What would you say a human life is worth? According to the US government, for an American it’s about $7.2 million, compared with the global average of approximately $1.3 million. If you’re Swiss though, you’re worth a pretty penny at $9.4 million. While these estimates might sound absurd, they're really important to understand: these kinds of figures and the models that produce them are a core part of how mainstream economics understands and shapes policy, and they have had a significant role in shaping our approach to the climate crisis. Indeed, as Adrienne and celebrated economist Ha-Joon Chang break down in today's episode, mainstream economics gets a lot wrong, and has proven strikingly ill-equipped for addressing a challenge like climate and ecological crisis, not least through its tendency to reduce complex decisions to abstracted cost-benefit analyses. Ha-Joon Chang is an economist and Professor at SOAS University of London. Ha-Joon has been an advisor to several international organisations, and is the author of many books, most recently ‘Edible Economics’.
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down a post-pandemic rise in diseases across the world, and how this overlaps with our ideas of health, work and care in the UK (1:10), before looking at how the political uncertainty in pre-election France has caused the European Central Bank to withdraw it's borrowing support, and what this means for future power balances in the Eurozone (08:23). A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today. Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Olly Haynes to talk through the upcoming French elections, the far-right’s resurgence, and how the French left is mobilising to counter it. Olly is a freelance writer and journalist, and host of the FLEP24 podcast - a regular podcast covering the French 2024 elections in further detail: x.com/flep24pod TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/MacrodoseWe want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Maeve Cohen to discuss the We Are The Economy coalition project, and different ways to frame the relationships between austerity, work and social wellbeing. Maeve is project lead at The Social Guarantee, and convenor at We Are The Economy - a coalition of organisations who are coming together to call for more investment in public services: https://www.wearetheeconomy.co.uk/ TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at: macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by Zack Polanski to talk through the Green Party's current campaign, and their ideas for economic, ecological and social futures. Zack has been the deputy leader of the Green Party since September 2022. He is a Londonwide member of the London Assembly, where he is chair of the Environment Committee, and the national spokesperson for the Green Party for Democracy & Citizen Engagement. TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway breaks down what Reform UK’s “contract” for voters tells us about the future battlegrounds for economic policy (1:46), a preview of the upcoming French election (13:25) and a quick recommendation - a new paper from economist Isabella Weber, proposing responses to an age of “overlapping crises” (20:35). You can find the report here: https://t.co/zaYDO6fFvS A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today. Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk
Today on Macrodose Election Economics, James is joined by James Schneider to discuss the contradictions of a Labour government, the future of the left and organising in the UK. James Schneider is former Head Of Strategic Communications to Jeremy Corbyn, and author of Our Bloc: How We Win (2022, Verso). He is currently Communications Director for Progressive International, an international organisation of unions, peasant movements and activists. TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
“The stakes could not be higher.” These are the recent words not of climate activists, but of a coalition representing major oil and gas companies in a letter to the US Supreme Court. The context? They’re asking the Court to block dozens of lawsuits that seek to hold these firms to account for their role in driving the climate crisis, including by awarding damages for the costs of extreme weather events. But how would this actually work? While it’s becoming more frequent, extreme weather has always been a part of our planet’s natural variation - so how can we know which events are part of a new normal as a result of climate change - and which are just ‘normal’? For a long time, it was hard to give a clear answer. But thanks to the work of today’s guest, Dr. Fredi Otto, that’s all beginning to change. In this episode, Adrienne and Fredi Otto break down "attribution science" - a relatively new field that seeks to examine the role of climate change in extreme weather events. Through their work, we’re gaining a much clearer picture not only of our changing planet, but also of how climate change is inescapably tied up with inequality and injustice. Dr. Otto is Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and co-founder of World Weather Attribution. Find the entire series of The Break Down, alongside fantastic original essays and other resources, over at www.break-down.org A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway breaks down how the European Central Bank is helping drive a far right vote across the EU (1:57) the rising price of oranges after crop failures in Florida and Brazil (6:21) and a listener question - why are Reform UK proposing to reduce interest paid on Quantitative Easing reserves, and is that actually a pretty good idea (10:19)? A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today. Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk
Today on Macrodose: Election Economics, James is joined by Aditya Chakrabortty to discuss Sunak, Starmer and the long shadow of Nigel Farage in UK politics. Aditya is senior economics commentator at the Guardian, where he writes a regular column. He has also been a finalist for an Orwell Prize for journalism in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and in 2023 won the British Press Award for Best Broadsheet Columnist of the year. TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
Welcome to Election Economics, a Macrodose bonus series that we’re running in the lead up to the UK general election on July 4th. Over the coming weeks James Meadway will be joined by a selection of economists, politicians and commentators to unpack what the campaigns’ policies and pledges mean for people in Britain. Today James Meadway is joined by Yanis Varoufakis - who will unpack and reflect on the weekend’s European Election results - which saw leftwing parties suffer defeat at the hands of the right across Europe. Yanis is an economist, politician, formerly Greece’s finance minister, and author of several books, including most recently Technofuedalism: What Killed Capitalism - which he has discussed previously here on Macrodose: https://www.patreon.com/posts/era-of-cloud-w-97039226 TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
