Economics & Beyond with Rob Johnson

Stephanie Blankenburg: $1 Trillion Debt Relief Needed for Developing World

Stephanie Blankenburg, who heads up the Debt and Development Finance Branch of the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development, talks about the urgent need for the world to provide massive loan forgiveness to the developing world in response to the global economic crisis that the coronavirus pandemic has caused.

Steve Clemons: Both Democrats and Republicans Sold Out Ordinary Americans

Steve Clemons, Editor at Large at The Hill, talks about how the Democrats' focus on neoliberal globalization opened the door for Trump's election and that only bold new policies that address inequality and structural change can address.

Dean Baker: China and the Problem with Patent Monopolies

Dean Baker, senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, talks about how geopolitical and economic tensions between the US and China benefit powerful elite sectors in the US, but are bad for working people.

Jeffrey Sachs: How the US Botched the Pandemic Response

Jeffrey Sachs, Director of Columbia University's Center for Sustainable Development and Chair of the Lancet's COVID-19 commission, talks about the many challenges and shortcomings of US policy towards the pandemic, as well as his new book, The Ages of Globalization, and how we can get the ethical foundations of economic thinking back on track.

Doug Carmichael: On the Need for Real Dialogue to Address the Crises of Our Time

INET's Strategy Consultant Doug Carmichael talks about how many of our institutions, such as the economics profession, our political system, and our education system, are inadequate for dealing with the multiple crises we face.

Eisuke Sakakibara: Japan, China, India, and the US - Strategies and Tensions

Former Deputy Finance Minister of Japan, Eisuke Sakakibara, contrasts Japan's and the US's response to the pandemic and talks about the different roles and economic strategies of some of the world's largest countries.

Michael Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit

Renowned Harvard University professor of philosophy Michael Sandel talks about his new book and how centrist Democrat insensitivity to inequality and the ideology of meritocracy have contributed to right-wing populism, polarization, and distrust in government.

Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan: The Upcoming Demographic Shift and What it Means for our Economic Future

Charles Goodhart, professor emeritus of the financial markets group at the London School of Economics, and Manoj Pradhan, founder of the research firm Talking Heads Macro, talk to Rob about their just released book, The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival

Fred Ledley: How US Taxpayers Subsidize Pharma Research and Companies Reap the Profits

Fred Ledley, professor at Bentley University and co-author of an INET-funded  research paper on pharma research funding, discusses the research and how US taxpayers might get more social benefit out of the initial investment they put into all new pharmaceuticals released over the past decade

Louis Kuijs: The Contradictions in China's Economic and Foreign Policies

Louis Kuijs, Head of Asia Economics at Oxford Economics, based in Hong Kong, talks about China's current economic strategy in the context of the pandemic and how China relates to the US, to the rest of the world, and to Hong Kong, in its effort to expand its influence