In the opener to episode 26, we discussed the political impact of the Great Recession and promised to soon have a guest to help explain the economic side of the story. We take our promises very seriously, so this week, we bring in Hadas Thier, a regular contributor to the International Socialist Review and author of the forthcoming book A People’s Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics.
Hadas breaks down the events that led 10 years ago to the global economic crisis, from the casino capitalist shenanigans on Wall Street to the underlying problems of global overproduction that led so many investors to pour their money (and our pensions) into those Ponzi schemes in the first place.
Hadas also talks to us about why mainstream economists are more interested in promoting capitalism than explaining how it works (and why it doesn’t), and how she decided after years of activism to teach herself economics in the face of the conventional wisdom that it’s too complicated for non-academics — especially non-academic women.
Jen had to miss this episode, so for our opener, Eric joined Danny to discuss why the Republicans have been dead-set on sticking with Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court despite the mounting number of sexual assault allegations against him (and we also snuck in some sound and a short interview with Kaylin Kaupish from National Women’s Liberation during the New York City protest on October 1 outside the Yale Club). They then moved on to talk briefly about the death of notorious Chicago police torturer Jon Burge and the possibility of a major Los Angeles teachers strike in the coming months.
Links for this episode:
International Socialist Review roundtable on “Where is Capitalism Heading?” featuring Hadas and other writers (http://bit.ly/ISRroundtable)
Hadas’ article celebrating the 150th anniversary of the publication of Karl Marx’s Capital (http://bit.ly/Capital150years)
“She speaks for us and we’ll stand with her”: Socialist Worker editorial calling for nationwide protests to stop Kavanaugh’s nomination (http://bit.ly/ProtestKavanaugh)
Music and audio for this episode:
Kaylin Kaupish, National Women’s Liberation, at the Stop Kavanaugh march in New York City on October 1
Vic Mensa, “16 Shots”
Sonic Youth, “Youth Against Fascism”
Angelique Kidjo’s new cover of The Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime”
Wu-Tang Clan, “C.R.E.A.M.”
Prince, “Act of God”