At the time of this recording, over 35,000 Palestinians had been killed, 80,000 wounded and 1.7 million internally displaced as a result of Israel's assault on Gaza. Alongside this profound loss has been the deliberate destruction of infrastructure and the 'ecocide' of Gaza's environment, from its cropland to its water and sewage systems. In this extra episode of The Break Down, Adam Hanieh, a Professor of Political Economy and Global Development at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, and a founding member of the Centre for Palestine Studies at SOAS, University of London, explains the threads linking the global oil economy; more than a century of Western imperialism; contemporary American interests in the Middle East; and the response of governments in the US, UK and much of Europe to the ongoing genocide. Ultimately, he explains why these overlapping histories make mutual solidarities between the climate movement and movement for a free Palestine so essential. Find the entire series of The Break Down, alongside fantastic original essays and other resources, over at www.break-down.org A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
Welcome to Election Economics, a Macrodose bonus series that we’re running in the lead up to the UK general election on July 4th. Over the coming weeks James Meadway will be joined by a selection of economists, politicians and commentators to unpack what the campaigns’ policies and pledges mean for people in Britain. Today we’re joined by Laurie Macfarlane. Laurie is an economist, a fellow at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London, and the co-author of Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing, published in 2017. Most recently, Laurie is the co-founder and co-director of Future Economy Scotland, a non-partisan think tank that aims to create a new economy for Scotland - one that is democratic, sustainable and just. Find FES here: https://www.futureeconomy.scot TICKETS to our MACRODOSE LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
Over the coming weeks Macrodose will be co-publishing The Break Down - a new series created by our friends over at Common Wealth. This series is dedicated to examining the role of capitalism in the climate and ecological crisis, and will feature long-form interviews with former Roundtable guest Adrienne Buller. Today Adrienne is joined by Adam Hanieh, Professor of Political Economy and Global Development at the University of Exeter. His latest book, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market (Verso) is out September 2024. Oil is fundamental to our understanding of the climate crisis. But despite its starring role, the dominance of oil in the global energy system is a relatively recent phenomenon, with the industry only really taking off after the Second World War. So how, in just a few decades, did oil become so integral to American power and to our understanding of global capitalism? Adrienne and Adam break down the history and geopolitics of oil and imperialism, and explore how the petrochemicals and plastics that now permeate our lives, from the foods we eat to the clothes we wear and everything in between, are making it increasingly difficult to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry. The Break Down will also be releasing some fantastic original essays and other resources that dig into the complex questions around how we got into this crisis, what the future might look like, and how we can build the power to change it. Find all that and much much more over at www.break-down.org A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway takes a look at Mexico’s new left wing president (2:05), and a listener question - what is national debt, do we need to pay it off, and will it ever impact you and me (14:30)? Kate Aronoff’s article: tinyurl.com/mhre9x98 A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk
Welcome to Election Economics, a Macrodose bonus series that we’re running in the lead up to the UK general election on July 4th. Over the coming weeks James Meadway will be joined by a selection of economists, politicians and commentators to unpack what the campaigns’ policies and pledges mean for people in Britain. Today we’re delighted to be joined by Dr Julia Grace Patterson. Dr Patterson is the founder and chief executive of Every Doctor UK, a doctor-led campaigning organisation fighting to save the NHS. She is also a columnist at the Canary, and the author of Critical: Why the NHS is being Betrayed and how We can Fight for it. TICKETS to our LIVE event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
Welcome to Election Economics, a Macrodose bonus series that we’re running in the lead up to the UK general election on July 4th. Over the coming weeks James Meadway will be joined by a selection of economists, politicians and commentators to unpack what the campaigns’ policies and pledges mean for people in Britain. Today we're joined by economist and author Grace Blakeley, whose new book Vulture Capitalism explores the mystifying logic that underpin our current economic system. TICKETS to our live event on July 26th: https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
On this week’s Macrodose James Meadway takes a close look at a seemingly inevitable win for Labour in the upcoming UK general election - what will this actually mean over the next 5 years (1:34)? Get your ticket for the New Media for a New Economy Conference here: tinyurl.com/y8m7kw88 A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today. Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk
On today’s episode James Meadway is joined by Olivier De Schutter to discuss his new book The Poverty of Growth - a concise and well evidenced argument against the idea that economic growth is the route out of poverty. Olivier was UN Special Rapporteur on The Right to Food, a member of the UN Comity on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and is an internationally recognised expert on food systems, poverty and international law. You can grab a copy of his book here: tinyurl.com/y4xa2ymp A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today. Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk
On July 26th Macrodose is partnering with Verso Books and the Dig podcast for a special live event over at the Union Chapel in Islington, London. Host Dalia Gebrial will be joined by political scientist Thea Riofrancos, climate justice activist Asad Rehman and anthropologist Jason Hickel, to talk about all things economic, from the era of neoliberalism to green colonialism, and the decline of the unipolar world. And we'll be followed by a live cross-over recording of the Dig and Verso podcasts, where hosts Eleanor Penny and Daniel Denvir will be in conversation with academic and author Laleh Khalili and MP Jeremy Corbyn. https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/versothe-dig-live-podcast-with-jeremy-corbyn-laleh-khalili