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Debunking the IMF Myth: South Korea A ‘Free Market Miracle’? – Martin Hart-Landsberg Pt. 1/2
Despite being (mis)characterized by the IMF as a free-market “success story,” South Korea’s development model involved state planning and import controls for decades prior to the 1997 East Asia debt crisis. Economist Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor Emeritus at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, explains how capitalist globalization materialized and morphed in East Asia, often to the detriment of its worker population. With Trump’s inauguration nearing, Hart-Landsberg sheds light on why contemporary U.S.-China hawks view China as a threat rather than a technological competitor.
FDR’s Wartime Strategies Can Power a Just Transition Now – Martin Hart-Landsberg Pt. 2/2
In part two, economist Martin Hart-Landsberg underscores the importance of planning for a just transition and transformation of socio-economic relations. Hart-Landsberg examines FDR’s Defense Production Corporation and War Production Board which were established to coordinate the U.S. economy’s rapid conversion from civilian to military production. The entrepreneurial class largely opposed these changes, fearing cuts to their bottom line. Yet FDR’s government, through experimentation with different strategies, was able to successfully allocate resources towards wartime production and negotiate enough procurement contracts to drive the conversion. Hart-Landsberg’s historical analysis of the successes and challenges of FDR’s WWII production model lends important insights for solidaristic organizing and eco-socialist activism.
Young Autoworkers Ask Older Workers, “What Happened” – Frank Hammer on RAI (pt 3/4)
This interview was originally published on October 8, 2013. In this episode of Reality Asserts Itself, Frank Hammer discusses the pressures on Detroit auto workers’ wages that came from the American and global south.
How Capitalism Pillages the Planet and Creates Chaos – Patrick Bond Pt. 1/2
Following decades of ongoing mineral extraction, environmental plunder, and the subsidization of the fossil fuel industry, the second Trump administration’s aggressive pro-drilling agenda unapologetically seeks to seize as many foreign and domestic minerals and dirty energy sources as possible. Patrick Bond, political economist and Director of the Centre for Social Change in Johannesburg, discusses the mix of neoliberalism and paleo-conservatism undergirding Elon Musk’s corporate takeover of the US government. Bond also discusses the motivation behind US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to skip the solidarity-equality-sustainability G20 in South Africa, and the implications of the US’ withdrawal from international climate agreements, slashing of emissions-reduction goals, and support for destructive carbon-intensive industries.
Practical Radicalism: Community Wealth Building with Neil McInroy
One of the few working-class movements scoring victories, democratizing ownership, and gaining momentum is the method of economic development called Community Wealth Building (CWB). Colin Bruce Anthes interviews Neil McInroy of the Democracy Collaborative on how CWB works, what it has accomplished so far, and its potential to lead a “new common sense” movement beyond neoliberal capitalism.
Should the Left Vote for the Enemy? – Adolph Reed part 1/2
Adolph Reed argues that the left should vote for Biden in the coming presidential elections, even though Corporate Democrats defend the underlying system, Trump and the forces that back him represent a more overt form of fascistization.