that he co-authored with Noam Chomsky, about the Global Green New Deal and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in addressing the climate crisis
2/25/2021 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 32 seconds
Changing the Conversation on the Climate Emergency
David Fenton, the founder of the progressive PR firm Fenton Communications, takes a close look at what needs to be done to improve how we talk about the climate emergency so that everyone listens and acts accordingly
2/22/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 23 seconds
Can Biden Successfully Govern?
American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner talks about how the faith in Democracy and in the state have suffered tremendously over the past two decades, how it can be restored, and what impact this loss of faith will have on the Biden presidency