Economics & Beyond with Rob Johnson

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.